On a desk in the basement of their family home, Nancy Watkins has a framed picture of her oldest son. Adam is dressed in his army fatigues. He is only 21 years old.

"I'm sad because this is the first Christmas without all of my sons at home," Nancy says.

She pauses only for a moment, then smiles. "But I'm proud of what he's decided to do," she says.

Adam enlisted in the army one year ago without telling his parents. They found out a few weeks later by accident.

"Now I worry about him all the time," Nancy says.

Just two weeks ago, Adam deployed to Afghanistan as part of President Obama's troop surge. To help her cope, Nancy began making bookmarks. Lots of them.

In the last few weeks, she's crafted 250 simple bookmarks with Adam's picture, a series of Bible verses, and all of his contact information in Afghanistan. She's mailed them to family and friends across the state, shared them with co-workers, and passed them out at church.

She's even given some to strangers.

"All the prayers that he gets can't hurt," Nancy says.

Nancy got the idea from another military mom, part of a network of people giving support to those - like Nancy - who are dealing with the difficult transition of sending a child to war.

For everybody who receives a bookmark, Nancy hopes they'll take a moment to email her son or - at the very least - say a prayer. If they want, they can even send him a small care package.

"They keep him busy, but he says he still gets homesick," Nancy said. "I thought the more letters and packages he got, it would help him."

And she hopes it might help others. Nancy would like to see the bookmarks catch on for all those who have loved ones serving overseas. She believes it would benefit soldiers, as well as those at home -- mothers, just like Nancy, who wish there was more they could do.

"I feel like I'm doing something to honor him," Nancy says. "I just feel like the more people who are out praying for him, the better he will be."