Change of Mission
We had a death in our Battalion this week. It has been hard. Death is never easy. I've been so busy with ministry that I haven't had time to put things in perspective.
The following was written by my friend and colleague CPT Ken Quimby and has a great ring to it. Hope you enjoy it.
Change of Mission.
This has been a difficult week. We lost a Soldier suddenly and unexpectedly. 1SG Gerry Spivey suffered a deep brain aneurysm and essentially dropped dead. It is interesting that this happened on the weekend and even the day that we were honoring our regimental veterans that had been assigned to 1/61 in years past. Many of the veterans were Vietnam Veterans who witnessed a great deal of death. Many of the current cadre have seen far too much death in their tours in Iraq in recent years. We are dealing with a Drill SGT and his severe struggle with PTSD and delusional visions and flashbacks and trauma from his experiences in Iraq. Currently he is in the hospital where they are trying to stabilize him and regain his perception of reality.
I am rather removed from this situation with 1SG Spivey, and I did not know his personal family, but as a member of his military family, I cannot write this without tears and significant emotion. For those familiar with the military we know that everything is based on a Mission. We don’t utilize the latrine without it being a mission with contingencies and security, etc.
Well, I think God has a Mission for us as well. We are where we are as part of the mission God has for our lives. We are doing what we need to do as our part of that mission. It may be part of the training phase of the mission. As I have read and often think of; “every person we meet and every experience we have is part of the perfect preparation for the future [mission] that only God knows.”
In my career both personally and professionally I see this very clearly. I was an “LT” for 15 years. Why? Yes, the system of the Army messed up, and I didn’t know I could question it, but was it really for some preparation, something that I hadn’t learned yet, and had to know before I would be fully ready for my mission? In my personal life, I have long struggled with my ex-wife and how to handle a blended family, 5 kids, a bunch of life transitions, etc. My wife and I have talked frequently about how God is preparing us for a new “mission”.
I know that we don’t like to think about death. We feel that we want to live a full and rich life. But, if God has a plan for our lives, what a pleasure and honor it would be to know that we have finished our current mission and are ready for the next. Or even more honored it would be that we have shown that we are ready early and selected by GOD for a new mission. I believe that is what God has done with 1SG Spivey. He has been called home and selected for a new mission. I can only imagine what a Glorious mission that must be.
The following was written by my friend and colleague CPT Ken Quimby and has a great ring to it. Hope you enjoy it.
Change of Mission.
This has been a difficult week. We lost a Soldier suddenly and unexpectedly. 1SG Gerry Spivey suffered a deep brain aneurysm and essentially dropped dead. It is interesting that this happened on the weekend and even the day that we were honoring our regimental veterans that had been assigned to 1/61 in years past. Many of the veterans were Vietnam Veterans who witnessed a great deal of death. Many of the current cadre have seen far too much death in their tours in Iraq in recent years. We are dealing with a Drill SGT and his severe struggle with PTSD and delusional visions and flashbacks and trauma from his experiences in Iraq. Currently he is in the hospital where they are trying to stabilize him and regain his perception of reality.
I am rather removed from this situation with 1SG Spivey, and I did not know his personal family, but as a member of his military family, I cannot write this without tears and significant emotion. For those familiar with the military we know that everything is based on a Mission. We don’t utilize the latrine without it being a mission with contingencies and security, etc.
Well, I think God has a Mission for us as well. We are where we are as part of the mission God has for our lives. We are doing what we need to do as our part of that mission. It may be part of the training phase of the mission. As I have read and often think of; “every person we meet and every experience we have is part of the perfect preparation for the future [mission] that only God knows.”
In my career both personally and professionally I see this very clearly. I was an “LT” for 15 years. Why? Yes, the system of the Army messed up, and I didn’t know I could question it, but was it really for some preparation, something that I hadn’t learned yet, and had to know before I would be fully ready for my mission? In my personal life, I have long struggled with my ex-wife and how to handle a blended family, 5 kids, a bunch of life transitions, etc. My wife and I have talked frequently about how God is preparing us for a new “mission”.
I know that we don’t like to think about death. We feel that we want to live a full and rich life. But, if God has a plan for our lives, what a pleasure and honor it would be to know that we have finished our current mission and are ready for the next. Or even more honored it would be that we have shown that we are ready early and selected by GOD for a new mission. I believe that is what God has done with 1SG Spivey. He has been called home and selected for a new mission. I can only imagine what a Glorious mission that must be.
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