stove not included

A chaplain and I reconnoitered the barracks on Monday in order to decide how best to go about this outreach.

Which, by the way, is still nameless.  But at least we're down to four names: Batter Buddies, Batterground (they were tied for first), Baking Brigade, and Bake.Pray.Love.

I had a hard time sleeping that night, because I kept thinking of what I saw in the barracks (or maybe it was the fact that I wanted to give my friend the night off, and babysat her toddler for 24+ hours with little sleep).

Seriously, it's worse than the honors dorm I lived in for three years of undergrad.  I didn't know that was possible.

They don't even have a stove (in the particular building I visited).  I kept thinking of the guys at the gas station when I stopped on post Sunday night.  The one who really left an impression had a frozen pot pie and a sports drink.  At the time, I thought, "That's so sad.  But maybe he just doesn't feel like cooking tonight."

Or, you know, maybe he doesn't even have a stove.  That was clearly my second thought.

Granted, I used the stove once the entire time I was in a dorm, and that was to bake cookies (I used the stove frequently when I lived in an apartment).  But it's the principle of the matter.

We chatted with a soldier in the orderly room to find out the best time to stop by and gauge how well-received this outreach would be.

And while I was happy to hear that it would really boost morale, it saddened me to hear that many soldiers don't have a lot of contact with family and support systems, that a couple of cookies from some arbitrary people would really show them that their commands care about them.

I mean, think about it.  Maybe you're 18, and you're away from home for the first time, but unlike orientation week at college, no one's around to send you off to mandatory fun and keep you from feeling homesick and you never get mail from your parents or hang out with your coworkers.  Maybe you don't have a car.  Apparently, you don't have a stove, either.  And your housing is so old that it's condemned, and if Air Force personnel would have to live where you do, they'd receive a higher housing allowance because of it.  (I mean, I used to complain because my dorm didn't have an elevator and no one held the door open for me when I traipsed up four flights of stairs with a laundry basket.)  And some free cookies and a sincere "hey, how are you doing?" would totally make your day.

I am more excited and ... rushed? (I think I feel rushed, or anxious, or ready yesterday, or something like that) than ever to get this underway.  People have approached me in chapel to ask when this is going to finally start.  More people have asked for information.  The colonel in charge of the second barracks we'll be visiting (the barracks that I visited today) is all for this.  And I want to bake some fresh cookies on Sunday afternoon so they can be delivered, still warm.  Except, the stove at the chapel is broken, and there are higher priorities.