Not "mine" but "ours" - 9 August 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Norfolk, Virginia. There have been several significant changes since the last time you heard from me; allow me to share. I finished up my time in Okinawa and hopped on the "Freedom Bird" to bring me back stateside on 23 May; I arrived at my new duty station (for the next two years) of Norfolk, VA, shortly thereafter; on 3 July, I married the love of my life, Mrs. Abigail Haack (Cleveland, formerly); we went on our honeymoon and then moved into our new apartment together; I have started a new job working for a unit called Marine Forces Command. Finally, most of the dust has settled...

The most significant change noted above, obviously, is our marriage - going on 5 weeks now! Accordingly, you will see the language of these updates alter since they are no longer "mine," but rather "ours." Along those lines... Our adjustment to married life has been very smooth (we would actually say it has been nothing short of amazing/incredible/wonderful/you get the idea, but we'll just stick with very smooth for now). This is a testimony to God's grace, which has covered us throughout the entire process - whether it be our long-distance relationship and engagement, to travels to and from Okinawa for special visits, to our wedding plans and the actual ceremony/reception, to our honeymoon and eventual move-in together in a brand new place, and absolutely everything in between. Of course, we are now thrilled to begin this phase of our lives... pursuing Jesus together as ONE, for His purpose and glory alone. Amen. And thankfully, God's grace will be covering us as we enter in to this as well - we wouldn't be able to do it any other way. As such, we are trying to find our niche in Norfolk, between things like finding a solid church in which to serve, finding brothers and sisters in Christ with whom to fellowship, and most importantly, building a solid foundation for our marriage upon our Rock and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.


We love receiving updates from you, so please let us now how you are doing! Also, let us know if you will be in the Norfolk area and would like to stop by - our address is listed below, and our email addresses are in the "To" line. Lastly, I'd like to take this opportunity to advertise our new blog titled, "Thou Shalt Grow" which you can find here http://stevenandabigail.blogspot.com/ We have lots of pictures and posts about our new life together for you to enjoy. The next entry we are looking forward to posting will be titled "The Haack Family is Expanding." This has to do with our two new goldfish... and you thought we were going to start making babies already... yeah right!
Take care and talk to you soon.

In Him who is able to do immeasurably more,
Steve & Abby Haack

New Address...

Steve & Abby Haack
636 Rhode Island Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23508

About that time... - 19 August 2009

Ladies and Gents, it is about that time to transition. Why? Because a lot has happened in my life since I last posted. I have been in the United States for almost three months now, having arrived on 23 May 2009. The significant changes are highlighted in one last post you will see shortly. But before I go I want to share what the last two months of my time in Okinawa was like.

It is hard to remember now, but I believe a few pictures will bring it back pretty quickly. These pictures and descriptions tell of the big four things I wrote about in my last post that I wanted to accomplish before I left. In no particular order, here they are:

(1) travel to historic Iwo Jima (2) complete requirements and testing for my private pilot's license (3) bike around the perimeter of the island over a long weekend (4) SCUBA dive in the Kerama islands off southwest tip of Okinawa, said to be one of the top dive sites in the world according to Jacques Cousteau.

I am very pleased to report that I was able to do all four before I left, and I was able to capture some of the memories.

Atop historic Mt. Suribachi with Iwo Jima landing beach in the background.

Trek around Okinawa. At this point I was about 1/3 of the way around.

I seriously am licensed to fly single-engine planes. Ridiculous, I know, but true.

Beautiful Okinawa from the sky.

And now, on to another chapter, which you can read about in the next post. Pretty sure it will prove to be even better than this one. Amen. Thank you and bless.

In Him who is able to do immeasurably more,
Steven Robert Haack

Three month's time... - 13 March 2009

Dear Friends and Family:

Three months ago was the last time you heard from me, after I'd arrived back on the tropical island of Okinawa from my tour of the South Pacific with the MEU. A lot has transpired in my life since then, as I'm sure it has in your life as well. I encourage you to think back three months ago (beginning of December 2008 if you can't remember!) and ponder all the ways that God has worked in your life, the many blessings, and perhaps the many trials. Whether the Lord gives, or takes away, He is still worthy of our lives lived unto Him. As the scripture says, "The Lord [gives] and the Lord [takes] away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:20). I'm not quoting that verse in some soft, light-hearted, fate-related sort of way. I'm quoting that verse and believing that Truth and sharing it with you based on the fact that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). God has not changed and will not change, regardless of the great joy or great sorrow in your/our lives. His mighty hand and outstretched arm are extended to us just as they were extended to the Israelites of old - offering the amazing grace, great strength, miraculous healing, holy redemption, and extreme blessing through our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Over the course of the past three months I have experienced God's extreme blessing. Believe it or not (at least it's hard for me to believe), I only have 10 weeks left in Okinawa before my boots hit the deck in Norfolk, Virginia, which is my next duty station. I am due to report to Marine Forces Command (MARFORCOM) no later than 4 June. I'm getting married shortly thereafter in the month of July…. wait a minute, did I type that right? Heck yeah I did!!! Shortly after returning from the MEU to Okinawa, I traveled across the Pacific for Christmas leave. I wasted no time in my marriage proposal to the beautiful Miss Abigail Cleveland (soon-to-be Haack), as I brought her to the Monday Night Football game on 22 December in Chicago the same afternoon that I landed at O'Hare Airport. Little did she know that at halftime the scoreboard would read, "Special message for Miss Abigail Cleveland… Abby, will you marry me? Love, Steve." Romantic? Perhaps. Cold? Yes!!! -13 degrees and the coldest game since 1963 or some crazy statistic like that. However you look at it, it was certainly a night to remember for Abby and I. The remaining two weeks of leave were spent with dear family and friends in the Chicago and Washington D.C. areas. Saying goodbye was made easier with the purchase of a plane ticket for Abby to visit me in Okinawa once more before I PCS (short for permanent change of station) in May. That time has also come and gone, as she visited from 19 February - 9 March. We had a low-key visit where we enjoyed each other and our engaged status, though it'd most certainly be a lie to say we're not anxiously anticipating the "honeymoon phase" and finally being married after almost 1.5 years of long distance relationship. While this is by far the most exciting news, other recent highlights include my acceptance to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary to begin online/correspondence classes towards a Master's of Divinity degree, and finishing the Okinawa Marathon on 22 February with a time of 3 hours 17 minutes 01 seconds.

There are a few things I'd like to do before I leave the island (1) travel to historic Iwo Jima, my unit has a trip planned for 1 April (2) complete requirements and testing for my private pilot's license - I'm almost there! (3) bike around the perimeter of the island over a long weekend (4) SCUBA dive in the Kerama islands off southwest tip of Okinawa, said to be one of the top dive sites in the world according to Jacques Cousteau. I also am praying that God would give grace as I move on from many significant friendships that I've made over here through my church (the Harbor) and otherwise, and that I would have a successful professional transition as well.

Please let me know how you are doing when you get the chance; I would love to hear from you. Take care for now.

Pressing on towards the Goal,
1stLt Steven R. Haack
S-6 Officer, MACG-18