Wednesday, January 14
Last Post for this Blog
If you hadn't guessed it by now... your a little slow.I will no longer be updating this blog but I will leave it here for archival purposes.
To check out my new blog click here. - footprints of Chad, 1:40 PM
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Wednesday, August 1
Sarah & Me
This is a picture of Sarah and Me ... she was the 7 year old girl that I was a mentor for at the TAPS Good Grief Camp. We had a great time at the camp and she made quite an impression on me! That is why I am running the 10K race during the Marine Corps Marathon. Read more about it below.
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Sunday, June 3
T*A*P*S & Marine Corps 10K
I recently volunteered as a mentor for a children's camp. Most of you who know me know that me volunteering at a children's camp is not big news. :) However, this camp was different. It was for children who have fathers that have served in the military and paid the ultimate price for the freedom of others. 175 kids showed up and each of them had suffered a great loss. I was a mentor for Sarah; a 7 year old whose father died in February of 2003. Since then she has lived in Florida with her Mom and two brothers, one older and one younger.The TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) Good Grief Camp helps these kids by pairing each of them with a mentor and doing activities focused on dealing with grief. They also find comfort in knowing that the other kids in their group have suffered a similar loss.
It was fun weekend and at the same time it was heart wrenching. It didn't take long for Sarah's smile to capture my heart and by the end of the weekend, after carrying her on my shoulders nearly everywhere we went, we had become good friends.
When I found out I could run a 10K race during the Marine Corps Marathon to help raise money for TAPS I signed up right away. TAPS has helped many families that have had loved ones die in the service of this great nation. I wanted to do something to help families like Sarah's so I have set a goal to raise $1000 for TAPS. I will be running in memory of Sarah's dad, Tim. Please visit my fund raising page by using the link below if you are interested in supporting this worthy cause. Thanks in advance for your support and your prayers for Sarah and her family.
Fund Raising Page
TAPS Home Page
The race is October 28th here in Washington DC. - footprints of Chad, 11:06 AM
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Thursday, February 22
Long Time Coming...
Not sure if anyone has really noticed... some of you may have, I'm not real sure who, if anyone reads this. I've lost interest in blogging over the last year. I will continue photo blogging but this space will probably continue to only have updates once in a blue moon. It will remain in its current state just as an archive for the time being.It's been an interesting journey really... I originally started this website so that people I knew could keep up with what was happening in my life while I was stationed in England. It soon became a place for me, like many blogger's , to state my opinions about current events. I plugged in bits of my life events, along with my thoughts on religion, and my thoughts on different issues... early on I made a few blogging buddies... I received emails from random people commenting on some of my posts (which was always satisfying in some strange way), and sometimes got emails from people thanking me for giving them hope (usually when I had posted thoughts on Christianity, that was the most encouraging to me) and I read many different blogs along the way. Over time it became a chore because I didn't have time. So I stopped... and all those people I started it for, I stayed in touch with anyway of course.
I also started to realize my lack of talent in the blogging arena... many blogger's
that I read on a regular basis could take the most dull events of life and make them seem exciting somehow... don't think I ever really accomplished that. Anyway... this is me... signing out; for now. - footprints of Chad, 4:18 PM
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Wednesday, October 4
Two Weeks!
We leave for the US in two weeks! It is really hard to believe it has been 3 years already... so much to do and so little time! We are really looking forward to being back in the States where it won't be a constant hassle to talk to friends and family. Being over here there is a window of opportunity on the weekend to call home and if you miss it you pretty much have to wait a week to catch anybody. Being in DC it won't be like that. - footprints of Chad, 7:21 PM.:
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Friday, September 8
America's Distorted Image of Iraq
I have come across an article written by Amir Taheri, formerly the executive editor of Kayhan, Iran's largest daily newspaper, is the author of ten books and a frequent contributor to numerous publications in the Middle East and Europe. His work appears regularly in the New York Post. Here are some exerts:Spending time in the United States after a tour of Iraq can be a disorienting experience these days. Within hours of arriving here, as I can attest from a recent visit, one is confronted with an image of Iraq that is unrecognizable. It is created in several overlapping ways: through television footage showing the charred remains of vehicles used in suicide attacks, surrounded by wailing women in black and grim-looking men carrying coffins; by armchair strategists and political gurus predicting further doom or pontificating about how the war should have been fought in the first place; by authors of instant-history books making their rounds to dissect the various "fundamental mistakes" committed by the Bush administration; and by reporters, cocooned in hotels in Baghdad, explaining the “carnage” and “chaos” in the streets as signs of the country’s “impending” or “undeclared” civil war. ... It would be hard indeed for the average interested citizen to find out on his own just how grossly this image distorts the realities of present-day Iraq. ... For someone like myself who has spent considerable time in Iraq—a country I first visited in 1968—current reality there is, nevertheless, very different from this conventional wisdom, and so are the prospects for Iraq’s future.
Please take the time to read the full article... it is very interesting and gives a much better understanding of what is actually happening in Iraq from a man who is not an American but a third party.
Click here to read the whole article. - footprints of Chad, 1:43 AM
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Saturday, September 2
Our stuff is Shipped
The move has officially begun. Last week the movers came on Wednesday and Thursday and picked up our stuff. It was kind of a pain going through everything and figuring out what we wanted to keep here a little while longer and putting it all in one place so they wouldn't take it... cause man let me tell you... if it was sitting out they put it in a box or wrapped it up and put it on their truck. They didn't care what it was... if it was in a room when they were packing it... it got shipped. They were fast too... packed the entire house in 10 hours split between two days. I bought them lunch and they were good to our stuff... they were happy ... I was happy. :)Oh and in case you didn't know we fly out on the 19th of October... DC here we come! - footprints of Chad, 3:44 AM
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more about
me
 My name is Chad and I live in in Woodbridge, VA near Washington DC. I am old. My wife's name is Jen and we have two dogs named Ripley and Rascal. |
recent footprints
- Last Post for this Blog
- Sarah & Me
- T*A*P*S & Marine Corps 10K
- Long Time Coming...
- Two Weeks!
- America's Distorted Image of Iraq
- Our stuff is Shipped
- Eagles... Long Term
- Arab Woman gives Muslims a Thrashing
- K-State Collegian Opinion Article
links
Sara Groves
Desired Life
Military Ministry
footprints poem
Statement of Faith
© Chad J.
footprints of my life...