Dear Ones,
Hard to believe yet another month has passed us by – lent is fast upon us and I prepare for yet another round of ‘firsts’ for the holidays. It’s been another month of great blessings and great trials.
We were blessed to have an evangelist Chaplain out visiting from Virginia last week. He’s the rear-detachment chaplain for the group here and was out to do a sort visit to catch up with his folks. He’s a very fervent and warm hearted brother in the Lord and it was a blessing to have him out for the week. I saw him led at least one person to the Lord! (Pic = I got to go for a ride on an LCAC (hovercraf)- I know, I look a little punchy; the other was a camel ride sponsored by the MWR (rec center)).
I was also blessed to tag along with him to downtown Kuwait city to meet some of the local protestant pastors there – what a blessing to be in the middle of brothers and sisters from all over the world worshiping God together in several different languages – this always impresses me as a foretaste of heaven!
I also got to led a small group of 26 out to KU city to the Catholic Cathedral. It was a rich time of fellowship and worship for my Catholic community and I was blessed to fellowship with them.
I’ve been enjoying several good books lately: The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning and Surprised by Hope by NT Write – these are helping to continue to shape my pastoral identity and thinking – good stuff if you get the time!
Hard to believe yet another month has passed us by – lent is fast upon us and I prepare for yet another round of ‘firsts’ for the holidays. It’s been another month of great blessings and great trials.
We were blessed to have an evangelist Chaplain out visiting from Virginia last week. He’s the rear-detachment chaplain for the group here and was out to do a sort visit to catch up with his folks. He’s a very fervent and warm hearted brother in the Lord and it was a blessing to have him out for the week. I saw him led at least one person to the Lord! (Pic = I got to go for a ride on an LCAC (hovercraf)- I know, I look a little punchy; the other was a camel ride sponsored by the MWR (rec center)).
I was also blessed to tag along with him to downtown Kuwait city to meet some of the local protestant pastors there – what a blessing to be in the middle of brothers and sisters from all over the world worshiping God together in several different languages – this always impresses me as a foretaste of heaven!
I also got to led a small group of 26 out to KU city to the Catholic Cathedral. It was a rich time of fellowship and worship for my Catholic community and I was blessed to fellowship with them.
I’ve been enjoying several good books lately: The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning and Surprised by Hope by NT Write – these are helping to continue to shape my pastoral identity and thinking – good stuff if you get the time!
I’ve been thinking a lot about the concepts of balance lately – the last two weeks while full of blessings have not been pain-free. It feels like for every blessing I’ve received I had to fight hard in the Spirit to keep and not get torn down in other areas as I continue to learn the different nuances and demands of my job as an officer. Balance to me is looking more and more to Jesus and just asking Him to be enough for each moment as I am sometimes stretched to my limit and beyond. This continues to be a lesson of pruning for me (see John 15) as I continue to grow in my ability to trust God in the ‘deep end of the pool.’
A good friend recently pointed out that I am in a very similar situation to when I was on IV staff just before I left – I am the sole minister to a campus of several hundred souls. And I find I need to fight to keep another chaplain preaching here on a regular basis for our Sunday evening service. She reminded me that growth is always painful but it is something we greatly desire. I’ve been meditating on that the last day or so and while I acknowledge the truth of it, I confess I still don’t like it when I’m in a growing season. She also suggested that God is redeeming some of the negative lessons I learned during my time on staff and giving me a new experience of Him in the middle of what looks like the same situation. I find each week as I prepare to preach I go though a series of anxieties over it, but each week God shows up and an aspect of His Kingdom is revealed, people hear God’s word and lives are touched. And I’m pleased to report I think I have very little to do with it. This has been going on for months now and each week I don’t die, God is actually glorified and the community grows. I hope and pray I am beginning to trust the Lord a little bit more with my life and heart as I publicly declare the goodness of God in the land of the living. I just hope I can learn this sufficiently well so God can return me to the team-based ministry that I love so deeply.
Please do keep me and my little team here in prayer – the battles are sudden and fierce:
- Pray for Sanders as he’s home in HI right now on leave
- Pray for my new assistants MA1 Chappell (a new part time addition to the team courtesy of the Navy – I do LOVE joint forces work! It’s so cool!) and SPC Medeiros who will be covering down during Sanders absence – please pray we jell quickly and work efficiently
- Pray for continued opportunity to fellowship with our fellow Christians in the downtown area
A good friend recently pointed out that I am in a very similar situation to when I was on IV staff just before I left – I am the sole minister to a campus of several hundred souls. And I find I need to fight to keep another chaplain preaching here on a regular basis for our Sunday evening service. She reminded me that growth is always painful but it is something we greatly desire. I’ve been meditating on that the last day or so and while I acknowledge the truth of it, I confess I still don’t like it when I’m in a growing season. She also suggested that God is redeeming some of the negative lessons I learned during my time on staff and giving me a new experience of Him in the middle of what looks like the same situation. I find each week as I prepare to preach I go though a series of anxieties over it, but each week God shows up and an aspect of His Kingdom is revealed, people hear God’s word and lives are touched. And I’m pleased to report I think I have very little to do with it. This has been going on for months now and each week I don’t die, God is actually glorified and the community grows. I hope and pray I am beginning to trust the Lord a little bit more with my life and heart as I publicly declare the goodness of God in the land of the living. I just hope I can learn this sufficiently well so God can return me to the team-based ministry that I love so deeply.
Please do keep me and my little team here in prayer – the battles are sudden and fierce:
- Pray for Sanders as he’s home in HI right now on leave
- Pray for my new assistants MA1 Chappell (a new part time addition to the team courtesy of the Navy – I do LOVE joint forces work! It’s so cool!) and SPC Medeiros who will be covering down during Sanders absence – please pray we jell quickly and work efficiently
- Pray for continued opportunity to fellowship with our fellow Christians in the downtown area
