The Online Chaplain

For My Buddy Al

I wrote this today to my buddy Al who is at Mayo Clinic battling cancer.  I thought it might help all of us in our respective battles.  I hope it encourages you.

Dear Al,

Pain and weakness always come and say...

"I am here to stay, I will not go away. 

They come and say, "Dismay!" 

But when this duo sing their song,

another declares it eternally wrong. 

He says in gentle tone,

eternal presence is his alone. 

Fear not my friend, tho' you bend. 

You will not break, it's not the end. 

Tho' this duo has a voice,

your fate is simply not their choice. 

The hands that hold you are stronger still,

than all earth's power, and all earth's will."

Written this 16th Day of February 2007 in recognition of your war, and mine.  Hang in there Al, it won't be long and it will be fishing and pheasants for us.  Praying for you. - Love Ya Buddy

Corey

Good Humor from the TOC

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10 

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED? 
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10 

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED? 
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids .
-- Derrick, age 8 

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
-- Kristen, age 10
Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8 

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE? 
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. 
-- Lynnette, age 8

(isn't she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that Usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR? 
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig, age 9 

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE? 
When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7 

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
- - Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED? 
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child)

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED? 
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8 

And the #1 Favorite is........
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
-- Ricky, age 10

David and Goliath

If you attended ten minutes of Sunday School growing up you probably know the story of David and Goliath.  That story is the peanut butter and jelly of Sunday School.  It's a staple.  It's got every thing, action, war, underdog, the good guy wins.  Everything!

Remember the story, David, a punk kid has to go and check on his brothers.  When he gets there he finds his brothers, and the entire Hebrew army are being mocked by an overgrown, steroid sucking Neanderthal named Goliath.  David, little ol' David goes up against the big guy with his sling and knocks his LIGHTS OUT, and then cuts his BLOCK OFF.  Pretty exciting stuff.

But what is really exciting is not David's aim, it is his speech.

1Sam 17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."

He's a windy little sucker.  Cocky and arrogant with a healthy ego - no doubt.  Kind of like a kid I used to know.  But, also completely on the money as to where to put his trust.  He mentions but one thing about his giant.  He says,

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin."

He goes up against the biggest, toughest man of his era and he kind of nods in his direction.  Nothing more.  David's focus is on something else, or someone else, God.  David's language is clear, his focus crystal.  "I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, he will hand you over to me, I'll strike you down and cut off your head, the whole world will know there is a God in Israeland that he saves, it is his battle and he will give you into our hands."  One thing about Goliath, eight things about God.  Hmmmm.

There in lays the lesson.  I think we spend way too much time telling God about all the giants in our life and the lives of whom we care about.  Way to much time.  I'm changing my ways, my conversation, and my ratio's.  It's time to quit telling God about my giants and start telling my giants about God!  God is bigger than giants.  Seriously, he is.

I know the names of your giants.  Cancer, loneliness, despair, anger, addiction, hopelessness, abuse, war, hatred, disease.  I know there names.  I have seen how they stand on the battle field of your life and mock you.  I have seen them come against you with sword and spear and javelin.  And I saw you give up the battle field.  I have seen you tuck tail and run.  I have seen it, and recognized it well, because occasionally it shows up in my mirror too.  I have a word for you, for us.

Stand fast.  Hold the ground.  Quit focusing on the giant, start focusing on your God.  Giants come, giants go, but God is with you always.  Fight your battle in the name of the LORD Almighty, know that he will hand your giant over to you.  You will know that there is a God and that he saves.  It is his battle and he will give your giant into your hands.  He did it for a shepherd boy and now he is going to do it for you. 

So, take the five smooth stones that God has supplied you with: his peace, his power, his presence, his purpose, his promise, and get back into the battle.  After all, your going to win.

Valentines Day

     For God so loV ed the world,
            That He gA ve
                              His onL y
                            BegottE n
                                       SoN
                            T hat whosever
          Believeth I n Him
                   Should N ot perish,
         But have E verlasting life."
                                           John 3:16 

Laugh a Little, You Deserve It

Due to the rain Jim decides to work on his motorcycle in his apartment.  He gets it inside and  begans to clean the engine with some rags and a bowl of gasoline, all in the comfort of his own home. When he finished, he sat on the motorcycle and decided to give his bike a quick start and make sure everything was still OK. Unfortunately, the bike started in gear, and crashed through the glass patio door with him still clinging to the handlebars.

His wife had been working in the kitchen. She came running at the fearful sound, and found him crumpled on the patio, badly cut from the shards of broken glass. She called 911, and the paramedics carried the unfortunate man to the Emergency Room.

Later that afternoon, after many stitches had pulled her husband back together, the wife brought him home and put him to bed. She cleaned up the mess in the living room, and dumped the bowl of gasoline in the toilet. 

Shortly thereafter, her husband woke up, lit a cigarette, and went into the bathroom for a much-needed relief break. He sat down and tossed the cigarette into the toilet, which promptly exploded because the wife had not flushed the gasoline away. The explosion blew the man through the bathroom door.

The wife heard a loud explosion and the terrible sound of her husband's screams. She ran into the hall and found her husband lying on the floor with his trousers blown away and burns on his buttocks. The wife again ran to the phone and called for an ambulance.

The same two paramedics were dispatched to the scene. They loaded the husband on the stretcher and began carrying him to the street. One of them asked the wife how the injury had occurred. When she told them, they began laughing so hard that they dropped the stretcher, and broke the guy's collarbone.

One Day Closer to Someday

One day closer to someday. This is my new phrase for the deployment. We are each day one day closer to the day we will get to go home. We don’t know when that day is, but time stops for no one. This is the one thing I can count on and I am clinging to it. We are one day closer…

A strange thing happens to a soldier when they have been deployed for as long as we have been. Somewhere along the path this becomes the primary reality. It’ a scary thing and I have a better understanding of soldier atrocities, where soldiers have lost there humanity. I can no longer imagine what it is like to come home after a long day of work. I can no longer imagine what it will be like to sit and watch TV in the evening with my kids, or go for a Sunday drive, or sit down for a meal with my family. Without that imagination I have come up with this simple word of hope, “I am one day closer to someday.”

So are you. Maybe for you it is not deployment but pain that has you by the short hairs of life. Perhaps, peace has given way to tragedy and you have heard the doctor say, “You have cancer.” Now, months have gone by and you can no longer imagine life without the elephant of disease stampeding through every room in the house. Or, maybe for you it is relational cancer digging it’s way through you flesh. After twenty five years of marriage she said, “I don’t love you anymore – I’m leaving.”

When these things happen pain becomes your primary reality. Hope drifts south and you have to fight your way back to life. If this is where your life is right now this is my council. Fight, for all your worth. Fight back the despair. Fight the frustration. Fight the hurt. There is hope in every situation. Find it, use it, live it. Perhaps the only hope we have today is, “We are one day closer to someday.” But, that is something.

The 34th ID is one day closer to going home. So are we all. The bible says, we are one day closer to streets of gold. We are one day closer to…no more sorrow, no more pain, no more hardship of any kind. Although this life becomes our primary reality, there is another. Although this life’s hardships absorb me and capture me there are other truths. I’m not sure what heaven looks like, but I am sure it will be great. So, hang on tight. Don't let the pain win. You can do it. You will not always feel the way you do today. Remember, “You are one day closer to someday.” ---TheOnlineChaplain