We Saw Allah

And He likes us.

Ever make one of those wrong turns while driving in a strange place? One moment everything is quiet and quaint and tranquil and the next, well, you're wondering what the frack just happened.

It was supposed to be a quick jaunt over some terrain new to us. Nothing major - a short drive before we returned home to base in time for lunch. But as our truck climbed a small hill down onto a little dirt bridge, we felt our Humvee slide sickeningly as the driver, Medina, punched the gas, struggling for traction and control.

We'd made it to the other side of the canal. But a good chunk of thew bridge wasn't so lucky. Turns out said bridge was just dirt and hay and not really a match for our thousands of pounds of up-armored weight. So there we sat, one Humvee on the far side of a deep canal, two on the other side, and a crumbling excuse for a bridge in-between (no, literally crumbling - LT Stansbury stomped on a piece and it gave way. And he ain't a big guy).

How we made it, I'm not really sure. But, here's what Medina had to say:
"I now know that Allah really is in this land. Because I felt him holding up our Humvee and lifting us across."

So, thank you, Allah, because that was a bit of close one. And being in a Humvee that rolls into a canal just does not seem like fun.