Busy Day

12 Feb 09 (Thurs)

It was a long and busy day. The Chaplain students hosted a Prayer Breakfast this morning for the leadership and the Chaplain Assistant students who are also here at Ft. Jackson training. Some of those Soldiers will be working with some of us one of these days, so it was a nice social event. Too bad it started at 0600 and was over by 0715. I was part of the set up committee and needed to be there by 0500, which means I woke up today about 0415. Most of the Chaplain Assistants were in their early 20s, and seemed to be scared to death to be around so many Officers! (I think they teach them that in Basic training). You see, every new recruit Soldier goes through 12 weeks of basic training where they learn the "basics" of the Army and being a Soldier. Then, every one of them goes on to additional training, which is called Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for their job specialty. In this case, Chaplain Assistant school, where they stay another 8 weeks or so and learn the specifics about working in a Chapel and assisting the religious ministry of the Army. They try to get our two schools together every now and then for social functions. Those are the guys (and girls) with the guns, so we need to be nice to them!

I also gave my first Field Service (sermon) today. It went well, and I received many positive comments. However, this is also a training lab where we are critiqued by our peers and the instructors. So I also got some constructive criticism that I need to take in and process. It's always hard to hear the negative stuff, but it's good for me. I suppose it's only for my benefit.

Now the good news... my parents made it home safely from their trip this week, which is an answer to prayer. AND I'll be going home tomorrow for the long Valentine weekend! I can't wait to see my family. I made it to the 1/2 way mark, and this trip home is a way of celebrating that we made it this far and everything else is downhill !!