GO BLUE !!

Saturday 12 Sept, 09

I was scheduled for some training up until early afternoon, and then I was able to catch the 4th quarter of the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game. Michigan won in the last 15 seconds. It was Awesome! Perhaps my Wolverines are on their way back. Look out Ohio State!

On a different note, I led a 9/11 Tribute ceremony last night in the chapel for those who wanted to attend. We had about 30 show up, and I showed some video and played some music and had a moment of silence at 9:11 pm (or 2111). It was nice. My goal was to not only stop and reflect on what happened that day (8 years ago), and to remember that this is why we are (I am) here, but also to motivate the Soldiers (and some Navy guys were there) to continue on with the fight. It is worth it!

My First Church

10 Sept 09

The last few days have been sunnier and warmer than the first few, and the spirits around here seem to be a little higher, too. The Soldiers are getting into a groove now, which is starting to include more weapons training. We've been issued even more gear, which makes everyone's load that much heavier to lug around. But I suppose that's OK, since there is an old saying that you'd rather have it and not need it than the other way around.

I am attaching a few pictures of the old WWII Chapel that I have been assigned to here in the barracks. I am now the OIC of the chapel, which means "Office in Charge." Sounds official, huh? There are approx. 500 military personnel in various companies in this little area right now, and I'm the only Chaplain in sight. Which means servicemen and women from the AF and NAVY as well as the ARMY will be invited to my chapel services while I'm here. I may be called on to do counseling for anyone who needs it, too, which could be daunting, but we'll see. They tell me a Unit of 1500 is returning from the "sandbox" by the end of the month and they will have a few Chaplains with them to assist in the needs here. I look forward to meeting those Chaplains when they get here.

Well, if you can see it from the picture, that is Mt. Rainier in the background. The old chapel faces it, which is kind of cool. The inside is the old wooden style pews, with a balcony. My Chaplain Asstsiant and I are assigned to keep it clean and accessible for any who want to use it (which often includes large group meetings for incoming and out-going groups). Someday I will look back and fondly remember this place as my first church and first congregation!

396 days and counting!

Labor Day,

Well, the 400 day countdown has begun. I spent a few days in Texas with my deploying Unit and then we all flew together up to the Pacific Northwest to our Mobilization (MOB) site. It was hard to say goodbye to family, but (ironically) somewhat easier than I was expecting. Maybe you just get used to this sort of thing? I doubt it!

We landed in the rain and proceeded to get settled in to our old, WWII barracks for the next few weeks. For security reasons I cannot tell you how long we'll be here, but we won't be leaving anytime soon. One of the pictures should show you the WWII barracks from a 2nd floor window. It's kind of pretty here, but cold and rainy. In fact, yesterday was a miserable day for me because I was not prepared for the rain or the cold. Yes, I know, I'm an idiot. You see, a few days back I spent time packing a tough box with all sorts of cold and wet weather gear that will be shipped on ahead of us to our final destination. I will not have access to it at all for awhile. And in the Texas heat it never occured to me to pull out some warm weather and rain gear for the time we'd spend in the Pacific NW. So I packed it all up and sent it on ahead. You can either call me a rookie or retarded... maybe both. My wife would call me "High Speed."

The other issue is the airlines broke my personal foot locker even before we left Texas. They kindly taped it up, but it was damaged beyond use. You can see from the picture that one end is completely torn off. They must have dropped it off that conveyor belt that goes up into the belly of the plane and then ran over it with a truck! That's how badly it was damaged (see picture). I empyied the contents and then threw it away. It makes you wonder what really goes on with our luggage behind the scenes at the airport. They must really manhandle our stuff.

Anyway, God heard my prayers and understood my frustrations. After standing in the early morning darkness and wet chill this morning, someone told me that my large back-pack (called a Mollie) arrived late last night and that I could go get it. To my wonderful surprise, I found my helmet, a warm fleece jacket, and some wet weather gear! I was not expecting to be able to get to this clothing, and it sure made my day. I am now warm, dry, and happy! (Thank you, Lord).

They also found me a private room, but there was no bed in here initially. So the guys helped me build a bed frame with old foot-lockers and we found a mattress... and presto! A comfy little room. (It's good to be the Chaplain!) The guys knew I was frustrated and were glad to help me get settled in. Most of the Soldiers are in large open "bays" with bunk beds. There are about 25 men in the room just outside my door, and the same amount down below on the first floor. They say rank has it's privileges, and I'm beginning to understand why. (Trust me, I'm not complaining).

OK, gotta run for now. I'll blog more in a few days. Training started for us up here on Labor Day. Hope you all had a nice Holiday.

"He Will Carry Me"

Sept 1, 2009

It's almost time to leave, and I'm mentally getting ready. There is quite a bit of packing yet to be done, and I have to figure out how to pack a year of my life into two duffle bags! The next few days will be hard, especially the goobdbyes to my family. Please keep us in your prayers.

I wanted to share with you the words and music of one of my favorite Christian artists, Mark Schultz. He has a song called, "He Will Carry Me" that will be my theme song for the next year. I will share this every chance I get with my Soldiers. I am not sure if this web link will work, but if it does you can watch his video. Try this:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1511618382816071372

The words are below:

I call, You hear me I’ve lost it all And it’s more than I can bear.I feel so empty
You’re strong I’m weary I’m holdin’ on But I feel like givin’ in But still You’re with me

chorus: And even though I’m walkin’ through The valley of the shadow I will hold tight to the hand of Him Whose love will comfort me And when all hope is gone And I’ve been wounded in the battle He is all the strength that I will Ever need And He will carry me

I know I’m broken But You alone Can mend this heart of mine You’re always with me
(chorus)
And even though I feel so lonely Like I’ve never been before You never said it would be easy But You said you’d see me through The storm
(chorus)

It is a powerful song that has taken on new meaning for me recently. Perhaps it can speak to you if/when you go through tough times as well.

Talk to you again soon.

Welcome back...

August 2009

Quite a bit has happened since I last updated my blog in April. I returned home from the Chaplain school and resumed my life...sort of. I have found it very hard to turn the Army on and off (which you have to do in the Reserves), especially since I was "cross-leveled" to a different Unit in a different State. (In other words, I got "traded" to a different Unit that is going overseas). I have already been to several different states training so far this summer (and have been loaded down with lots of new gear, as you can see!)

The bathroom facilities at one particular site were not much to write home about. So I took pictures instead! When your choice is a communal toilet with no doors (see above), it makes the port-a-potty look very attractive. (At least you have some privacy!). No one ever said joining the military would be fun, or comfortable, or even sanitary!

It has been a hard year on my family already. I have been gone quite a bit with training, and my wife's sister lost her battle with cancer a few weeks ago. It was a sad time for us. I was able to be home and officiate at her funeral, and I truly believe I will see her again in heaven, but it is still a difficult experience to go through.

I will do my best to continue this blog, however I can't make any promises about how often or what I can/cannot report. I will make every effort to sterilize my blogs of any information (including names, locations, people) that could be read by anyone on the internet. That may sound silly to you, but I have to take it very seriously. The enemies of the United States are using and reading the internet just like everyone else, and I have to be careful what I put out there.

So check back in occasionally. More to come in the weeks and months to follow.