Here's a collage of photos from life around here!

Heart of a Soldier: We're Back!

After a long hiatus we are back on the air with comments about crazy runner guy, fitness class culture clash and the impact of a great dad!

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In His Hands

Hope you like the picture shown here today taken of my friend Joshua and his little boy. When I saw this photo I couldn't help but think of how profound the image was. I remember walking with my dad in the mountains of NC as a boy, playing by the creek always looking to see if he was near by. When you are a little guy its always comforting to know that Dad is within reach. Dad's are strong. Dad's have experience. Dad's have been there. Dad's are smart. On a stormy night it was good to know Dad was down the hall with all his strength. My son Jack hates going outside in the dark and always says, "Will you come with me?" He thinks I'm bulletproof! We never really have to lose that you know. And even if you never had that kind of dad, that Dad is available to us all. The prophet Malachi said, "Have we not all ^one Father? Has not one God created us?" and Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:3 in his opening statements "^Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ".

The Word of God is very clear on this, that God is our Father in heaven. He is smart, He is strong, He has the experience, He has been there and in the midst of a stormy life, he'll take my hand and get me through, not around, but through storms. He walk with me when I'm scared and its dark, because He is bulletproof! Looking at this picture of Joshua and his son and knowing Josh and how much he loves that little boy, I can say that he would expend all his resources, charge any gate, face any danger, make any sacrifice to make sure his little guy is taken care of. Is not our Heavenly Father the same? Has He not done that in the gift of Jesus who charged Hell for you and I? So, reach out your hand and walk with Him in the assurance that your Dad is there guiding you with His strong hand, even when its dark! He might even take you for a walk on the water!

The Blessing Lady went home!

A few years ago I wrote about a lady that I used to see all the time while working out at the gym at FT Jackson.

http://chaplainbrad.blogspot.com/2006/12/blessing-lady.html

. She would come up to everyone that she saw in the gym and ask, "Have I blessed you today?"

I always said, "No! You haven't belssed me...please do!" She would then pray a short prayer of blessing. What an encouragement she was to me and many others.

I got this note from her daughter today in the comments section and thought is was nice and I'd like to share it with you all.

Dear Brad, My name is Cyndi Jones. I am the daughter of "The Blessing Lady" that you met out at Ft. Jackson at the Perez Gym in b2006. I just wanted to let you know that she went home to Heaven yesterday. She hadn't been sick, she just went to sleep and didn't wake up. I used the blog that you wrote about her as part of her obituary in The State newspaper...hope that you don't mind. May God Bless you!

Cyndi, your mom was a blessing to us! Now she's home waiting for the rest of us and I'm sure she's still blessing people!

Crossfit

Being in the Army, physical preparedness is of utmost importance, your life can depend on it. I'm always looking for challenging routines to push myself to newer levels of strength and endurance. I've been working out in one way or another since I was 7 years old, from soccer, to high school football, basketball, tennis and even a few triathlons. But I have come across a training regimen that is pushing the bounds of what I thought I could do. Its called Crossfit. It combines functional movements with short high intensity routines that continually change. SSG Russ Robinson, my phenomenal Chaplain assistant and I have been pushing ourselves to the limit. Russ is a beast and can do about 30 pull ups, which is not fair at all. If you go to the Crossfit website at www.crossfit.com you can see the workouts and follow them. There are video demos and instructions on how to do them. Best part is, the workouts are scalable to ability and age, which for me is a blessing. Some of the workouts are named after girls and many of those are particularly brutal. So we decided to name workouts after the women in our lives. So we have the Jenn and the Tammy after our wives. We are soon coming out with workouts named after our daughters and I'm going to have a "hero" workout for my son Jack. Should be a hoot. So if you are interested in following along with us here is what we did today...its called "Tammy"

15 Decline situps with a 25 Lb. plate

15 overhead squats 80lbs (bar held above your head)

50 reps on speed rope (jump rope)

15 45lb Kettlebell swings

20 minute time limit as many sets as you can do in that amount of time. We did 6 and I about puked!

Was thinking of this and it dawned on me that being disciplined to workout each day, to follow through and restrict myself from giving up actually brings freedom in my life. By training I limit injury, sickness and my overall well being is enhanced.

On a spiritual note, being disciplined to pray, seek God in personal time, to give up maybe an hour sleep a day to rise early and long for His presence like two friends meeting, will also bring freedom in our lives. I have recently picked up a small book that has nearly revolutionized my prayer life. Its called "The hour that changes the world". The author challenges his readers to pray for an hour, because it is through prayer that God changes things. Does God need our prayers...well....thrologically speaking no, God needs nothing. But Jesus gave us in his life an example of prayer and very often early in the morning long before anyone else was up.

I thought long and hard about this, being a Chaplain and a Pastor people kind of expect me to have a solid prayer life. I can honestly say that there has not been one day in the last decade where I did not pray. But sitting down to pray for an hour solid and me having untreated ADD that was asking too much.

But I thought what can I lose. So one morning on leave I jumped out of bed and cracked open this little book, my Bible and my journal...all the things that help me to pray. I used the author's suggestions of 5 minute section of 12 different types of prayer. Guess what, I couldn't pray for an hour....I prayed for an hour and half! I got lost in it, talking to God, reading His word, meditating, confessing, listening, interceding, petitioning, even singing. The next day was similar, and now I find myself going to bed itching to get up and spend my hour...at least with Jesus.

What has it produced...freedom for me! Freedom to follow Jesus daily in this place called Iraq. Freedom to hear from Him. Freedom to interact with those that He loves empowered by His Spirit.Even today as I spent my prayer time I was praying for one of my friends here who is a true seeker, I has spent a couple of days with his team and we had a long conversation of a particularly spiritual nature. I my prayer time I felt prompted to pray for him and that God would reveal Himself. Just as I was praying that there was a knock at my door....guess who it was...you got it!

He walked in my room and said, "So, we've all got to be saved...right?"

It was on after that. I just laughed inside all the way through at the way God works.

I could go on an on.

So my challenge to you is spend some time changing your world through time with Him. You'll be different and the world around you will be different!

Have yourself a great day!

So be Crossfit!

Thanksgiving

Its been a while since I've posted. I've been at home with my family, completely immersed in spending time with them, so blogging has not been my first and foremost concern. I head back to Iraq tomorrow. Its a sad and happy day here. Its sad because I'm leaving again, but its happy too because the next time we see each other I'll be done. I've been in the Army for almost 6 years now, a reservist (yeah right). We knew what we were in for. I've been either in a school, mobilized away from home or on deployment for 4 out of those six years. We have grown accustomed to it now. It is a part of our lives. One thing I have found out is that no matter how many times you leave your family in the service of your God and your country, it does not get easier. And to be quite honest that is a really good thing. I fear the day that I am ready or happy to walk away from my family. This feeling of dread that I have of leaving them is a blessing. It reminds me that I sit here in this modest home with the most important people in the world, my wife, my daughter and my son. The Kingdom of God is made of families and I have been entrusted with these here with me now. The Army is not my career, my family is and the Kingdom is. Some day the uniforms will be packed away, the deployments will be summed up in a plaque on the wall, but my family will remain. My identity is not found in being a Chaplain or an officer in the Army, but in being a follower of Jesus, a husband and a dad. And for that I am thankful. So, I'll leave tomorrow...again...but a few short months from now I'll see them again, waiting for me at the airport....and we'll come home together, back here to the place God has given us to love each other and build a life. And I am thankful for that too. So...back to work now, back to taking care of soldiers, pointing them to Jesus and the Kingdom.

This video is from our Chapel service here at COB Speicher. We are in transition now with our brothers and sisters from 25 ID out of Hawaii handing off to our new friends from 3ID out of FT Stewart GA. Lightning Chapel as it is known now will give way to the Rock of the Marne Chapel. Both are the call signs of each division. We have a great crowd each week and I have been honored to be one of the pastors that gets to preach. I have enjoyed getting to know so many fine folks. We are finishing up a series on the Kingdom of God. And the more I study the King and the Kingdom the more He blows my mind. It has been my distinct honor to share the pulpit with CH Dave Shoffner and CH Tom Wheatley, both of whom have made a great impact on me. They have years of experience taking care of soldiers and I have watched and listened with an open heart as they have mentored me.

Our band is amazing too, led by the precocious one, SPC James Doty, from Corpus Christi TX. He'll be famous someday....I hope he remembers us little people!

Hope all is well back home. I'll be there for a visit soon! Some of the things I'm looking forward to are hunting deer with my son and my buddies, drinking a cold cheerwine, going to church and seeing all my brothers and sisters in Christ, falling asleep in my chair, playing with my dogs, seeing my mom, dad, and brother, listening to Tori tell me about her awesome life as a teenager, and finally having morning coffee with the love of my life....Tammy.

I am a blessed man.

See you all soon!