Roller Coaster...

Sometimes life can seem like a roller coaster. One moment you are on top of the world and the next....you are free falling and feeling sick to your stomach!!!

Yesterday I got a phone call from Stephanie. She's in charge of the registration for Chaplain training in South Carolina and she let me know that my spot in camp had been given away to the Missouri National Guard because of a mix up in paperwork. As you can imagine Christina and I were frustrated.

I stopped and prayed, "Lord, you know what's best for my family. Please help me trust you with this situation!" A little more than an hour later Stephanie called back and said she had not only fixed the problem but had also secured me a spot in the Phase 1 training. (They had been so overbooked...I was pleasantly shocked! Apparently, many prior service chaplain candidates are able to test out of the first phase of training by using previous learning credits. So...CIMT had space but Phase 1 had been booked for months. The total summer training is CIMT, Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3. I will now be able to complete the training in 2 summers instead of 3. PTL!) I asked her how she had done that and she said, "I told the commander you were Episcopalian. We're short and need more Episcopalians in the Chaplain Corps so...." I don't know if she was kidding so I better work on my liturgy! :) I told her I would bring her some chocolate as a thank you gift. (I found a box of Colorado chocolate called "Stephany's Chocolate." Appropriate don't you think!) Hope it doesn't melt on the way down.

Now...final packing and preparation are underway. We've got lots of great help when I'm away including family who will be staying with Christina and the kids the entire time I'm gone. I'm excited and nervous. I'm sad to be leaving my three favorite people in the world but I'm ready for the challenge and want to move ahead with this goal of becoming a chaplain.

Stay tuned for regular updates and please be praying for us!

Another high point of yesterday was a trip to Subway restaurant with Christina for dinner. We noticed the sandwich maker behind the counter working really hard. He was courteous and polite. We were impressed. It seems too rare these days to find someone with great customer service. Christina whispered, "That guy looks like Andre Graham." (Andre was a young man we had worked with years ago at Green Mountain on Wednesday nights. He and his twin sisters would come to youth group even though their parents never attended on the weekends. They were a lot of fun. By the way, their uncle is Daniel Graham the well known professional football player who recently signed with the Denver Broncos!) I told Christina, "He does look like Andre but this guy is all grown up. No way!" We ate our dinner and on the way out I complimented the man for his hard work and great customer service. As we walked out the door he said, "Excuse me, aren't you guys from the church that I used to go to?" We were shocked. It was Andre. He was now 16, going on 17, and we couldn't believe how 4 years had changed him. He was glad to see us and we were proud to see the way he had grown up. (Our youth pastors at the time: Chris and Erin Leake really worked hard to instill Christian teaching into Andre's life.) I hope the Lord lets us bump into other people from our past like that. Christina and I smiled the rest of the night! Maybe, just maybe, the work of our youth and children's leadership team while at GMCC made a difference in other lives as well! We may never know...

UPDATE- I'm making progress with the neighborhood kids...I handed out chocolate milk yesterday and had a good conversation with "skooter." I may hire him to help me in the yard later in the summer.

Blessings and Love!