Letter dated: 9/21/06

Gena,
It is 2051 and lights out is at 2130 with our evening rituals starting at 2115 so this letter will be short.

Our platoon has been in so much trouble since the beginning. We have a bunch of kids that are selfish and do not learn too quickly. We get a lot of pain because of them. We go to the dirt a lot sometimes, as a platoon - up to four times a day. Lomax will know what I mean.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my big 6-year-old. It is the 21st today. I have been telling everyone about my beautiful girls. All three of them.

I will write more later....

Well it is Sunday the 24th. Sundays are the hardest with missing all of you. I also had one really hard day this week. I pray for all of you all the time.

We have dropped 21 recruits from our platoon so far. We still ahve about 3 or 4 "Leonards" in here. They will be gone by the time we go up North, I think. The drill instructors get on them pretty hard. We leave for up north - Camp Pentelton - next Saturday. Mail will be slow with us being up there. That is where we learn to be Marines. We learn fire teams and shooting and stuff. It is also really hard. We are starting to prepare for up north.

We had initial drill on Saturday. We were the favorites to win first place. It is a HUGE deal to win. We practiced all the time. We ended up having two "not so smart" guys messing up and we got 2nd place. Needless to say our Drill Instructors were not too pleased. We sweated a LOT for the rest of the day. Then on fire watch, a guy from my squad made a mistake while reporting his post and the DI made him wake me up to relieve his post becaue he didn't know what he was doing. Grrrr.

I am no longer scribe of any sort. We picked up two new recruits from MRP who were previously scribes, so now I am only squad leader. Which gives me a little more time, but it means that I get killed for all the other people's mistakes. Very frustrating.

Tell everyone: Mom, Dad, Dave, Clay - Thank you so much for your letters! They mean so so so much to me. I am sorry that I am not able to write back to you. This recruit hopes that you understand.

I feel totally like the same person I was when I came. I am just in better shape right now. I am really looking forward to getting second phase over with. I know it is going to be the hardest part of training.

Bryna - How was your Birthday? Did you get my card tht I sent? I heard that you went to Chuck E Cheese too? Did you have some pizza for me? I hope so. I am looking forward everyday to seeing your beautiful face. I also heard that you are doing great at school. Dad is going to be home soon. I love you.

It looks like I have to be back in San Diego on Dec 5 at 11:30 am for MCT. But if this recruit gets recruiter assistance that will be pushed back some. Also, MCT closes for Christmas at one time. Hopefully, it will work out that this recruit will get most to all of December off.

I have had three recruits come up to me and ask me to pray with them. Recruits looks towards something stronger than themselves in here. No one can do it on their own. A recruit needs faith and other recruits to survive. Two of those three recruits have been dropped. The other probably will this week.

oooxxxoooxxxooo
I love you ALL and miss you sooooo much. Stay strong! Keep Praying!!

Love, Adam.

Letter from Adam:
9/17/06

Babe-
Wow- we got mail the othernight for the first time in Mike Company. I got like 10 letters from you. :-) It was great. But, I have been so busy as scribe and squad leader that today (sunday) is the first time I am able to read any of them. I read two of them. I will have to read more later due to time.

Let's see, PT is hard. I pulled both calf muscles two times this week. It hurts a lot. But I keep pushing through it. We did some Marine Corps Martial arts a couple times so I now know how t hammerfist someone to death. Ha. I have not been prayer leader anymore. Our guide is that, plus I have enough stuff going on now. I still talk to kids whenever they want to talk about God. Which is more than I would have thought.

On Sundays, we get up at 0600, clean, go to chow, drill a little, then go to church at 0830 til 0930. Then it is square away time until 1100 or so. That is where I am now. Then chow, then training as usual. We turn our lights on every morning when revelie is played, and off everynight when taps is played. Revelie is at 0530 Mon-Sat; 0600 on Sunday. Taps is at 2130 everynight. I got that map that you drew from that website. I am not sure what all the buildings are yet. Is there a map on that info that was sent to you?

We did not have a moment of silence on 9/11. I didn't even remember that it was 9/11 until later than night. Well, I will write more later.

I love you.

Kiss the girls for me.
I love you so much.

Adam

Just a few pics to update...

This is a really cool project I've had the privilege to help with over the past year. It's an absolutely amazing story. If you have a couple of minutes, check out the video.

Jones-Johnson Family Ministry Building Project

Happy Birthday Bryna!


My girl turned 6 today. Where'd the time go?!

Adam sent Bryna a sweet little b-day note and a letter to me today. I feel like Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory whenever the mail comes. I slowwwly sift through the letters hoping with all hope there's a golden ticket in there from my Adam. And when I get one - it's like I have wings!

Dad has been home since Tuesday! He continues to do very well. A little tired and stiff, but defnintely on the mend considering where he was only one week ago! Go Dad!!!

So much to be thankful for!

For those who have not yet heard -

Dad's surgery was miraculous! It turns out that he has been a walking miracle all these 56 years. A portion of his heart (an important and large portion) was, in fact, not even functional for all his life and was just discovered via surgery.
Also - get this. They did a QUINTuple bypass on him. Yep that's 5.

He has recovered so well over the weekend that they are going to go ahead and release him tomorrow! He gets to come home and recoup here! We cannot believe it. He's doing so very well. The nurses' comments have been that he gets the gold star for best patient! They loved him. We were so blessed to have such a caring staff.

We are so, so thankful for this amazing outcome. God's faithfulness is awesome. I see him using this as a catalyst for many many other things that He plans to do with our lives and our family!

----In other news-------

I got a very encouraging letter from Adam - he is sounding so much more positive! I am so incredibly proud of him. He's my hero!! Here's the letter:
----------------------

Hey girl,
I am finally able to write a letter. I called you today and talked to you for a few seconds about your dad. I am praying for everyone, your dad, mom, you, and the girls. I wish I could have found out what happened. All I know is my SDI pulled me out of a class at 0800 and said that a Bob from home had a heart attack and his condition is unknown. I was freaking out! I couldn't stop thinking about your poor mom and dad. I hope that everything is alright.

Today we did pugil sticks 1. It was alright. I was a little distracted. Anyway, it is crazy in Mike Company, but fun (kinda). I am the Platoon Head scribe, Company head scribe, first squad leader, and platoon prayer leader. Yeat, it keeps me busy. I am getting about 5-6 hours of sleep a night because of all the paperwork that I have to do after lights out. Starting tomorrow I am training in a new scribe and keeping the squad leader position. It is simply too much to do. Our platoon started with 85 recruits and it is now down to 77 or so. Hmm what else....Alot - but it is hard to write it all down so fast. I will have a lot of stories when I see you over Thanksgiving. Remember my current grad date is Wed Nov 22nd so family day will be Tues Nov 21st!

To my girls, I love you girls and I am so proud of you. Bryna, I am counting the days to hold you and hear all about your days at kindergarten. I bet you are acting like a big girl and taking care of your sister. :-) You are my girls. I love you. Give Livia a big hug and kiss from her dad.

Gena - what can I say. Because of this time apart from you, I am going to treat you better and better with eachday we are together. I miss you so much and I am so proud of you for being able to do what you are doing with our family. You are holding us together. You and Jesus are holding us together. Well, time to become a warrior. :-) Love to all.

I am well and think of everyone everyday.

Love, Adam.

Just wanted to give an update... It's long - but worth it to see what God is doing. :-)

In case you don't know - my dad's name is Bob Doring. ( I think it's nice to have a name.)

My dad will be having a quadruple bypass tomorrow morning. It turns out that he had the top 4 cardiologists in the world baffled, due to the fact that his heart is an anomaly. My dad was born with numerous birth defects. His left ear was basically one little lobe, his mouth was underdeveloped and was open from cheek bone to cheek bone. He spent the first several months of his life in the hospital having his mouth and ear reconstructed. When he was 31 he was able to hear in stereo for the first time when they did surgery to open his ear canal on his under-developed ear. So it turns out that his heart also has had a defect for all these 56 years. Our hearts, as you know, have arteries running from them. These arteries then branch off and into our systems (bear in mind my lack of knowledge when it comes to medical terminology). Well - not my dads. These cardiologists were scratching their heads because my dad's arteries do not branch out. They simply go straight into his "system." So they were looking for things that simply are not there.

God's orchestration is amazing in all this. My dad is maintenance man at Midwest Electric. He could have been up on top of a roof, all by himself when he had his heart attack. He could have had his head stuck in a live electrical box with testing equipment. (something he does almost daily). He could have been on the road with my mom and nephew, returning from a church conference in Milwaukee. But he wasn't. He was awakened, throughout the night from pressure. He did the right thing, and listened to his body and went in to get checked.

Furthermore - God placed him in Rochester, and for very good reason. You see, he would have had to wait until today to get an angiogram at ISJ. Instead, he was transported to Rochester where the top cardiologists will be performing an operation on an anomaly - a potentially fatal anomaly.

Today I went to visit my dad with my oldest sister, Natalie. We had a very, very special time with him - just chatting and enjoying each other's company. Before I left, I asked if it would be ok to pray with him. He said, "Absolutely." Now - for those of you who know any guys who are reserved about emotions and somewhat inhibited when it comes to expressing love verbally - then you get where I'm coming from. I am resolute in knowing that my dad loves me to the very core of my being. And I love him the same way in return. And we certainly tell each other that we love one another - but there are other words that are so touching that I've always wanted to make known to him, and maybe have in writing, but feel uncomfortable telling him verbally because I think it would make him break down. Today I was able to speak to him those words in prayer. It was a powerful moment that we shared.

I sat down on his bed, got really close to him, took him by the shoulders, looked in his eyes, and said, "Dad, I'm not going to be able to do this without crying." But I prayed and I had words pouring out of my soul that were not my words. It was a completely powerful and intimate moment that we shared. I am so grateful for it.

I am trying to not allow fear to enter the picture right now. I believe that there is no mistake in all that's been happening. I believe that God would not have planned this out so perfectly if not to spare my dad. I believe He has more purpose to carry out in person he created my dad to be.

I am running on, so I'm going to stop. Thanks for taking the time to read this and just pray as God leads. Thanks for embracing our family into your hearts right now. I can only say that God is pouring out His grace in ways that I can't put into words. He's so good, and He is in control!


Thanks - Gena

My dad is going to have surgery tomorrow. He will have two seperate consultations today
with various surgeons. One option is to have stints put in and the other is open-heart surgery. Today they will present him with the risks of each and he'll have to make a decision regarding which one to go with. The seemingly obvious choice would be stints, however, due to the location of the blockages, it has increased the level of risk in doing that procedure.

Please pray for guidance for my dad that the choice would be obvious in which surgery to have. I know medical technology has come so very far, and that he's in the best place in the world for this type of surgery - but it's still my dad. And - if I'm having a hard time trusting right now and feeling at peace, it's hard to imagine how he must feel. Please pray for the trust level of our family - that God would instill in us a sense of peace, so we're able to rest in His faithfulness. He is still in control. I need to say that over and over to myself some days.

Also, if you wouldn't mind praying for my Livia. She is having a bit of trouble seperating from me these days, with very good reason. Normally she adjusts very well, and is happy to go play at new places. Right now, I think, with the impact of long days at daycare and not having big sister there with her all day has been somewhat traumatic. Please pray that she would feel secure even though we are not together, and that our time together would be quality time.

Here is a great article about how church helps motivate the Marine recruits. It is also about the platoon prayer leaders, which is what Adam is now acting as in his platoon.

Click here to read.

This an old letter that got lost in the shuffle, but was finally delivered to me just today:

Written 8/20 and 8/22:
Gena-
It is Sunday night and today was the slowest day here yet. We got to sleep in today and got up at 0515 instead of 0415 like we do the rest of the week. Then I was late to church because we had to wash all of our dirty laundry by hand with a scrub brush after we were done with breakfast chow. So, I get to church and I went to the wrong service. I went to charasmatic service instead of non-denominational. It was still good though. My faith is about 50 times what it used to be.

Yesterday was my best day at boot camp so far. I got a bunch of letters from all of you. Thank you Gena, Mom and Dad, Jeff and Ahmelie, Tory and Natalie, Brinkerts, and Mr Webber for sending mail and motivating the poop out of me. Ha Ha :-) :-)

It was so amazing to read those letters and hear some familiar voices in my head. I am so grateful for all of you! Wow....

I also found out that senior Drill Instructor SSG Escamilla called the hospital and told them to change my sugery for my ears from Sept 5th to this week. He told me that he did it because I am a "motivated recruit." So I am learning alot from the other guys here and working my butt off. Today we did a crazy hard exercise course and hit the weight room twice. Yesterday we sprinted two miles, and we are doing it again tomorrow. I am one sore old man.

Any pictures that we get in the mail we have to shw our drill instructors. So I had to show the ones you printed off. The are my prized possesions by the wey. I show them off to everyone. Anyway Senior said I have a wonderful family and that I am ordered (double underlined) to take my wife to Hawaii when I get back. So that was a direct order from my SDI!!! :-)

I also just got Gena's two other letters tonight. I am looking forward to reading them after lights out tonight. Bryna, I love your haircut, sugar!! It is cute!!

Got to go.

Love to all.

Kiss my girls, I love their pics!!!

Adam

I just spoke to Adam on the phone for about 30 seconds. I notified him about my dad and that's all they'd give him. Please pray for Adam right now. He's going through the most difficult time of his life and it's even more difficult for him to be away from us. Letters of encouragement would be fantastic - please let me know if you'd like his updated address. He's currently in a very difficult phase of his training and he could use all the support from friends and loved ones he can get.

Google Maps:
If you have never done this, you have to. You can look up any address in the world and see an aerial view of it. My address of choice is the San Diego Airport, then I scroll "north" (UP) just a little, and I can see the USMC Recruit Depot, where Adam is. I can see platoons out doing training, marching to mess halls or barracks, I can see the obstable courses, the parade deck, the Deopt Theatre, the Bay on-base. Being the visual person that I am, it helps a tremendous amout for me to be able to look at this. I do so several times a day. I like to think that one of those little "ants" is Adam. :-) It makes me feel as though I can be there with him in a virutal way. I can't wait for him to come show me what is what...or rather - be there myself!

Anyway, if you feel like it - check it out sometime! (Make sure to click on the "satellite" button in the upper right of the window to see the "real" aerial view. You can even zoom in pretty far!

My dad's angiogram, yesterday, revealed 4 areas of blockage. Today they will administer a stress test to determine how to move forward with treatment. Some may be treatable via medication, others we're not sure. We do not know the extent of the blockage (percentage-wise) at this point. I may drive my mom to Rochester, but we're waiting to see what's going to happen next first.

I spoke with Dad last night on the phone, and he sounded like his cheerful self. (or tough German - "I'm just fine." self :-) I still have a lot of hope that he is going to be just fine - but we are very ready for treatment to be under way!

Thanks again, for your continued prayers and support.

I have a new mailing address for Adam, so if you'd like it please email me and I'll pass it off.

We are doing well, settling into the new school routine. Bryna is thriving so far. Livi does miss her big sister at daycare, though.

If you get a moment, please pray for my dad. He went into the ER on Saturday morning with chest pain. They confirmed that it was indeed his heart. We don't know the extent of all that happened, but he's undergoing an angiogram today in Rochester. I think Mom and I will be able to go pick him up today - so it's looking like he's going to be just fine.

In recent days there has been much moaning, groaning, complaining, and whining coming from my mouth. "This is so hard!" "How can I get through this!?" "I am so tired!", etc, etc. I think God has a really good sense of humor, being the good Dad that he is, and can always find a means of bringing us more perspective in life with little nudges here and there.

I got a nudge today. I was reading on another blog about a mom who had her baby 3 years ago today. She lost him only a few weeks after he was born. As if that was not bad enough, she has since lost 2 other babies to the same ultra-rare genetic disorder. Currently, she is recovering from breast cancer. She loves Jesus and her life shows it - in both her attitude and her actions. When I am allowed a glimpse into others' long suffering, like this woman's, I am brought to my knees. This is exactly where I need to be. On my knees.

I need to surrender to the fact that I am not perfect, that life is not perfect - I cannot get everything right all the time. There will be hard times, there will be failures - but at the end of the day, I'm the daughter of a King - and He's blessed me with an amazing husband who loves me for who I am - who is growing daily in his faith; with 2 beautiful, smart, funny, happy, vibrant girls; with a family who loves me and supports me; with loving, faithful friends; with a steady, good-paying job; with a wonderful home to live in; and with the freedom to worship the God who gave me all this.

Thanks, God, for bringing me back to reality today.

Thank you to all who continue to support us both tangilbly and in prayer. We can keep going because of it.

Much love,
Gena

PS - It's Bryna's first day of kindergarten tomorrow and she is soooo excited! I am too - and so very, very proud of her.
PPS - Be sure to read the three new letters posted below!

More letters:
8/27/06
I am getting ready to go to church and I am picturing our family getting ready for our church at Two Rivers. I just keep getting more and more sad. Please know that I miss you terribly adn I am heart broken to be away from you for so long. I am feeling this way eventough I am going to pretend to be strong. Ok? Ok.

I am getting a different outlook on life here. I am trusing God with every part of my life. I am trusting Him to take care of you and the girls. I am trusting Him that He will bring us back together soon. Most of all, or rather, hardest of all, I am trusting Him that this is the right place to be. I believe that He (Jesus) could get me out of here today if he wanted me out. [ Just got back from chruch - wow. I feel better. I love church, and I love Jesus! it is amazing how much I am learning to rely on Him for every little thing. We sang "Trading my Sorrows." and it hit my soul in the perfect spot. (Do you know what I mean?) So yeah, I miss you so much that if I think about it I want to either throw-up or run out the front gates and go UA to get back to you. I would love a couple more pictures, but only like two more. And later, after a month or two of training, more would be cool. And yes, please send Bryna's letters. I am not sure if I will be able to keep the tears back, but I need to see them. Trust Jesus to keep us safe and to Bring Us Back Together Soon. He will!!! Hi Bryna, I love you. Did you get my letter I sent you? Remember you are always my big girl!! I LOVE YOU GENA, I am with you always too!!

8/28/06
Bryna-
Hi Bryna Ballerina, how are you doing? I wanted to write to you and let you know how much your Daddy misses you! I saw your picturewith your new hair cutt and I think that you are the most beautiful almost six yearh old in the world. I also have a new haircut, but it doesn't look as good as yours.

I hope that you are having fun with your mom and sister and are helping mom like a big girl should. Without dad at home you are in charge of more stuff. I heard you are learning how to wash dishes. That is great!! That makes me very proud of you. I am learning how to do my best at eveything I do, and I hopu are learning the same thing.

Are you ready for school? Tell mama to take lots of first day school pics so I can see them when I get home. The place where I am stying is right by an airport so I see big planes take off and land everyday. Soon you will be coming here in one of those planes and we can watch them take off and land together. We are also going to go as a family, an see a killer whale and a lot of other fish at sea world. Does that sound like fun? It does to me!!

I have to go Bryna, but you be good and keep helping your mother with housework and your sister. I love you and miss you very very very very much.

Say hello to the kitties for me -

Love, Dad.

8/30/06
"Another day in PCP."

Hey Girl - This might be one of my last letters for a while - I am not sure I probably calle you last week to tell you. Mike company is known as Mighty Mike. They are the toughest company on depot. I do not know if the doctor will clear me tomorrow to do that or not. Alpha is known for being a middle of the road company, I guess.

I am at the linen warehouse right now waiting for the workers to show up so we can get our clean bed linens for PCP. It is 0600. Today I had to get up at 0245 to post fire watch in the company office until lights on at 0415. That wasn't too fun. I amd trying to think of some of the questions that you asked me in your latest letter. The last one I got was your handwritten letter that you wrote on Sat. I can barely believe tht life is going on as usual in Mankato. Iti is weird to imagine that place still existing while I am here. It is getting a little more normal here. I stress " a little." The routine that I am in is not norma for here, but it is getting there. Tell Clay thank you for the letter that he wrote, He is the BEST (two underlines) brother a guy could have. I love him.

I could not have done this without you as my wife, Gena. You are the main reason I believe I can do this. I would have given up a while ago if it wasn't for your wonderful, encouraging letters. I thank God every night and morning that I have you, and no one else as my wife.

Tell Bryna I love her & HI! I am glad to hear that you are wanting me to be here still. I am getting tired, my body is not overly stressed, but it is always tired. I am not sure how training is going to treat me. I guess we will find out. My worst fear is to break my leg or something and have t stay here to let it heal and stuff. Hopefully that won't happen, though.

CA is beautiful. I think you asked me about how it is here. It is usually cloudy unitl 1000 or 1100, then it is sunny the rest of the day. It has not rained since I have been here. From what I hear, it doesn't really rain hre in the summer. But now I am going to be here in the winter, and I hear that the nights and mornings ar chilly. Should be interesting camping during 2nd phase. Did I tell you I might get all of Dec off if my grad date is right? I am not sure though. You might want to ask Lomax the next time you talk to him.

Oh yeah - yesterday I was one of the recruits picked for RAMPS. I am not sure what it stands for, but three recruits from each STC platoon (MPR1, 2, 3, and PCP) go out to breakfast on base with the first seargant and the company captain. We went to the Marines chow hall, not the recruit chow hall, and had real eggs, real pancakes, and get this....COFFEE. It was wonderful. I miss sittng at the table with you and just drinking a cup of coffee. Ahhh some day soon. :-) I can not wait to hug you and I don't think I am going to let you go.

And, tell Bryna that there is a bowling alley here and we can use it on visitor Thursday. Cool huh? Anyway.

I love you ALL!! oooxxxoooxxxooo Adam!! DAD!!