Day 166: Sleeping Under the Stars

Last night I was laying on a cot underneath the clear Afghan sky, watching the stars high in the heavens. I saw shooting stars. I saw satellites move across the sky. I was amazed at how many stars I could see and how bright they appeared.

It was part of my first real camp out of this deployment. I had been asked to join a group going down to a village four hours south of Herat called Bala Baluk. The FOB (forward operating base) is very small and lacks many of the luxuries of some of the larger bases--such as Camp Stone where I live. There was no cable TV. There was no internet. There was no dining facility. There was a bathroom, but after walking in, you wished there hadn’t been one. I realized how lucky I am to spend most of my time on bases where I have some things that make home seem not quite so far away. My gratitude for some of our guys who spend their whole deployment “camping” definitely increased.

Anyway, my favorite part of the whole experience was being able to fall sleep under the beautiful, star filled Afghan sky. Once it got dark, I just laid down in my sleeping bag and watched as the stars slowly came out and eventually filled the sky. I listened as the “azaan” from a neighboring mosque called the faithful to pray. I reflected on the greatness and enormity of God’s creations. I was awed by how small we really are, but strengthened to know how great we are in His eyes. I thought of my wife and kids back home and how much I love and miss them.

After these special minutes of meditation and inspiration...I crashed back to planet Earth as the snoring began all around me and the cold started to settle in. I crawled into my bag, pulled the hood over my head, and went to bed.

It was a fun camping trip...especially, since I knew I was coming home today.