The past few days have been rather trying. The unit, all 300 and sum cadets and cadre moved out to the field to conduct various exercises. This means no more tent cities and the ground below quickly becomes one's mattress and canopy of trees becomes your sheets. Unfortunately the packing list that was presented to the cadets was very minimal. I'm not sure why this was but the cadets did not have appropriate gear for the weather conditions they were bond to have. Yet, I know for myself all I had was my wet weather top and my sleeping bag, the sleeping bag is not water resistance at all. The other unfortunate business to all of this is that cadets have their leadership experience in a matter of hours instead of entire days. This means that these cadets literally have hours to gain experience, something that would be difficult for anyone. What is great to see is the high morale that many of these cadets have despite sleeping in the woods, having bugs crawling all over them, the loud noises of the forest at night and being rained upon. The ingenuity of many of these cadets as they make “gypsy tents” with their ponchos or what ever they have to keep themselves as dry as possible is simply great to see. Relationships are forged to the utmost degree as these cadets, who were strangers weeks ago, and are now sharing everything they have to provided some common comfort.
And so for a few nights I stayed outside with the cadets...and some times the birds of the trees blessed many of us with their songs a-l-l through the night -_- Simply put the conversations and counseling sessions here out in the sticks become the most down to earth as people so naturally turn their talks from what their favorite movie or food to God and matters of importance without any influence of me-”camping” has that affect on people you know. And that has been my prayer for so many nights, that these cadets would search for the Heavens and God himself, that they be developed in a fashion of heart searching and self discipline to reflect their current statues between them and God. Within days I can not tell you how many sessions I have had that regarded relationship with wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, the importance of marriage (especially with the recent ruling by the Supreme Court), respecting leadership, why I became a Chaplain, and simply being positive despite current conditions.
However, there are no words for me to express my life recently other than I have been basking in the glory from God. The gentle whispers from Heaven saying, “go see that cadet, walk over there, wait here for someone to pick you up, say this to that person, sleep with this unit tonight.” The gentle reminders that God is present with me as I hear cadets, “Hey sir I'm glade you are here...” as I finally arrive on scene. The energy after only having a few hours of sleep moving to one patrol sector to another stopping by to talk to cadets or when sound and light are restrictive simply to pat their shoulder, give a daily Bible verse card, or hand out a Dum Dum lollipop and the whispers of “thanks” from the cadets or some cadets whispering, “We really appreciate you talking to us sir.” All these little moments of great encouragement as I see the most beautiful things ever as cadets upon cadets stream out of their wet woods and tiresome conditions to attend a field service, cadets even apologizing coming late to a service and asking when the next one will be, getting excited for a Bible study or a service or even a chance to pray together, coming to a unit with 40-50 Bibles and devotionals and returning with none, having cadets openly state that the last thing they thought would happen to them while attending this training is that they would grow in their faith but more important hearing them say that they have started to return to their faith. Having the energy and compassion for these cadets a I march by myself for miles to meet up with their units as they are spread out is nothing short than dancing with the trinity.
My prayer recently has been, “Lord you say that the feet are beautiful that share and spread the Gospel, let my feet be beautiful today.” As my body is worn and weary from this, as my throat clenches up from the seasons and the lack of sleep, as my energy dips and wanes at times it is my hope that I may always have compassion and love for those God has called me to serve and love. One of the most encouraging things I have ever been told recently as I talked to a few soldiers that were not part of our unit but helped with the training and me asking them what they did and how much longer they will be here one them asked me who I was. I simply stated that I was their chaplain and still training. However, one the senior enlisted there stated, “I could tell you were a chaplain.” Now my thoughts went to was my uniform jacked up or something? And so I asked him, “How could you tell.” He says, “Because you are so calm.” Beloved, God has called us all to live a life, so live it with a boldness and yet with gentles. “...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”