Ryan and Christy's Place

Ryan returned from his R&R to find quite a shock back on the FOB. Daisy, the cute, little puppy we once knew, is now roughly the size of a bear.

Well, not quite. But BOY she and Retrans have grown. (Check out new pictures of both under Daisy's link in the image galleries.) They obviously won't be sitting in anyone's lap anymore. By the size of their paws, I don't think they're even done growing yet.

Also, new pictures of Ryan in Iraq are posted under the image galleries under the "In Iraq (April/May 05)" link. Some very cute ones of him and Iraqi children. He said he had an admirer, a little girl named Nayla who giggled every time he looked at her. He gave her a coloring book with his first name in it.

I like hearing stories about Daisy and Retrans, and about Ryan interacting with kids. I think sometimes it's little things -- playing with a dog or having a little girl take a liking to you -- that can brighten his day a little bit. In any case, I like hearing about those things at home. He laughs about them when he tells me, and I can tell they brightened his day. I think of all the experiences he's having, and they're not all bad. He's bonding with his friends, making a difference, seeing part of the world. So when the news coming through papers or the TV seems like too much to me (and it often does) or if all the things I hear seem to be bad, I just try to think about Daisy or about Nayla giggling at Ryan, and I'm thankful. It's nice to have those good things. To me it's proof that God's there in all of this.

Little flecks of hope. A curly haired girl's smile. A puppy's frantically wagging tail. My husband laughing as he talks about Daisy, as he sits in the middle of a war-torn country. Hope is a good thing.