Graduation....Finally

Today was my final graduation ceremony. I guess after 11 nine week cycles I finally got it right and they let me go. I have seen over 7000 of these kids come through over the last 27 months. It seems like a long time. It has been. It has been good though. I've included my final prayer for these soldiers. It was a bitter sweet moment. But then I thought about being able to come home every day to my wife and my children and thought about the last 800+ days being away from them and the moment just turned sweet. Closing another chapter and beginning a new one.

You are magnificent God! You have made all that we see here. The world around us, the sky above us, the ground under our feet. You set the stars in motion, built up the mountains high and gave breath to every living thing. Lord God you have made us too. We didn’t do it. All we have has come from you, our children, our wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, our friends; our very existence we owe to You and You alone. You have blessed us with a nation that is free, where we can worship in freedom; live and work in freedom. It is a gift. Today we look out at young men and women who believe that this nation is worth defending. They have sweat and toiled and learned and overcome. They have been lead by the tireless efforts of their drill sgts and cadre. And we just stop right now and give thanks that our nation, our freedom is worth it, it demands our best and so does serving You. We send them out today and I ask Almighty God that you would do an awesome work in this troubled world through these standing before us. Give us the strength and courage to serve You and our nation with a greater devotion than we can muster on our own. Be exalted Oh God today in us and through us. Amen.