The Flag and our Father

"INCOMING!!!!"       BOOOOM!!  As I opened my laptop to update this blog, thats what was happening behind me.  Small arms fire began popping off and then the sweet music of an M240B machine gun lit up the night sky.  (slight pause)  "RPG!!!"  BOOM!!  "Tower 1 has been hit!!".  And so the night goes here in Mississippi as we are halfway thru our week-long evaluation process.  Hours and days begin to run together.  Missions begin and end and then we turn around and head back outside "the wire".  To any of you who are/were in country, this is not to make light of the real deal but rather to pass on my experiences as they are happening to me now.  I pray that the minimal things that we have had in training never take place for real, but we have trained to at least have a rudimentary understanding of how to respond.

  About two weeks ago I let my guard down and allowed self-pity to rear its ugly head.  This is something that I haven't struggled with much for a number of years and by the time it was recognized, it had grown to be quite large.  Several days prior, I had the opportunity to sit down with some of my brothers-in-arms and we began to drive deep into enemy territory. Darkness was being brought to the Light and it wasn't happy about it.  Someone once said that self-pity is 'the super-glue of hell that binds us to our past and keeps us in bondage to it.'  Father gently began to show me that I was indeed focusing on myself and my place in this world rather than on Him.  I was discontent with my situation and content with my relationship with my heavenly Father.  This is obviously completely opposite of how it should be.  One scripture that confirmed my choice to repent and choose a better attitude is one I've known and taught for a long time: "but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you."

  This is a picture that I took a while back when we were out in the field training.  To me the angry storm clouds represent the darkness and turmoil that bombards each one of us daily.  The flag represents the One who was hung between heaven and earth and bought our freedom with His death.  When we focus on Him, the stuff of life quickly fades away and we can have peace.

De Oppresso Liber - Is 61:1-4