Greetings,
I want to pick up where my story left off yesterday. Remember, I had asked God to do something with me and it was apparent that He was going to keep His word!
After coming to Christ in Galena I found myself looking at the world with different eyes. Perhaps it wasn't as if I had different eyes but that I was looking through a different lens. It was shortly after my "God Experience that I began to see, think, and act in a different way. As I said before I felt as if a load had been taken off my shoulders. I also began to look at my friends differently. I found that I wasn't drawn to things I used to do (drinking). I found that I now had things in common with others on the base that I had not taken the time to meet.
One of those individuals happen to be a Master Seargent (MSgt) in my communications group. Obviously Master Seargents and Buck Seargents don't regularly hang out together. However, I found that, through the chapel, we did just that. It appeared that this "God Thing" Knew nothing about rank structure. Well, I guess the only rank structure there was saw the triune God at the top and everyone else below! And even that wasn't true because on my journey home I have found myself beside Christ alot more than I have found myself under Him. God works like that. In our most darkest times He comes along beside us to encourage us.
Through my relationship with the MSgt. I began to grow in the word of God and spent the rest of my time in Galena holding a position on the Chapel board. I learned many things about church structure and administration by being a part of that group. Then it came time for my time to leave Galena. 365 days had passed and it was time for me to leave. No one can really tell how long 365 days are unless you count them down one day at a time. We commonly refer to our 365 day cycle as a "year". The funny thing is that in Galena time was different. I am not sure whether it was the -70 degree days, the lack of sunlight in the winter, or the lack of darkness in the summer but regular time did not exist in Galena, AK. The reason that I know this is that it took 5 years for 365 days to pass! Well, maybe it just seemed like that was case!
Nevertheless, it was time for me to go and a question kept burning in my mind. When I leave Alaska, is God coming with me? I know that sounds like a silly question. But to a new Christian it was real! I wasn't sure that the joy I had found in my heart would translate back in the "real world". I was leaving a place where God had found me and I had found God. The only question was will He go with me?
My journey home has shown me that God loves to show up announced. From the hounds of heaven in Alaska to a silent room of the Neuro ICU, He makes himself known to us. I am sure that we don't take the time to always realize His presence. However, maybe we should. Maybe, just maybe, taking the extra moment to recognize and acknowledge the presence of the spirit of God could change a bad day into a good one, or an unbearable circumstance into one that is just bearable.
I encourage you, this day, to take time and know that God is with you. In my church we take time at the beginning of our services to "Be still and know that He is God". That's the realization that God is with us us, "Emmanuel".
Join me next time when I share with you the great story of God's presence back in "the real world".
I leave you with bendiction:
May God go with you this day. May He go behind you to encourage you, beside you to befriend, above you to watch over you, and in fron of you to show you the way!
Blessings,
Derek
Showing posts with label Galena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Galena. Show all posts
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Maintenance
Greetings,
Now, back to my story!
I shared with you last time that after visiting the chapel I had felt a great change coming over me. After being so bold as to ask God if He would DO SOMETHING WITH ME I had to come to turns with what that meant. The only way that I can describe it was it was if a great burden was lifted off my shoulders. For weeks I had struggled with the idea of being away from Christine and my family for an entire year. That day in the chapel it was as if God was saying, "I know, it's hard but I'm with you!".
On my journey home I have come to realize that God truly means that. He wants us to know that He is with us and that can make difference. It made a huge difference in my mental approach to Galena. I missed Christine and my family very much but I had the sense that I was going to make it...and I did. This same feeling came to me before every surgery I had...I was going to make it! And I did!
The presence of God through His spirit is an interesting thing. In the midst of sadness and pain, disaster and tragedy, God's spirit brings us peace. It was that peace that I felt that day in Galena, AK. Following my acceptance of Christ I began to notice that the other side of the street (the bar) wasn't as appealing. It wasn't that I didn't want to go have a beer with my buddies. It was just that I now felt that I didn't the beer to deal with my life. I had God now and He was incharge.
I think that's hard for men. We are constantly bombarded witht the idea that we are the providers, we are the protector, we ar in charge! Being blasted with that every day of our lives we are, understandably, cautious and hesitant to put any one else in charge. But, that's deal that God has made. Believe in my son and give Him your life and I will come and abide in you! Looking back it seemed like such a simple decision LIFE SUCKS + MISS MY WIFE + BITTER COLD= I NEED JESUS!
It probably wasn't that bad, more likely it was worse! Coming to Christ in Galena AFB changed my life forever and that's what it was supposed to do. Yet, now that I had this new faith, what was I supposed to do with it? Well, God had a plan for that as well. Join me next time as I share with you the way that God took a miserable sinner and brought Him to the throne of Grace.
Blessings,
Derek
Now, back to my story!
I shared with you last time that after visiting the chapel I had felt a great change coming over me. After being so bold as to ask God if He would DO SOMETHING WITH ME I had to come to turns with what that meant. The only way that I can describe it was it was if a great burden was lifted off my shoulders. For weeks I had struggled with the idea of being away from Christine and my family for an entire year. That day in the chapel it was as if God was saying, "I know, it's hard but I'm with you!".
On my journey home I have come to realize that God truly means that. He wants us to know that He is with us and that can make difference. It made a huge difference in my mental approach to Galena. I missed Christine and my family very much but I had the sense that I was going to make it...and I did. This same feeling came to me before every surgery I had...I was going to make it! And I did!
The presence of God through His spirit is an interesting thing. In the midst of sadness and pain, disaster and tragedy, God's spirit brings us peace. It was that peace that I felt that day in Galena, AK. Following my acceptance of Christ I began to notice that the other side of the street (the bar) wasn't as appealing. It wasn't that I didn't want to go have a beer with my buddies. It was just that I now felt that I didn't the beer to deal with my life. I had God now and He was incharge.
I think that's hard for men. We are constantly bombarded witht the idea that we are the providers, we are the protector, we ar in charge! Being blasted with that every day of our lives we are, understandably, cautious and hesitant to put any one else in charge. But, that's deal that God has made. Believe in my son and give Him your life and I will come and abide in you! Looking back it seemed like such a simple decision LIFE SUCKS + MISS MY WIFE + BITTER COLD= I NEED JESUS!
It probably wasn't that bad, more likely it was worse! Coming to Christ in Galena AFB changed my life forever and that's what it was supposed to do. Yet, now that I had this new faith, what was I supposed to do with it? Well, God had a plan for that as well. Join me next time as I share with you the way that God took a miserable sinner and brought Him to the throne of Grace.
Blessings,
Derek
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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
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
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Hounds of Heaven
Greetings,
I pray that God is blessing you on this day! I wanted to take a moment and continue from my last post. I wrote that I had been shipped to Galena, AK to begin a one year remote tour with the Air Force. I also wrote that there was someone waiting there for me. So..let's hear the rest of the story!
I arrived in Galena on a summer day by way of a C-130 transport plane. We were seated in jump seats, which are just fabric netting strapped to the inside walls of the plane. In the middle of the plane were all of the replenishmnet supplies needed for the base in Galena. We landed in Galena and the rear of the plane opened and I got my first glimpse of a fighter intercept base not 50 miles from the Russian border! How was I to know that this tour was going to be even more exciting and more life changing than I could have ever imagined.
Immediately after deployment f the tail section a staff seargent boarded the plane from the rear and said, "Welcome to Hell". Still fresh from the leaving of my wife I was sure that he was correct and that some where during my long flight to Alaska Ihad somehow missed my connection and, inadvertently, boarded the plane that was destined for hell! The tempo for my stay in Galena began when the first things that were unloaded from the plane were not it's passengers but the four crates of beer that had filled the aisle of our transport plane.
I soon found out that Galena was a small village that the Athabascan Indians called home. Galena Air Base took up nearly 90% of the village. I don't want you to misunderstand me the base was not that big, it was just that the village was that small. Upon arriving in Galena you quickly realize that there is one street down the middle of the base. On one side there is the chapel and the other side there is the bar. Not having any thought of reconciling with God for sending me to this God forasaken place I chose the side of the street with the bar. I would soon realize that this place wasn't "God Forsaken". In the depths of my sadness of leaving my wife I would find that God had, indeed, followed me to Galena or, rather, I met him already there!
The story of my encounter with God is a very interesting story and I will try and tell it in the manner that it deserves. It will take a number of posts to let you enjoy the true magnificence of God and so I will let my story play out over those posts. Suffice it to say, I found God in Galena, Alaska. In my attempt to blame God for my lot in life I had missed the part where Hehad promised to be with me during my year at the top of the world. If God could not get my attention in my past circumstances in life He would surely seek me out in the frozen world of Galena, AK. God had set the hounds of heaven out after me and they had picked up my scent!
Join me in my next post to read how the creator of the universe hunted down one of His creations!
Until the next time! Blessings!
Derek
I pray that God is blessing you on this day! I wanted to take a moment and continue from my last post. I wrote that I had been shipped to Galena, AK to begin a one year remote tour with the Air Force. I also wrote that there was someone waiting there for me. So..let's hear the rest of the story!
I arrived in Galena on a summer day by way of a C-130 transport plane. We were seated in jump seats, which are just fabric netting strapped to the inside walls of the plane. In the middle of the plane were all of the replenishmnet supplies needed for the base in Galena. We landed in Galena and the rear of the plane opened and I got my first glimpse of a fighter intercept base not 50 miles from the Russian border! How was I to know that this tour was going to be even more exciting and more life changing than I could have ever imagined.
Immediately after deployment f the tail section a staff seargent boarded the plane from the rear and said, "Welcome to Hell". Still fresh from the leaving of my wife I was sure that he was correct and that some where during my long flight to Alaska Ihad somehow missed my connection and, inadvertently, boarded the plane that was destined for hell! The tempo for my stay in Galena began when the first things that were unloaded from the plane were not it's passengers but the four crates of beer that had filled the aisle of our transport plane.
I soon found out that Galena was a small village that the Athabascan Indians called home. Galena Air Base took up nearly 90% of the village. I don't want you to misunderstand me the base was not that big, it was just that the village was that small. Upon arriving in Galena you quickly realize that there is one street down the middle of the base. On one side there is the chapel and the other side there is the bar. Not having any thought of reconciling with God for sending me to this God forasaken place I chose the side of the street with the bar. I would soon realize that this place wasn't "God Forsaken". In the depths of my sadness of leaving my wife I would find that God had, indeed, followed me to Galena or, rather, I met him already there!
The story of my encounter with God is a very interesting story and I will try and tell it in the manner that it deserves. It will take a number of posts to let you enjoy the true magnificence of God and so I will let my story play out over those posts. Suffice it to say, I found God in Galena, Alaska. In my attempt to blame God for my lot in life I had missed the part where Hehad promised to be with me during my year at the top of the world. If God could not get my attention in my past circumstances in life He would surely seek me out in the frozen world of Galena, AK. God had set the hounds of heaven out after me and they had picked up my scent!
Join me in my next post to read how the creator of the universe hunted down one of His creations!
Until the next time! Blessings!
Derek
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
My Angel
'The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet.' William Gibson
After graduating from high school I enlisted in the United States Air Force. Now that I look back on it I’m not quite sure what made me do it. I’m sure it probably had something to do with a girl. Most things at that age do. Never the less I can remember the day I met the bus to travel to Indianapolis to begin my in processing. I remember my father shaking my hand and telling me, “It’s time to become a man”. So on a hot day in September day in 1986 I stepped on that bus in Marion, IN and became a man, or so I thought.
It has always amazed me how God can use the really dumb parts of your life for His glory. I didn’t have the faintest idea what God had planned for me, probably, because as that time I didn’t know God. But he knew me and He had a plan I just didn’t know it at the time. As I look back in my past I have found that that is the way God likes to work on me. He seems to have these plans, great plans, but He just doesn’t let me know all the details until I’m ready for them. God works that way you know? He takes people and He puts them in certain circumstances and situations so that the outcome brings Him glory. I can’t say I have always been a big fan of that plan but, He’s the boss.
Two years into my six year enlistment in the USAF God began a plan that would take me 20 years to come to terms with, that’s to say if I even have yet. Two years into my enlistment God placed me in the path of an angel. I don’t mean to say a real angel; however I will talk about that later in my journey. Who I am referring to is my Christine. I have read many books where the author states their undying love for their spouse and I believe them. Yet, when I say I met an angel I mean it. Throughout our marriage, especially in the last six years Christine has been beside me through everything.
Christine and I were married on August 12, 1986 in a small Presbyterian church in La Junta, CO. That day is not only our anniversary but Christine’s birthday as well. That’s right, I married her on her birthday and not just any birthday, it was her 21st birthday. I often tease her in telling people that I wanted to make sure she was legal. She hates it when I say that! Yet, as of that date she had no idea where God was going to take us or leave us.
The military is a wonderful institution. I am reminded of the Irving Berlin classic “White Christmas” starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. My wife and I watch it each Christmas. There is a song in which Bing and Danny sing with Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen. The name of the song was "Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army" and It described the military perfectly. My first assignment was to the North American Aerospace Defense complex or NORAD for short. For those who might not know what NORAD is or where it is let me explain. NORAD is a big giant place to work inside a mountain. Let me be clear, the building is inside the mountain. For 18 months I went to work in a cave. I probably wouldn’t have very fond memories of Colorado Springs, CO or NORAD if it weren’t for the fact that I worked with a guy who had a cousin that I just had to meet. I’m sure that you got to this point before I did but , yes, I met the love of my life while I was working in a cave.
Christine didn’t work in the cave with me. Oh no, she was a college girl. What she was doing getting mixed up with a military guy like me only God knows, and He did. Eight months after Christine and I were married the Air Force decided to re-assign me to a base in Alaska. After working in a cave for almost two years it might seem that any assignment might be better than the one I had, it wasn’t. Not only was I sent to Alaska, I was sent to a base named Galena. Galena was an intercept base meaning that as the Russians would send their bombers into the air space of the United States the Air Force would send it’s fighter planes up to intercept them. Those planes had to be relatively close to the Russian border and they were. Galena sits about 100 miles south of the Arctic circle. For those who aren’t up on their geography I’ll explain. Basically I was sent to a base on the top of the world. To make matters worse my wife couldn’t come with me. It’s what is called a remote assignment. So there I was, married for only ten months and I was being told I had to leave my wife in Colorado and move to Alaska for a year. Needless to say I was upset. I was mad at the Air Force for doing that to me. I was mad at myself for joining an institution that would do this to me and I was mad at a God that I didn’t even believe. In general I was mad at everything and everyone. Little did I know that, once again, that God had a plan and this one would change my life forever. God had someone to introduce me to and, for reasons only known to Him, it had to be in Galena, AK. So, I set off to spend a year away from my wife in a place that, in the summer, never got dark and, in the winter, never got bright. Yet, someone was waiting for me there and I never even knew it.
After graduating from high school I enlisted in the United States Air Force. Now that I look back on it I’m not quite sure what made me do it. I’m sure it probably had something to do with a girl. Most things at that age do. Never the less I can remember the day I met the bus to travel to Indianapolis to begin my in processing. I remember my father shaking my hand and telling me, “It’s time to become a man”. So on a hot day in September day in 1986 I stepped on that bus in Marion, IN and became a man, or so I thought.
It has always amazed me how God can use the really dumb parts of your life for His glory. I didn’t have the faintest idea what God had planned for me, probably, because as that time I didn’t know God. But he knew me and He had a plan I just didn’t know it at the time. As I look back in my past I have found that that is the way God likes to work on me. He seems to have these plans, great plans, but He just doesn’t let me know all the details until I’m ready for them. God works that way you know? He takes people and He puts them in certain circumstances and situations so that the outcome brings Him glory. I can’t say I have always been a big fan of that plan but, He’s the boss.
Two years into my six year enlistment in the USAF God began a plan that would take me 20 years to come to terms with, that’s to say if I even have yet. Two years into my enlistment God placed me in the path of an angel. I don’t mean to say a real angel; however I will talk about that later in my journey. Who I am referring to is my Christine. I have read many books where the author states their undying love for their spouse and I believe them. Yet, when I say I met an angel I mean it. Throughout our marriage, especially in the last six years Christine has been beside me through everything.
Christine and I were married on August 12, 1986 in a small Presbyterian church in La Junta, CO. That day is not only our anniversary but Christine’s birthday as well. That’s right, I married her on her birthday and not just any birthday, it was her 21st birthday. I often tease her in telling people that I wanted to make sure she was legal. She hates it when I say that! Yet, as of that date she had no idea where God was going to take us or leave us.
The military is a wonderful institution. I am reminded of the Irving Berlin classic “White Christmas” starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. My wife and I watch it each Christmas. There is a song in which Bing and Danny sing with Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen. The name of the song was "Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army" and It described the military perfectly. My first assignment was to the North American Aerospace Defense complex or NORAD for short. For those who might not know what NORAD is or where it is let me explain. NORAD is a big giant place to work inside a mountain. Let me be clear, the building is inside the mountain. For 18 months I went to work in a cave. I probably wouldn’t have very fond memories of Colorado Springs, CO or NORAD if it weren’t for the fact that I worked with a guy who had a cousin that I just had to meet. I’m sure that you got to this point before I did but , yes, I met the love of my life while I was working in a cave.
Christine didn’t work in the cave with me. Oh no, she was a college girl. What she was doing getting mixed up with a military guy like me only God knows, and He did. Eight months after Christine and I were married the Air Force decided to re-assign me to a base in Alaska. After working in a cave for almost two years it might seem that any assignment might be better than the one I had, it wasn’t. Not only was I sent to Alaska, I was sent to a base named Galena. Galena was an intercept base meaning that as the Russians would send their bombers into the air space of the United States the Air Force would send it’s fighter planes up to intercept them. Those planes had to be relatively close to the Russian border and they were. Galena sits about 100 miles south of the Arctic circle. For those who aren’t up on their geography I’ll explain. Basically I was sent to a base on the top of the world. To make matters worse my wife couldn’t come with me. It’s what is called a remote assignment. So there I was, married for only ten months and I was being told I had to leave my wife in Colorado and move to Alaska for a year. Needless to say I was upset. I was mad at the Air Force for doing that to me. I was mad at myself for joining an institution that would do this to me and I was mad at a God that I didn’t even believe. In general I was mad at everything and everyone. Little did I know that, once again, that God had a plan and this one would change my life forever. God had someone to introduce me to and, for reasons only known to Him, it had to be in Galena, AK. So, I set off to spend a year away from my wife in a place that, in the summer, never got dark and, in the winter, never got bright. Yet, someone was waiting for me there and I never even knew it.
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