Staying Motivated
January 29, 2003

My daughters drove down Saturday morning to join us for dinner. It was eight hours down and six hours back! Laura is our oldest at 24. Jenny (in back) is our youngest at 21. Isaura, my wife of nearly 27 years is in front.

Well, I have not gone forward as I was scheduled to do this past Wednesday. Being assigned orders and then having them rescinded is commonplace in the military. It does provide opportunity to be frustrated. I was nine hours away from leaving when the call came canceling my trip to “The Sandbox.” (I’m not supposed to tell you where, but it starts with a K.)

My wife had come down about five days prior to my departure, allowing us time to be with each other uninterrupted each evening and over the weekend. I still had very full workdays, but at least we could be together. So here we were on Tuesday evening in my BOQ room, all packed and ready for me to fly out early the next morning, and preparing to drive Isaura to the San Diego airport within a half-hour, when I received a call from the command advising me that my orders were changed. Yes, I will still be going forward, just not yet. I had already spoken with my sister, brother and daughters on the phone, and was emotionally preparing for my wife’s departure at the airport. I still had not yet called my mother.

It was difficult emotionally, to be sure. It was a huge letdown. But by the same token, it has allowed me to spend several more days with my wife. So for now, at least, I’m still on this side of the pond (a euphemism for the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans).

The Lord most certainly had his reasons for keeping me back. At about 9:30 the next evening I received a call from my friend and fellow Navy Chaplain, Commander Jim Ellis. Jim is the Command Chaplain for Marine Air Group 39 (MAG-39) here at Camp Pendleton. He was calling to ask me to assist him in a CACO call. CACO is Casualty Assistance Calls Officer, which means someone in the command has died while on duty and the family needs to be notified. In this case, two Cobra helicopters collided and all four pilots were killed. Arriving at the door of a woman who is about to be informed that she is a widow is probably the hardest part of being a military chaplain. However, it is a time when as a minister of the Gospel you have the privilege of coming alongside someone who is devastated and needs the comfort that only the Lord can bring. Though I am not attached to MAG-39, I am blessed to be called upon at such a time.

Then, as a reminder that I need to stay motivated, I was sitting in my office the next morning listening out my window to a platoon of Marines going through physical fitness training (“One . . two . . three . . .One, Sir! One . . two . . three . . Two, Sir!”). After about thirty minutes of this, they start out on a lonnnnnng run. They run in formation for at least an hour bellowing in cadence to chants like, “Stand up, buckle up, shuffle to the door! Jump right out and shout, ‘Marine Corps!’” It’s really motivating!

So, I’m staying motivated. And I’m proud to serve.

Keep the home fires burning!