The toughest day on the job --- thus far!

It has been too long since my last blog… too long!!! I have thought of many opportunities to write but frankly the energy has not been there… but then something happens in my world that makes me want to share… or better yet… NEED TO SHARE!

That something happened 2 weeks ago at 345 am when my duty cell phone rang. On the other end was our base command post, kind of like the Air Force base’s 911 system, informing me that a marine was killed in Afghanistan 3 hrs ago and that I was needed to make a death notification no later than 530 am.

I immediately got out of bed and prepared my service dress uniform. It wasn’t until I was at the base in a briefing that was explaining the details of how this young (19 yr old) marine died , did I really come to grips with what I was preparing to do. Yes I have done death notifications before, BUT this one was different. All the training that I had been through began to flood my mind; my communication with God open wider than it had been in a long time and all of the death notification scenes from the many Hollywood movies that I have seen began to popcorn in my brain.

I was anxious, very anxious and wanted to get it over with. This was not just another “notification” this was a battle field notification; in my opinion, the worse kind. It brings the war right into the living room! I was about to give the dreaded news that every person’s family who is deployed and in harms ways dreams of never hearing. I was about to be that “face” of the character sitting across from the mother, wife, father or siblings that has been in their nightmares since their loved one was been gone.

How was I going to do this? Only through God’s grace!

I prayed harder and longer that morning than I have in a long time. I sent text messages to my friends and as they replied and I read them I literally began to feel the weight of the burden that I was carrying be lifted from my shoulders.

"For My yoke is easy, and My load is light" Matthew 11:30 and Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you, Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal – carried me through that day.

Yes it was tough, I battled back tears as this marine hero’s mom clutched a childhood picture of her eldest son, and as I overheard his younger siblings sob from their upstairs sanctuary, but I knew that He was with me in a very tangible and practical way.

Indeed I felt the “effectual fervent prayer of the righteous men” James 5:16b, carry me through this day - The toughest day on the job – thus far!

Question: How has God helped you make it through a tough day?

“Betting on God in Sin City” Mar 8, 2010

As I pen this, my second blog entry, I sit in a hotel room in “Sin City”. Yes, Las Vegas, the city where you can “do anything that you want and no one has to know." Where the night life is fast and the lights are bright. To be honest; I was a bit naïve concerning the things that I have seen while just walking in public or the conversations that I have overheard.

At the airport in Phoenix, I caught wind of a man talking about his gambling experience. He described how he was headed to a “VIP - Invite only” Poker Tournament. If he did well this tournament would get him a seat in the World Series Poker Tournament. He shared about his last time in Vegas. How he was doing well at his last tournament and then he got one “bad hand” after another which eventually led to him not making it to the next round. He then made this statement, “Poker is all about the hand that you are dealt and knowing what to do with it.” The same could be said for life. We all know that there are valley experiences in life, aka bad hands. Knowing how to play those hands can determine how well we finish.

One individual in the Bible who was dealt a bad hand was Joseph.

Joseph’s childhood was far from ideal. His mother died while he was young. He was despised by his brothers because he was his father’s favorite. His brother threw him in a pit, betrayed him and sold him into slavery. He was double-crossed in Potipher’s house and accused of sexual assault despite honoring Potipher and being a man of integrity. He was then falsely imprisoned and then forsaken by those he helped. If anyone had a reason to be bitter, resentful and angry it was Joseph. Instead what do we find? When the time came for his brothers to come bow before him begging for mercy Joseph says; "Do not be afraid, for I am in God's place? "And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. "So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them Genesis 50:19-21.

Through the midst of difficult times and many bad hands, Joseph entrusted himself to God. I wonder how we would play our hands if we just entrust ourselves to God and bet on him.

How does your faith in God affect how you see your life when circumstances are not ideal?