A Bad day at work...

Most of you know this story. The story of August 16, 2004. I thought I would divide this in to two stories: John's account and Amanda's account of the events of that day.

Amanda's Story:

After coming home from a long day of teaching, I was walking through the living room when the words of a news anchor on TV caught my ear. I turned to listen and saw a disturbing picture of a tank, burning to the ground. The report said that the image was from Sadr City (where John was in Iraq at the time) and that the crew had escaped. I thought of John and wondered...

At almost 10pm that night my phone rang. It was the call that every army wife fears most. "Mrs. Nichols, this is LT Nelson with the rear detachment. I am calling to inform you that your husband was injured in an ambush in Iraq today."

My heart dropped in my stomach and time seemed to slow down as I processed this news. Of course, I suddenly had a zillion questions, but poor LT Nelson had very few answers or information of his own. What he did tell me was that John had a shrapnel wound to the face and that he was okay.

It was such a draining feeling to have to hang up the phone without knowing all the details. But at least I knew my husband was okay. I jumped out of bed and went to tell my parents, and then got on the phone and started making phone calls to John's family and our closest friends to ask for prayer. I did not know the extend of the situation and could not give any one much information on it, but I asked them all to pray. And they did.

After crying and praying for some time, I finally was so exhausted I drifted off to sleep only to be awakened by the phone again at around 3am. It was John. He began to tell me the story of what happened and it hit me... I realized that the tank I had seen on TV earlier that day had been my husbands tank. It was such a sweet feeling of joy and relief to hear his voice again. But it was so scary and helpless to think that he would be back out in sector again within hours or days.

All I can say about that day is that the Lord is an awesome God. As you read John's account of the story, you will see and be amazed at the hand of our God in all of this. His ways are beyond our scope of understanding. We praise him for each new day He gives us...

John's Story:

John's version of what happened is coming soon! I will post an annoucement when it is finally up because I am sure his version of what happened will be much more interesting than mine! Updated 8/21/07