Stephen William Frank

West Point, 1998

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Jeannine (Thyreen) Mizingou on January 9, 2006:

My cousin Stephen will remain with me all the days of my life. Ever since Stephen left for Iraq I had been emailing him. My original intention was to support and encourage him during his time overseas and at war. What it turned out to be was a fellowship between more than just cousins, but as a brother and sister in Christ. I got to know Stephen in a way I hadn't known him. He was a blessing to my husband Ted and I. Though Ted only got to meet Stephen over the phone, he was always touched and moved by his emails over the months, and we often prayed for Stephen. We both cherish that Aunt Sue had us speak with Stephen on her cellphone at Christmas 2004 before he left for Iraq. When I look back on it, I recognize what a working of God that was. The time Stephen and I had together through emails, in the words we shared, the heart and faith we touched, remain with me. Even though his emails were obviously brief, they were touching and real. We were a source of encouragement to each other. I recall one of the last emails he wrote to me said only this: "I am praying for you and your family." I remembered it word for word because somehow I was surprised he was praying for us while he was the one in harm's way. He always asked for prayers for his troop and for his fellow men, and would give specific names of men and their families. The only two emails I have saved read as follows: 1/23/05 Jeannine and Ted, Thank you for the pictures. I am so excited that you got to see the innaugaration of the Commander in Chief. We all forgot about the inaugaration until the next day when it was on the cover of the Stars and Stripes. It's hard to keep track of the days. Things are going well here, except that it is very wet and mucky. Please continue to pray for my unit, our leaders, and soldiers. We will be crossing the berm very soon. Love, Stephen Another email reads: 2/9/05 Thank you for your prayers. Recent events have made it obvious that God is watching over us. He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies. I have attached a picture of us in front of the vehicle that we drove here. Love, Stephen I vividly recall an email he wrote within the past month or so when the troop member was killed from catching on fire when he tried to save another troop who was on fire. Stephen referred to the scripture, "one has no greater love than he who lays his life down for his friends." I sent a poem I wrote to Stephen about a month or two before his death. He responded saying that it was "exactly how he feels." He said that many times he feels that he "can't get out of the boat": the poem I sent him reads as follows: People Still Walk On Water Lord, help me get up to the heights of your plans, rather than drowning in my own world of flesh, that I might not leave myself in despair, because I am anchored in this world. I know people that follow you still walk on water; I am ashamed to admit, how self-focused I am that I would surely sink. While the thought of getting out of the boat and walking on the water to you is so thrilling, I fall so short because I cannot live as Christ lived after the thrills of the first steps of faith when things get hard. Without your grace abounding I will not survive. I look forward to the day I am less pathetic, when I am as clean in my heart as the water I'll walk on. What Stephen didn't recognize was that HE WAS WALKING ON WATER. I am comforted by this verse: Deuteronomy 32:43 and 47, "Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. . . .They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." In loving memory of my cousin Stephen, Jeannine (Thyreen) Mizingou

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