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You guessed it; hurry up and wait! I got an email this week informing me that I should have my papers to be sworn in, my orders for basic and my orders for my first duty post by the end of the month. That is exciting! So when my wait is over, I will let you know.

From what I have read and from what others have told me, hurry up and wait is the way of the Army. God is working in my garden, helping me to produce greater fruits of the spirit. Galatians 5:22-23a.

Reality Check

Well, I have a lot of work to do. I went running with a career Army man this week. (In my defense, I had not run in about a month or more and had the wild hair to go for a run with him.) It all started off fine until I reached 500 yards, LOL! Fortunately a hunting dog was in the middle of the that field we were running around and we stopped and walked home to his owners. After our delivery, we were "running" again. I finally limped to our turn around point. Oh my, I still had two more miles to go. When I was running on a regular basis, I would only run two miles. Things are not looking too good for the Chaplain. What was I thinking when I said I wanted to go running with him on a four mile course?

Well, needless to say, it was the slowest run the soldier had ever had. Most of the way back he was pulling me. Man, do I have a lot of work to do! However, he gave me a good piece of advice that I will remember:

"If you let your body tell your mind what to do, you will not make it. If your mind tells your body what to do, your body will follow." Okay!

I must say that it does work. The next day, I went for a run that was about 2.5 miles long, and I was hurting, especially after the run from the day before. My body kept crying for rest, but I had made up my mind, and I was going to "run" the whole way. I did it! I may not have been moving fast, but I was not walking.

It feels really good to do something when your body says you can't, but your mind says you can. Well, I am off for a run. I have to get in better shape before basic.

New Kid On The Block

Hello, all. Happy 2008 to you! Well, the reason for writing is to let you know about a new editor in our midst. No, I am not talking about the member of our church who just became the editor of our local paper; I am talking about my daughter.

The other day my daughter asked me if she could edit my blog. She told me she wished she could correct all the grammatical errors, and I laughed. (Way to make your dad feel good.) Victoria inherited a command of the English language from her mother's side of the family. So, I have said all of this to say that I am going to let her start editing my blog.

I must say that I am excited because this is a wonderful way to embrace the gifts that God has given her. It also allows her to experience a type of profession that may interest her later in life.

I hope you will enjoy our grammar lessons. (I am not sure who will be the teacher and who will be the student. Maybe, we will be both.)

Welcome, I hope you enjoy your assignments!

(If you readers catch errors, it will be because she did not edit the post.)

Days of Anguish, Days of Hope - Quotes

I recently finished reading Days of Anguish, Days of Hope by Billy Keith. The book is about the life and ministry of Chaplain Robert Preston Taylor. Chaplain Taylor, fellow Chaplains and brothers in arms were POW's during World War II. Wow, what a wonderful book, especially for those ministering in the military. I just wanted to share a few quotes from the book that stood out to me. Enjoy!

"Men, I want to pray and thank God for the confidence he has placed in us by letting us be in this place at this time." "Lord, we cannot see tomorrow, but you hold all our tomorrows in your hand. We dare not question why you've led us here; only help us give a good account of all we've learned of you. And if...and if you should ask us to pay the supreme sacrifice, as you were once called upon to do, let it be with confidence that you will meet us at the river and lead us across the troubled waters. We claim this same support for all our men here, some even now at the point of departure, In Jesus' name, amen."

"That faith prepares a man not only to live but also to die."

"Men, I've learned never to doubt in the darkness what I believed in the light."

"When a person believes in something in his head, it greatly influences what he does and the way he reacts to given situations, including death. But when a person commits himself to that way, above every other way, it changes him and the way he acts."

"We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know the one who holds tomorrow."

"I've been wrong about you Christians. You really are different. You haven't preached to me, only tried to love me, and I've decided to follow your advice and receive Christ into my heart."

"Love is of people, by people and for people, Taylor reminded himself. Things are to be used; people are to be loved. It is immoral when people are used and things are loved."

Great book of hope and inspiration.