Patti reported for the second half of CHBOLC today. Without me. I’m so excited for her, and so sad I can’t be there with her.

Meanwhile, Christina is at Fort Benning going through Airborne school. See that patrol cap she’s wearing? It was mine. She just told me that she’s wearing it at Airborne school too. That is so very cool.

Missing my battle buddies. Please keep them both in your prayers.

P.S. Yes I look crazy in these pictures… but really, bad hair days are to be expected after that many days in the field.

During a recent conversation with Rachel, I quoted the lyrics to Bethany Dillon’s song Hallelujah.

“Hallelujah, hallelujah Whatever’s in front of me
Help me to sing hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah
Whatever’s in front of me I’ll choose to sing hallelujah“

She said to me, “I’m glad He helps us to sing it, because, really, it’s hard sometimes. Some of the “whatevers” are hard.”

I agreed, “Some ‘whatevers’ are hard. Oh but He’s good.”

Then I told her, “Rachel, I’m in one of my most feared “whatevers” right now.”

When tomorrow looked bleak
Joel is doing a 10 day series on his blog, describing the events that led up to our restaurant closing two years ago. His posts have led me to look back at my own writings from that time.

Joel’s Post:
The Last Days of the Lazy Susan - Part 1

On October 28th, 2005 I wrote:
Words Hurt
We’re Home

My emails reveal a woman scared of tomorrow.

That day I wrote to Kelly Godzwa:

“Pray, Pray, Pray for our restaurant. We are within about a week from closing. We have to find an investor or buyer ASAP. This is huge. Crazy money huge. Plus Joel leaves for Army officer training in South Carolina this Sunday morning. On list to be deployed to Iraq after he graduates in February. Unless we go active duty and move to who knows where… Everything hinges on the next week.

Trying to trust God. Future looks bleak. Like we’ll be personally paying off restaurant debt forever. Nothing but God can pull us out of this mess… so please pray. Thanks.”

Whatever’s in front of me
I was scared and ashamed. I worried that the worst would happen. The worst being that the restaurant would close, we’d have to pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Joel would go to war.

And of course, two years later, that is exactly where we are.

I’ll choose to sing hallelujah
It’s true, I am in the middle of my most feared ‘whatever.” But God has helped me to sing. I told Rachel, “He’s just so good. I don’t feel defeated anymore. I don’t feel I have to grit my teeth to praise Him anyway… I’m not who I was.”

Most days come and go unnoticed. I study, go to class, take care of kids, talk to friends, sleep and repeat. Occasionally though, the moment seems surreal. I realize where I am. Where Joel is. What God has brought us through. What He’s still bringing us through. I praise God for this. For the pain, for the loss. We’ve gained so much because of it.

And so I think of another song, Another Hallelujah by Lincoln Brewster.

Now I just wanna say thank you to you.
You’ve pulled me from the miry clay.
You’ve given me a brand new day.
Now all that I can say is Hallelujah.

The last three days of my module kept me too busy to blog. We had a few more guest speakers including an AG prison chaplain, a priest and CH McChrystal. Dr. Cordero lectured on Sikhism, Buddhism, Wicca, General Protestant services, Native American religions, federal law and religious accommodation. We split up into groups and gave presentations about different relevant court cases and took the final.

The hours were long, making some of the information hard to absorb, but I really enjoyed the class. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to spend a full week with fellow chaplain candidates.

I keep looking at my days, at the chance to be with these people, and I realize that this is a time that we will always look back on. In college, it was often painful to build friendships, knowing that we’d likely graduate and never see each other again. But now, I look at these men and women, these future chaplains and chaplain spouses, and know that we’ll probably work together for decades. That’s so exciting.

—
Mom and Dad came to keep the kids while I was in class. Jeremiah and Sarah really enjoyed a week with their grandparents. They’re a little grumpy today, I think they’re missing grandma and grandpa… or maybe it’s grandma’s pancakes that they miss.

Yesterday, I wrote about flummery and warned of the return of the Word of the Day series.

This was a brief collection of “daily” posts written back in 2005. A post could be about anything, but it had to contain the Dictionary.com Word of the Day.

Since I’m recovering from a bad case of blogging burnout, I think I’ll resurrect the Word of the Day posts. Any objections?

My hectic class schedule has caused a bit of recidivism… I’m already posting the words a day behind.

Word of the day for October 24, 2007
recidivism \rih-SID-uh-viz-uhm\, noun:
A tendency to lapse into a previous condition or pattern of behavior; especially, a falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits.

I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s class… all 9 hours of it.

First we discussed how one of our own chaplains could provide for the needs of one of his Islamic soldiers. This wasn’t just an exercise, our brother is really out there dealing with a specific situation. Next, Rabbi Rita Sherwin of Springfield’s Temple Israel spoke to us about Reformed Judaism.

Josh brought some amazing red beans and rice for the entire class. We couldn’t wait for the dinner break. They smelled too good. So we ate that during a break and talked to the AG Chaplaincy Director, Chaplain Worthley.

The evening continued with lectures on the Moorish Science Temple of America, Nation of Islam, Rastafarians, and Santeria.

I don’t know if it was the amazing amount of caffeine rushing through my veins, or perhaps the fact that I’d been stuck in a chair for hours on end… but as the hours passed, all of the explanations of these religions with their foreign words, and unfamiliar practices… all seemed like flummery.

Flummery. That my friends, was the word of the day on Monday. Remember my word of the day series? It’s back.
—

OH! P.S. I also got an awesome chaplaincy scholarship yesterday. Praise God, I get to go to seminary AND feed my children.

It’s Fall Break! Which for some students implies a break from classes. For me it is the complete opposite. I’m taking a three credit module this week. Which means from 1pm to 10pm I’m learning all about Religious Pluralism & the Ministry of the Chaplain. Hooah?

Actually it’s going to be a great class. The subject is important, the guest speakers are interesting, and the professor is merciful. Best of all: it’s a chaplain class, which means I’m taking it with friends.

Yesterday we discussed the text books* and a few articles written by Diana L. Eck with the Pluralism Project. [I don't think Dr. Eck was very popular with my classmates.] After dinner, a secular Muslim spoke to us about Islam. After that interesting discussion, I spent the rest of the evening learning about Islam and counting down the minutes until 10pm while thanking God for coffee, tea, Pepsi Max and caffeinated mints. I’d do a lot better with a 5am class than with one going till 10pm.

* Textbooks

About the textbooks: You’ve got to read Finding Common Ground. It’s an awesome book. I’ll write more about it and the other textbooks later.

Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith & Mission
By Harold A. Netland

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
By Lesslie Newbigin

Finding Common Ground: How to Communicate With Those Outside the Christian Community…While We Still Can
By Tim Downs

What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam
By John L. Esposito

[You can find all of my seminary books here.]

After 64 years of military service, Bible goes under glass.

Here’s a sweet story about a small Bible given to a soldier by his chaplain during World War II. It served eight tours of duty with seven family members during five wars.

We are promised that God’s words will not come back void. When you share them, they reach across time comforting generation after generation.