5 weeks in!

Its been 5 weeks since I left home for the lovely confines of FT Dix New Jersey. Our time here is fast winding down. It won't be long before we board our plane for the middle east. In that time our unit has been trained up well by the cadre here and we have grown together as a unit and as friends.

Now we are in the medical screening process. It is a nerve racking time especially for us older guys. One thing in the medical screening can get you taken off a mission and health issues are more prevalent as one tips the calendar after 40.

I am not immune to this. I have failed a hearing exam. I am now classified on profile for moderate to sever hearing loss. Its frustrating, because there is little I can do about it. I have worked all my life around power tools and weapons. I should have worn ear protection but never did. I am praying that the docs will allow me to go with my troops in spite of this. Funny thing is, I can hear people when they talk to me and I can hear a deer in the woods when I'm hunting.

In my prayer time I've been asking alot of why to God. It was 4 years ago that I was removed from a mission to Afghanistan due to a paperwork issue. It feels alot like groundhog day for me.
But praying this morning I was reminded of Psalm 145 that says the following:
The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And gracious in all His works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love Him

The verse that jumped out at me this mornig was, He hears their cry and saves them. Even if I cannot hear, God hears. He hears my cry. He saves me. Last night I prayed with my friend Wes, who is also going through a physical issue that might jeopardize his mission. We prayed together and cried out to God, mainly because there is no where else we can go. I feel alot like Richard Gere in An Officer and A Gentleman. The Gunnery SGT was trying to get him to quit through some tortuous PT. But he wouldn't quit and he screamed out, "I got no where else to go!"

I really feel like that today. I know without a doubt I am where I am supposed to be today. I got no where else to go!

So pray for us old guys as we try to live out this mission. Pray that health issues will not get in the way.

I'll post another update in the near future and I'll let you all know how the medical stuff shakes out. Thanks again for your prayers!


















My quarters....tight!




















The Company Guidon

Comments

Jim Pemberton said…
You call those tight quarters? You've never been berthed on a Naval vessel. You are either skinny or you have to learn how to sleep on your back because there's hardly any room to lay on your side.

And those quarters look comfy. When I was in tanks, I often slept on the fender.

Ahhh, the good old days. Our prayers are with you, Brad. May God be gracious in his provision in Iraq as he is here, but not so much that you forget your home.

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