Charlie Chaplain

Greetings,

I think of myself as a pretty good son.  I have made mistakes in my life that have gotten me into trouble, however, I don't consider myself a trouble child at all.  I usually do what my parents tell me to do.  So, after hearing from my father about picking up where my Galena story left off I feel obligated, as a good son, to carry on the rest of the story from Alaska!

As I have said before upon reaching Galena and realizing that there were only two sides of the base, the bar and the church, I chose the bar side.  I don't know that I chose the bar side on purpose.  Thinking back now it wasn't that the bar side had won it was just that the church side had lost.  Upon arrival at Galena I wasn't necessarily a drinker, although having the beer unloaded off the plane first gave me the idea that the drink of Galena was first and foremost on people's mind.  I just remember feeling that I didn't want to spend time worshipping a God that I wasn't partuclarly fond of.  However, that was all going to change.

I can remember one sunny day in July, actually in July it's sunny about 23 and 1/2 hours of the day.  Any way, I can remeber one sunny day coming home from the bar and thinking to myself that life really couldn't get any worse.  By that time I had crawled inside the whiskey bottle and my view of life was pretty distorted.  It's funny how the bottle can distort your vision.  The thick glass has a tendency to distort the picture of life.  The funny thing is we all have our whiskey bottles that warp our preception of life.  It might be depression, financial hardships, drugs, or porr health.  Each struggle we face changes the perception of our spirutal vision.

Anyway, my spiritual vison was being warped by alcohol I knew that something had to change.  As I lay on my bed in my dorm room I began to speak to a God that I wasn't quite sure I even believed in.  Don't misunderstand me.  I wasn't so much praying as I was yelling.  In retrospect I realize that this interchange between me and God was a prayer I just didn't know it.  I was mad at God and He was going to know it.  At that point in my life I didn't know that God already knew it.  The grace and mercy that I would be shown during that prayer would be the catalyst for my redemption.

As I cursed God and blamed Him for my lot in life something happened to me, I began to crack.  By crack I mean that the rough and tough exterior that I had built around my life began to crumble.  The hate and anger that drove my world view was crumbling right before my spiritual eyes.  It was at this time that I prayed the prayer tha change my life in a dramatic and powerful way.  My prayer went something like this, "God I am not even sure that you are real, but if you are I want you to do somehting with my life".

There! I had said it!  That one prayer did something that all prayers are suppose to do.  That prayer was the exact example of a repentant heart.  It was during that exchange that I told God  to "do something with me".  I wasn't specific and I wasn't really sure that He was able to hear me, but He did.  God answered that prayer and the next day I found myself sittingin the chapel on the other side of the road.  I wasn't sure why I was there or even how I had gotten there.  Nevertheless, I was there a sinner in the house of God!

It was during that time when I heard a story from a man that change the course of my life forever.  It was a story from the chaplain of Galena.  His name was Charlie, Charlie the chaplain.  During that hour that I sat in the little chapel of Galena when he told a story of peoplewho needed a savior.  He spoke of love and grace, compassion and mercy, and peace that passes understanding.  He spoke the word of God and it seemed like he was speaking it right to me.  I am not sure how many people were attending the service that morning but it might as well been empty save him and me.  I felt like God was speaking to me through Charlie.  I can remember having a great wave of sadness and sorrow sweeping over me and hearing a father say, "give it to me and lighten your load".  At that moment God had chosen a man to share with me a way that I could find peace it my life, a chance to start over, and I took it!

I like to say that the old Derek died that day and in truth he did.  Scripture tells us that in Christ we are e new creation, all things are apssed away and, behold, all things are new.  It was at that moment in time that God placed me on a new path, and a new journey towards Him.

On our journey home we run into seemingly unbeatable odds.  Whether it be physical or spiritual our worldview gets set askew by the lens of life.  It is during those times when we have to stop and ask God for clarity.  It is during those times that we need to pray for a clear vision of His will for us.  On that day I had asked God to "do something with me".  Well, He asnwered that prayer.  Join me next time when I will share with the great little plan that God had decided to "do".

The saying goes that we need to be careful what we pray for because God just might give it to us.  Oh boy did I find that out!  Until next time may God bless you and keep you on your journey home!

Thanks Dad for getting me back on track!  I love you and Mom!

Blessings,

Derek