FLTC: from Iraq; Continued

[COG]

Alright folks lets keep our chin up here. We're getting close to the Holidays and things usually get worse not better. So keep your focus on the moment, pray that January gets here quick, and be good people in between. If you start getting depressed, go visit a homeless shelter, or residential care facility. You'll realize that your problems aren't near as bad as they could be.

I just want to remind you all. My W dropped the bomb on me in 2000. We did the C, etc for a year or so after that. We separated in about 2002. My W couldn't stand the site of me during this time period. She screamed at me that she didn't love me, hadn't loved me for a long time, doubted that we were ever really in love, said that I was suffocating her, and that she wanted a D and her heart was at peace with it. We were separated for 4 years, did a legal separation, sold our house and created separate lives. For YEARS she gave me no promise, no hope, no indication that we'd ever be together again.

But like the cunning hunter and fisherman that I am, I waited. I kept changing baits, kept on making casts and finally, after 6 years of hard work we came together. Far from instant gratification, but I am grateful for how long it took. Grateful because it took that long for MY heart to change. Looking back, I can clearly see that while I viewed my WAW with judgment, resentment, and wonderment, I denied myself the opportunity to grow. I'm still having moments of enlightenment, when I see clearly my self indulgent suffering.

I didn't just hang in there so long out of stupidity, fear, or neediness, it was to fulfill my purpose on this earth. To love as Jesus loved. We each have the choice to be consumed with that which we have little control over, or to recognize the power that we hold in our own hearts. The power to change other's hearts.

Fight On!

Love,

COG