On Thursday, we took Jeremiah and Sarah on a tour of Ft. Leonard Wood.  We drove around the neighborhood, the elementary school, the gyms, pool, bowling alley, movie theater, parks and mini golf course.  Jeremiah got his hair cut at the PX… that won’t happen again.

We introduced the kids to a few important terms:

PX  (Post Exchange) - A little like a department store or a strip mall.  There’s a food court, pharmacy, Sprint store, barber shop etc.

MiniMall – This is the new location for Military Clothing Sales (uniforms).  It also has a Military Pro shop (cool gear), Class 6 (liquor store), Starbucks and Taco John is coming soon.

Shoppette – Convenience Store. The one we stopped at had a Blimpie sub sandwich shop too.

Commissary – Grocery store. Don’t forget to tip the baggers.

Several months ago, Joel put a thick envelope in the mail. It contained our hopes and dreams for Army Active Duty orders. We impatiently awaited a reply. We thought they’d take him, but we didn’t know where they would send us. Last month he got a phone call. He has Active Duty orders to attend the Military Police captain’s course at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. That’s just what we were hoping for.

Ft. Wood is about 80 or 90 miles from Springfield, our home for the last 14 years. It’s close enough for me to attend weekly classes at my seminary. The captain’s course ends in April. That gives me two more semesters at AGTS. We’re not sure what happens after April. We’re hoping he’ll get stationed here at Ft. Wood for 3 years. That would definitely make it easier for me to graduate on schedule.

So… we’re moving to Ft. Wood. The kids start school on post in one week. Joel has National Guard orders to keep us fed until he goes Active Duty on October 23rd. He’ll be traveling a lot in the next couple months. He’s with us for a few days though and we were hoping to find a house on post before he leaves again…

There aren’t any houses available for our rank right now. We’re supposed to check again on Monday. I’m not sure what we’ll do if nothing becomes available. The Army is paying for our hotel for the next few days, but they won’t when Joel leaves. We’ll have to find some nearby temporary housing. I can’t stay with friends in Springfield, Texas or Tennessee. The kids have to go to school.

Technically, I’m homeless. I’m trying not to worry. I know God has this all figured out. I’m not under the impression that he always swoops in and protects us from inconvenience though. People used to tell me that God always comes through “at the last minute.” I’ve seen the “last minute” come and go several times without any miraculous solutions. Please don’t misunderstand me. I trust that God is in control and has our very best in mind. I’ve just come to believe that his best is not always what we would pick. So… I guess I’m just trying to have a good attitude no matter what comes next. I’m praying for God’s will to be done… and adding a P.S. to my prayer… where I ask that a nice, new 3 bedroom home be in his will really, really soon.

Joel and I wore our Army Service Uniforms to the AGTS Christmas Banquet.  Here’s a photo:

P.S. Joel will be a Captain any day now.

Rachel and I watched Baghdad ER – An HBO Documentary Film last month. As the name suggests, it’s an HBO documentary about a military emergency room in Baghdad, Iraq. It’s pretty graphic, has nudity and bad language… War is like that.

One of our guest lecturers in my military chaplaincy class was a chaplain who served in a Baghdad ER. His stories and photos were a lot more graphic than HBO… He spoke of telling a soldier he was going to die and letting him borrow his cell phone to call home… all while we looked at a photo of his fatal injury on the big screen in front of us.

The young men and women who work in these hospital see things humans weren’t meant to see… over and over and over.

They need chaplains.

HBO’s site: Baghdad ER

I often share links of interest on my Facebook account… I guess I should share them with you too. Here are the links I’ve posted in June.

Most Americans Believe in Higher Power, Poll Finds
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
Most Americans believe that angels and demons are active in the world, and nearly 80 percent think miracles occur, according to a poll released yesterday that takes an in-depth look at Americans’ religious beliefs.
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Father Emil Kapaun’s cause for sainthood to be officially opened
Source: catholicnewsagency.c…
The Cause for the Canonization of Father Emil Kapaun, an Army Chaplain who died while in a North Korean Prisoner of War Camp in 1951, will be officially opened on June 29.
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War’s Stresses Take Toll on Military’s Chaplains
Source: www.nytimes.com
“Just as it has claimed so many other members of the military, the war in Iraq has taken a toll on chaplains. Although they do not engage in combat, chaplains face the perils of war as they move around Iraq to visit troops. None have been killed, but some, like Chaplain Brunk, have been wounded. Many report post-traumatic stress disorder and other stress problems.”
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Soldiers’ Self-Harm: ‘Anything Not to Go Back’
Source: www.newsweek.com
There’s a rising trend of soldiers harming themselves to avoid returning to war.
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Joel got four free tickets to last night’s Springfield Cardinals game. It was military appreciation night… unfortunately he was away for Army training and couldn’t go with us. Um… thanks!?

We invited a friend of mine to join us and had a wonderful time. We got our first foul ball which was incredibly exciting.

Seeing the young soldiers reminded me of why I want to be a chaplain. Sarah made a few friends. These future MPs represented the Army well. I’m very proud of them. They ate an INCREDIBLE amount of food. I’m going to need a huge snack budget when I become a chaplain…

I recently turned in a 20 page paper for the Military Chaplaincy course at AGTS. It covered my call, my strengths and weaknesses as it pertains to the chaplaincy, my vision of ministry opportunities and challenges, free exercise of religion, pluralism, working with chaplains of other faith groups, and a personal fitness plan addressing spiritual, physical, emotional, mental and career growth.

Here’s the section explaining my call.