Bring him home

There is a countdown of 27 days until my youngest brother reports to boot camp for the Army at Ft. Benning, GA.  It's been on my mind a great deal lately.  I worry about him; he's the baby of the family and has always had the sweetest heart.  I don't want him to lose that.  I worry about him being deployed overseas and getting hurt.  I worry about the worst happening and having to plan a funeral.  I worry about him.  And mixed up in all that is how incredibly proud I am that he is pursuing his goals and dreams, and happiness at how excited he is to be taking this step in his life.  But I can't help but worry.  And as I worry, this is the song that keeps playing in mind--"Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables.  I cling to the knowledge that, while recognizing Heavenly Father's will be done, I can continuously keep Ben in my prayers to help keep me from worrying too much, and that I can only ask Heavenly Father to keep him safe and bring him home to his family in California time and again.  There is an uncle the Davis cousins never got to know because a war took him too soon.  I don't want that for Lily.  She deserves to know how incredible her Uncle Ben is.

Ben and Lily, November 2011