"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."


Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)

 My drill instructor in Basic Training quoted this to my platoon before he gave us the worst smoking we'd ever had.

 Bye!

 I am leavin for ALERT again in a little bit. I will be back in March.

 Have an AWESOME 2 1/2 months!!!!!!

 I love y'all!!!

 -Jarred 

 I figured that I oughta post something on here since it's been forever since I've done that. 

 Basic Training was hard. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It was awesome though, because it pushed you so far. Beyond what you thought you could do. It pushed me to my limits, and than past my limits. It takes you to a place where you fail daily, and you have to cry out to God for the strength to just make it through the day.

 Basic was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life. I grew so much closer to God. I saw a miracle in the life of one of the guys in my platoon. God was right there when I needed Him the most. When I felt like I couldn't take another step. He was there to give me the strength. I learned so much. I was stretched in ways that I really didn't want to be at the time. It really changed my perspective on things. A really cool quote that helped me a lot out there was "My current struggle is not a frustration for my sovereign Creator, therefore, my current struggle is not a frustration for me." 

 The first couple of weeks the main thought that kept runnin through my head was "What in the world have I gotten myself into?" Those first weeks were really hard. Thank you all so much for your prayers. It really means a lot to me to know that you cared.

 Basic taught me things that I'm not sure that I would've learned anywhere else. I'd really encourage all of you guys to really look into goin there. It will change your life.

 I'm really glad to be home. I've missed my family and all of you so much!!!! 

Jarred wanted me to tell you how much he misses you!