Have Bible, will Travel

   My assistant and I are currently waiting for a ride back to our base of operations.  When we arrived in country, we immediately went into training about how to recognize dangers along the roadways, and how to increase our situational awareness.  Right after that training, all the Soldiers with weapons (everyone except the brigade chaplain and myself) went to the range to zero in their sights.  While they were doing that, the brigade chaplain and myself went back to meet with the chaplains we are replacing and learn what has worked and not worked for them.  It was then that it was confirmed that I had been scheduled to get on a flight that night to go to some of the surrounding bases to visit Soldiers.  Don't get me wrong, I love being with Soldiers, but I had to work very hard to muster up the motivation because I was so tired from lack of sleep.  I left a note with my assistant so that he knew what time to meet us after he got back from the ranges, and then went back to my room to repack the bad I had just unpacked.         The verse for my devotional that morning was 1 Cor. 9:24:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to

get the prize.

I was really hoping for something line Matthew 11:30 "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" or something else like that.  At this point my eyes were no longer focusing, and if I stood up I felt dizzy.  My prayer focused on this verse and prayed for God to help me with the strength and motivation to continue.  There is nothing worse than an unmotivated Chaplain!  We got on the plane, and I was able to sleep during the flight.  This gave me a boost, and when we landed, we ran into some of my Soldiers who were very happy to see me.  I believe it was 0330 when we arrived so after talking to the Soldiers we went and found a bed to get some sleep before our next flight at 0800 at morning.  A little more sleep gave me a little more energy, and the next day we jumped on a helicopter to go to another base.  At the next base the Soldiers there were happy to see me and we were able to catch up on all that has been going on since we last saw each other.  we ate lunch, and ran into another chaplain who frequents this base.  We went with him to a bible study he was having for the Soldiers, and had some desperately needed fellowship and study of the word.  After the bible study I found a bed and was able to get my first full nights sleep since being here.  Thank you Lord for sleep! 

There are a couple prayer requests that I would like to make known: 

      The first has just learned via facebook that his uncle (who was more like a father) has just unexpectedly passed away.  He talked to him on the phone the day before which is helpful, but it is just so hard for the Soldier to grasp the fact that the man who raised him is no longer alive.  The Soldier has good support here, but this is such a long way away from home.   

      Our leadership had to work very hard to get all the Soldiers squared away and to their destinations.  Getting Lindsay, Ethan, William, and myself from New York to North Carolina was a struggle for me.  I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to get an entire battalion halfway across the world!  I would ask that you keep them in your prayers for their rest, their clear mindedness, and their accomplishment of their missions. 

     And please pray for all Soldiers who have left families back home.  It is so hard that we don't even want to talk about it.  We focus on getting our tasks complete and making sure we are doing the best job we can. 

Thank you so much for your prayers!