“Whole Again”

Ben —  February 23, 2012 — 16 Comments

A couple of days ago, my Facebook timeline exploded with tons of updates from our AZ family

Most of them were similar to this:

Oh yeah, and this:

My brother-in-law came home to my sister, and the rest of his family… after being in Afghanistan for about 16 months.

Channel 3 documented it all here:

Link to full story here.

I can’t even comprehend what this family had to endure during those 16 months. In fact, all I would ever hear from my sister either through a phone call, or even texting… was hope and faith. Never doubt, never fear, but hope and faith that God is protecting her husband so that he can finish this season of his life, and come back home to his family to fulfill his tour of family duty. As my niece Marissa puts it, “It feels whole again, the house…when we walk back in the house, it’s going to feel like home again.

Wow.

*tear*

God bless you Tyler, thank you for coming home to my sister, my nieces and my nephew. Thank you Lani for being a great example of a prayerful wife, a strong woman of God, and a loving sister. We, over here in Georgia thank you both for all you do.

We love you.

~ Your Georgia Nunes Family

Do you know anybody who had one of these Surprise Homecomings?

16 responses to “Whole Again”

  1. WOW. Incredible. Thanks a lot for sharing that. Makes me want to go home and hug my wife and kids right now.

  2. Here’s to you, T & L. We love you all so much. -Kimmy, Kiss, Mad-Dawg & Jackie

  3. Ben – you said everything I want to say and then some….. Thank you for telling the story of our family. All glory and honor to God – Psalm 91:1-2 NLT
    1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
    2 This I declare about the LORD:
    He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.

  4. what an awesome video! grateful for his service and dedication to his family!

  5. That’s awesome. I share in their joy. A wonderful blessing! Thanks for sharing Ben!

  6. It still seems so surreal that he is home. What a very gracious God we have for protecting and blessing us with Tyler.

  7. For my brother’s blogging family, thank you for your love, support and prayers. My husband left here shortly after Christmas in 2010 and we stood in a family circle, a quite LARGE one at that, and prayed fervently. We are a family of faith. A family that goes far beyond the walls of our home, lines of our state and oceans of this country.

    Thank you Madi and Kiss for praying for your Uncle…and learning how to ride that bike so fast so he’d come home!

    I could go on about how much love and support our family has had, but the underlying foundation has and always will be our Faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. I am humbled at the mere fact that my husband came home, not all do. And…he came home with all his parts, minus a few pounds but nothing I can’t fix with a cookie jar :).

    Thank you again for sharing in our journey – GOD IS GOOD.

    Psalms 18:32-36,
    Willbanks Ohana

    • That circle… as somber as it was, I KNEW the time would go quick for you, although I’m sure it didn’t feel like it.

      That foundation is key 🙂

      Oh, and get on that cookie jar, ’cause come May I’m gonna fill up like 10 of those!

  8. I would like to say “welcome back safely Major Willbanks'” seems you’ve showed my nieces and their/your family what it is to be a brave and inspirational person. I pray we can all take the true meaning of our freedom, family, and faith from this chapter!! To Malia and Wila, I love you girls with all 4 of my hearts and your happiness means the world to me… Luv u, Nino

  9. Man I can never get enough of these kind of stories. God bless all of the men and women who serve.

    I have a friend that was able to suprise his kids at Christmas this year. Pretty awesome.

    THanks for sharing.

  10. Wow. Powerful stuff.

    I grew up in a military town and my parents were enlisted when I was a little kid. There is a great sense of honor and patriotism when our heroes come home.

    Glad your bro-in-law is back safe.

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