Sooo Hot

Hey friends and family. Sorry about the delay in getting a new post on here. I have been pretty busy as of late and things are starting to heat up here. So about the weather. Hot. Today the heat reached 115 degrees. Pretty much the only way to combat the heat is to sit inside the office all day until around 6:30 or so then venture out of your cubicle and embrace the night. Other than the heat, things here are good. I have a pretty easy job that has a relatively low stress factor. My job is to supply my company with all the equipment necessary to function on a daily basis. It is not the most glamorous job, but it keeps me safe and usually out of the heat. The meteorologist here on post said that last year the high temp was 149. Are you serious? That is crazy to me.
I hope all of you back at home are doing well. The reports coming in are saying that this WILL be a nine month mission and we should return home safely by December or January. For us that is great news. I hope that you are keeping Summer, Olivia and I in your prayers. They have church services here so I have been attending those. They aren't like the ones back home, but the word is still the same wherever you go. I think I am going to start working on a project while I am here. I spoke with a couple of the Chaplains and I am going to make a video on how soldiers worship over here. Hopefully I will have enough footage and pictures to put it together by the end of June. So keep this project in your prayers also. Well anyways I love you all and I can't wait to see you.
Rob

Rob Has Arrived Safely

Hey guys. I wanted to let you all know that Rob has safely arrived in Iraq. When I spoke with him today, he assures me that this next year will be a "piece of cake." That is his way of saying that it is totally safe and he feels confident that all will go smoothly. He was told that the only time they will have to leave the camp is when they are coming home for leave and when they leave for good. Not leaving camp is a positive thing to ensure his safety. Travel is when most soldiers encounter danger.

As of right now, he is living in a huge, air conditioned tent with many soldiers. They will have to stay in those tents until they can make room for his unit to have better facilities, probably at least a month or so. He said that the military is offering many activites for the soldiers to occupy what free time they are given. Tonight, there was a line dancing event. Needless to say, I don't think that Rob was going to that one. : ) He sounded in great spirits and very encouraged to know that in just three short months he would be back in Georgia to hold his new baby girl.

I feel very blessed at this point, the pregnancy has been smooth sailing. At 25 weeks, I am now starting to show a little more. Still not much of a belly, but it's definitely growing. She is kicking up a storm and you can even see my belly bounce with her little movements. It's definitely an unusual experience!

Below is the address if you would like to send Rob mail in Iraq. Thanks for all your continuous thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful for all the support.

Rob Hathcock
278th MP Co.
Camp Bucca, Iraq
APO AE 09375

IRAQ...HERE I COME

Well my time here in the states is over. I have been officially notified that I will be crossing the pond tommorow. I have a little bit of mixed feelings and some anxiety,but it is what it is. My time here at FT.DIX has been a very pressing and somewhat bittersweet. I have met some really awesome people here and as much as I loathe New Jersey I will miss some of it. The 18 hour days I will not, but like I said there are some really good people here. I don't know when I will be able to post another message, it may be a few days or so. The flight will be about 24 hrs or so because of a long layover in Germany. So i plan to occupy my time with sleep and dvd's. Support Summer and Olivia as much as possible while I am gone. I know tommorow will be really rough on her. One last thing.....An old veteran stopped me at the Gas station on post to thank me for what I do. He asked me how i feel about going over there to protect someone else's country. I told him it is my duty to do so. He then told me to trust none of them. I immediately remembered a quote I recently heard, "Your wrong if you think the joy of life comes principally from human relationships. GOD has placed joy all around us. It is in everything and anything GOD has given us. People just need to change the way we look at things." I think this is a very profound statement and it is very applicable to what is going over there. The people of Iraq will let me down I am sure. But the joy GOD is going to give to me while I am in country will never let me down. I love you all.