1) The brand new lieutenant did some video taping at AT. He has some really incredible shots. I am looking forward to seeing those.
2) While returning to the firing point late one night (I had to run a soldier to the rear so he could head home to see his mother in the hospital... very sad... please pray for him, and for her). Since it was near impossible to see my "slot" to park the truck in the wood line I pulled into what I thought was a clear spot. In the morning I saw that I had knocked over a small tree. It had thorns all up and down the bark, and leaves shaped like the spade on a deck of cards. There was no way this thing (IMO) was going to recover. Since I had managed to scape a section of the bark off I used that as a hand hold and practically pulled it straight out of the ground. The bark practically peeled right off, and when i took a knife to it the bark was real "pulpy". I set it out in the sun to dry and this helped. The next day the wood was incredibly hard. At least compared to what I was expecting. I whittled the bark all the way down I really liked the texture and grain of the wood. Once I got all of the major nicks out of the wood I then took some of the sand paper we had sitting around (it is used to sand rust off of the howitzers) and smoothed it even further. I also cut it the length of my armpit to the ground. Very nice. I still have some work to do on it, but it is going to be my retirement walking stick. LOL
When it is all done I hope to tap in the regimental crests of the three units I've "belonged" to over my career on one side. On the other side I want to tap in the three branch insignias to represent the three different MOS's I've had as well. Over/under this I will have the dates and the respective units burned/etched in. On the front, the final piece, will be a miniature set of Air Assault wings. Once this is all done I will get it shellacked to help seal it all in.
Wow, I wasn't going to talk about it... and I did anyway... LOL. God taught me a few things... 1) I cannot help everybody. My best efforts fall flat. Sometime its me tripping over my own two feet, and others the help is not always recognized/received. 2) I have to rely on Him. Meaning (and this is tied into item 1), there are things I just can't control. I can worry or fret, but in the end I have to trust in him. No matter what is happening in my perception of things, it is all for the good - and ultimately for His glory. 3) I have had a good overall career in the National Guard. There have been many a time when He has spoken to me when I was in the middle of nowhere. I have often felt very close to my Savior when I am the most isolated, in the most unusual of circumstances (a certain sunset in Central America, and a rain storm while I was on active duty come immediately to mind).
I would encourage everyone who is struggling to hear God's voice to get out of your respective "comfort zone". Get out to a park. Go for a walk in the rain. If you are not into the nature thing, go to a nearby town and sit in a small resteraunt, and get into His Word and reflect upon the things He has revealed to you about Himself. Even if it's "just" that He came and walked on the Earth.
P.S. - If any of you who stumble across this humble blog, and happen to have a set of regimental crest for the 1-115th Infantry... drop me a note... thanks. :)
Verse for today:1 Kings 19 : 9-12, ESV
There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. [1]
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