Good Things

Great Things

          Well this weekend promises to be another great weekend to wrap up an awesome week. The only downfall to this week so far is the fact that I had to work the Graveyard shift for the rotation. The rewards from the week though will definitely pay for everything in the end though.

            As you have been reading so far, I have turned in my application for seminary school and I am just waiting on the answer. Although it is nerve wrecking, it is also exciting. My mother and my father’s birthday were this week which is awesome because that means another year they made it on this earth. My wife has been invited into the leadership of the church to take over the media (web based) side of the house, which we could not be happier about. So far I have not even gone through a half tank of gas on the new car which means that we are saving money as we had planned, the pool is clean which means the kids get to swim when they want, and my love for God and my family is stronger than ever.

            Now we come to the weekend and there are some just awesome things happening. Today we have our meeting for AWANA’s which kicks off this Sunday. My wife and I are so excited because we will be helping out with AWANA’s this year. It will be my first chance to influence not just my children but other children and help to educate and strengthen their relationships with God.

            Last but most definitely not least, I will get the opportunity to witness two more members of my family dedicate their life to God through baptism. That’s right folks, even though I am working all night I would not miss the chance to watch my beautiful wife and daughter get baptized on Sunday. I am so proud of not only Anna but Shannon as well, I dedicated not only myself to God but have also trusted Him with my family and let me tell you He is definitely guiding us and working in our lives. I have no idea why I waited so long to do this but I would not have it any other way. We as a family have never been as strong as we are now and that wouldn’t be possible without the LOVE of Christ in our lives. If you have not accepted Christ as your savior and asked forgiveness for your sins, I urge you to take a look at me, I have never been happier in my whole life. The LOVE of Christ is the best feeling in the world. It will change your life without a doubt. It has taught me to love those whom I hated and to LOVE those close to me even more. Just think about it. God Bless and thank you for reading.

G.E.D.D.

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Waiting

Waiting is Nerve Wrecking

            Well as the title says, waiting on an answer for something you want to do is extremely nerve wrecking. This week I completed the process of submitting my application for Seminary school through Moody Bible Institute, and now I am just waiting on the response from the school. Unlike most schools who will accept you just to get your money, this one actually has an approval process.

            The application alone was a little nerve wrecking because I was providing some fairly personal information to people I have never and will probably never meet. I had to answer questions not only about myself, but also about my wife and her previous marriage. For me that was a little weird, but I guess I understand why. When you make the decision to serve God in the way that I feel I am being led to serve, I have to stand for all mine and my family’s decisions. I am pretty sure though that my application portion was solid.

            Then of course is the transcript process of the application. This was a fairly easy process for me to complete. I am now just hoping that most of my classes that I have taken this far will transfer over to my new school, that would help to focus my studies in Word instead of core classes, which is what I am looking forward to.

            The last portion of the application and probably the one I am most worried about is the personal reference portion from my pastor. I am not worried because I think my pastor would say anything bad about me, but the process says that my pastor should know me for at least a year. Well there is no pastor that I have ever known for a year, but Pastor Greg is the only pastor that has truly had the chance to get to know me both personally and spiritually. I am hoping that my strength and dedication to my faith and my love for God will reflect and give strength to my application. Although my pastor did send me a message telling me that as long as the admissions team didn’t read his reference letter I should be good for the school. HAHAHA didn’t think I would throw that out there did you Greg. Nah I am just kidding, I have complete trust and faith in my pastor, and if he doesn’t think I am ready then I would respect that no matter what.

            So now comes the hardest part of the whole process, the waiting. I was told that once the school gets all the required documents I should have an answer within a week of yes or no on the admission. I am putting all my faith in the Lord to guide this answer and will respect whatever answer is given to me. You see I look at it this way, I feel that this is something that the Lord has put on my heart to pursue therefore the answer will be a yes. If this is something that I am being led to do for myself and not for God then the answer will be no. I will say this though, even if the answer is no, that does not mean I will give up. I will just study harder, pray harder, and seek more spiritual guidance until I fulfill this thing that has been put on my heart. For those who know me would all know that 6 months ago I would not have even thought about going into ministry. Thank you and God Bless.

G.E.D.D.

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Dont Forget

Don’t Forget

            I am going a little off of topic tonight and going away from my walk with the Lord in a way. I have had something that has been laid on my heart these last few weeks and I think it is time to address. As Americans we tend to take a lot of things for granted. One of the things we take for granted I believe is our freedom and those who protect us and ensure that freedom.

            As most know I was a Soldier for 13 years and served in the US Army as an Infantryman. I have been deployed 2 times in support of Iraqi Freedom. Through both of my tours I saw a lot of death of the insurgents, as well as a lot of younger Soldiers and great men die serving their country. Even though our country likes to pretend like they care, I start to get the feeling that it is not truly sincere. Take a look at just a few of the recent news headlines nowadays.

            One that is truly a travesty is the argument on Capitol Hill right now about retirement benefits for those who served in the military. If you have any Facebook friends that are in the military you have probably seen this post over the last few days.

            I took a job knowing I would never get rich. I've missed out on holidays & spent them working. If I got a "bonus" it would be investigated. I may have to lay down my life or take one. My life expectancy is shorter than yours because of the stress. But yet, you think I'm overpaid & not deserving of a pension or Health Care Benefits?

          Or this one.

          Military retirement is not a Entitlement, it was earned! The benefits aren't some kind of charity or handout! Congressional benefits = free health care, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, 3 weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days - now THAT'S welfare. And Congress has the nerve to call a Military retirement an Entitlement?

          I mean come on now really, military retirement is a benefit of going into the military. There are not many benefits other than the health care and retirement for going into the military. For those who spend most of their adult lives in the military protecting the country, get out at about the age of 40-50. Why do we want to take their retirement from them? It is truly depressing, as Soldiers you are asked to make some of the most difficult decisions of your life and then live with it. Put yourself in the shoes of a 17 year old private whose parents signed off on them going into the service. So you enter the military and go through basic training, that is just the first shocking step to your new life as a Soldier. In this day of the military while our country is at war, normally the second step is to be sent to your new unit which is probably ramping up to deploy into country. Shock number 2. Then you get into country and are told your ROE or rules of engagement, in which you realize that when you do have to pull the trigger you have more decisions and consequences that you thought. There are some places in country where you are not even allowed fire on the enemy unless they shoot at you first, think about that you have to wait to be shot at and hope the person misses before you can return fire. At 17 that is something to really take in and still be able to control yourself. God forgive you if you have to actually take a human life, even though it is something you are trained to do from day one of entering into service, once you actually do it boy it changes your life. That is when the secondary consequences start to emerge, you know the not sleeping cause you don’t want to have nightmares, the jumping at every loud noise you hear, the fact that you won’t go into large crowded areas and feel safe anymore, and a plethora of other issues. Yet health care and retirement should be reduced for our Soldiers, REALLY!!!.

            I know this sounds like I am ranting and I probably am, the wonderful thing is that I am doing this without cursing and swearing. I just pray that all Americans understand the consequences of not respecting the people that VOLUNTEER to enter the service and give their lives for their country and removing their retirement benefits. I mean think about it, would you enter a job knowing your retirement benefits are horrible, what will that do to our future Armed Forces. Thank you for reading and God Bless.

G.E.D.D.

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