A family was awakened by their smoke detector in the middle of the night to discover that their house was on fire.  The father ran into the upstairs bedrooms of his children and carried his eighteen-month-old baby in his arms while dragging this four-year-old son by the hand.

They were halfway down the stairs when the little boy remembered that he had left his teddy bear in the bedroom, so he broke free from his father’s hand and ran back to the bedroom to retrieve it.  In the confusion of the fire, the father somehow didn’t notice that his son wasn’t with him until he got outside.  By now the little boy was trapped by the flames and smoke in his second story bedroom.  Smoke swirls around him and he coughed and cried out from the upstairs window, “Daddy!  Daddy!  Help me!”

His father yelled from below, “Jump out of the window, Andy!  I’ll catch you!”

In the darkness and smoke the little boy yelled back, “But Daddy!  I can’t see you!”

Daddy shouted back, “That’s okay, son, I can see you!  Jump!”

There is a true saying that goes, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future.”  Do you worry about the future?  Are you afraid of what you can’t see?  Does it seem dark & Smoky?  None of us can see what lies ahead, but God tells us to trust Him and “jump!”

Florence Ave. church of Christ
Grass Valley, CA

We are collecting paper towels for Christian Homes of Abilene. Please drop your donation off in the foyer.

Attention all ladies’!!!  There will be a Woodlawn Ladies’ Salad Supper on October 16th from 6:30-8:00 at the home of Betty Kennamer.  Leave the children at home and come join us!  Please bring a salad and a friend!

Annual Ladies’ Retreat being held by the Merkel Church of Christ is this weekend.

A dinner to benefit Christian Homes and its ministry of finding loving Christian adoptive parents for the babies of young women with unplanned pregnancies will be Oct. 20th at the Civic Center at 6:30pm.  Tina Wesson, winner of CBS Survivor is an adopted child and the special guest.  Tickets are $30 each.  For reservations call (325) 677-2373.

Monday Night for the Master
On October 31st 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. there will be an alternative format in order to achieve greater community contact in the midst of traditional activities happening around our neighborhood.  Your participation and contribution is greatly needed to help in making a visible presence and impact on this special MNFTM night.

NEEDED:

• Lots, and Lots of candy, treats, etc. to distribute to neighborhood children as we get the opportunity to meet them as they pass through our parking lot.
• Willing people to be present with their vehicles to receive visitors, meet and greet, distribute candy, treats, etc.

Greetings and Blessings to the Woodlawn family from the heart of Mesopotamia,

I apologize for not checking in before now.  I just wanted to let everyone know how things are going here in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq.  My unit arrived here on January 3, 2005, for a year-long deployment with a lot of apprehension about what our time here would bring us.

I want to start off first by saying that I never thought I would ever step foot in as unique a place as this with such significant historical importance.  Now that I am here, it is much different than I expected it to be.  We are not far from actual points of interest, such as where this land got its name.  Mesopotamia means, land between two rivers, in this case the Tigris and Euphrates; from where we are, we can see the banks of the Tigris, as it snakes through downtown Baghdad.  A four hour convoy south will take you to the city of Basra, and the territory of Ur, where a ziggurat still stands...a ziggurat is a temple that in its day "housed" a territory's god or goddess, and was uninhabitable by the local populace.

During my time here, I have had the opportunity to go on numerous combat patrols within parts of Baghdad.  It is really hard to appreciate the reality of being in such a place when you are constantly on the lookout for the next car bomb or roadside trap.  For the most part, the people are glad that we are here.  We (the US Army) have assisted in rebuilding schools, medical clinics, water and sewer systems, and even the occasional playground for the children.  What is broadcast on the evening news is only a fraction of what actually goes on over here...and is usually only the bad stuff.  I know this because we get all three network news programs broadcast over here on Armed Forces network...and I am here, so I know about the progresses being made.

I am happy to say, that at this time, we still have all of the men in our unit that we started with.  I truly believe that this would not be possible if it were not for the prayers from families back home.  I ask that you continue to pray for me and the troops in my battalion and brigade that our return in January of '06 will be the culmination of a mission completed successfully.

I wish you all God speed and blessings…

In Him,
Jason Anderson


SSG Anderson, Jason F.
HHC, 111th EN BN (WPMUT0)
APO, AE   09342-1400

STATISTICS FOR OCTOBER 2, 2005