Jane Cook - Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

For most people, this is where their faith either stopped or became compromised. But I had a quiet confidence from God: in a far away land that was permeated with evil, God was present in a very real way with me. He truly was Immanuel God with us.

Lord, protect not just my physical well-being but my mind, heart and spirit as well.

“He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.” (Joshua 24:17b)

“A year? Twelve months? You’re kidding, right?” I had to make sure the news I had just heard was for real. But it was no joke.

Upon arriving in Baghdad, we soon found out our deployment would be twice as long as the six-month duration we were originally told. One more year of trying to avoid roadside bombs, snipers, rocket propelled grenades, and the like. As the deployment went on, the violence escalated, but God remained faithful to me.

I made regular trips to Baghdad International Airport and Camp Victory that was next to the airport. One time we were late getting started on our mission, and as we got down the road we had to take a detour when the main road was closed because an IED was found. Had we been on time, my convoy may have been hit.

When detouring around it, our lead vehicle led us into a marketplace. Instantly, we were surrounded by people both friendly and unfriendly but of course, we couldn’t tell who was who. The multi-story buildings all around provided plenty of places for snipers to ambush, but God delivered us safely out, and we returned to our camp without incident.

On another trip to Camp Victory, just before we were to leave to go back to our camp, we heard gunfire just outside the gate.

“Sniper fire,” we were told. “Be alert.” As we pulled out the gunfire stopped; once again, we returned to camp without a scratch.

Another time, our building took a direct hit from an RPG that landed on the roof in the very spot where I would talk on the phone when I had the chance.

These experiences were reminders of God’s vigilance. I will never know in this lifetime if any IED’s malfunctioned and did not detonate, or how close a sniper’s bullet came to me, but I do know that any attempt on my life was foiled. We were scheduled to go home during the height of the violence, but instead we were extended for three more months. Despite all of these dangers, injury or death did not touch me.

Lord, help me trust you for all the details of my life, both large and small.

“A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” (Psalm 91:7)

My heart was racing. I took a deep breath as I wiped my palms on my legs one more time. It was July 2004, eighteen months after I first deployed. Now, as the plane touched down at Ft. Campbell, I was nervous.

We marched into a building and stood for a short ceremony. And then I saw her my young wife who had endured so much on the home front while I had been away. I wrapped her in my arms, relishing the reunion. This time I wasn’t just home on leave; I was home for good. Seeing her again after so much time had passed didn’t make me nervous.

The nervousness came from the reality that I would no longer be shielded from the battles of life itself. I had been on active duty long enough to become institutionalized in the Army. Suddenly I could no longer rely on the Army to feed, clothe, shelter, and pay me. I would have to go back to school and even back to work. I could no longer just be legally married. I would have to truly be married. When I hear of all of the cases of post traumatic stress disorder, divorces, and even suicides that this war has caused, I am humbled and eternally grateful for God’s protection that I held so dear in war, and now has been extended to me years later.

After I arrived home, I realized just how radical God’s protection of me had been. In the year plus I spent in Iraq, not only did I remain alive and uninjured, but I do not remember ever requiring so much as a band aid for a minor cut. I am not quite sure why God chose to protect me in such an extreme way, under such dangerous conditions. I certainly do not feel deserving of such protection, after so many soldiers just like me did not make it home safely. But he proved to me that he was with me, even to the ends of the earth.

Lord, wherever I go, may I desire your presence and favor above all else.

“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139: 9–10)

I had never seen him look like that. Head down, hands in his pockets, lost in a world of his own. Our eyes met and we both knew this day was going to change who we were and what we were to each other.

It was September 11th and the whole world was changing. Buildings were falling. People were dying. America was gripped with fear. Our lives, like every American’s, suddenly changed. For my then-boyfriend, Joe, it meant the very high possibility of active military duty. For a young man in the National Guard we knew it would take a homeland attack to force him into full-time duty. That day our worst fear became reality. For the first time in our relationship a separation, due to activation, would most likely be inevitable.

Throughout the day people continually asked Joe, “Have you gotten a call? Heard you anything yet?” All I wanted was for people to go away and leave us alone. It was one of the hardest days in our relationship. I realized that if I was going to make a life with this man, the road ahead of us was not going to be easy or predictable. Suddenly, all the things we wanted from life didn’t matter. Tomorrow was questionable, our future was unsure, and our world and our security were being challenged.

We decided that day in the midst of all the horror, turmoil, and questions that we had each other, and we would face the world together. War was inevitable; that we both understood. Do we get married as we had been planning? Should we wait? How do we carry on in the face of an uncertain timeline? So many unanswered questioned were born that day. But one thing was for certain. We would choose to make it work. We chose to stay together. That day we committed to facing tomorrow together, even though tomorrow was so unsure. If God had called Joe to serve his country, and if God had brought us together, somehow he would see us through the unknown.

Lord, where there is shadow, there must be light. Help me focus on your light to help me walk through my valleys.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

I was standing in an old army chapel in my white wedding gown. The room was quiet, the mood was somber, and we all knew the hard road ahead. All I could see at the other end of the aisle was a man, my man, in army green. Only our closest family and friends were gathered on the front pews, about ten people in all. At the end of a very long walk were my father, the minister who would marry me to Joe the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. There was no beautiful music, no friends in beautiful gowns, no extended family, no photographer.