A Different Commission

This has been a week of wonder. I would say it’s been a magical week, but there’s been nothing magical about it. It’s been a week resulting from years of labor and love. Desire and dreams. Effort and even agony at times. All culminating in one exceptional week and one very special day: The day of graduation and commissioning of 1,032 West Point Cadets. And I was there to see my son become an officer in the United States Army.

My son dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot at an early age and so we talked to him about the Air Force Academy. Even took him there to visit. My father was a career Air Force officer, so for me a military career didn’t seem a bad option for him. But as he got a little older, the fighter pilot dream faded and soon was replaced by wanting to be a soldier. The watershed event for my son’s generation was September 11, 2001. It is their Dec. 4, 1941. I saw how deeply it affected him. He was in fifth grade at the time and the school turned on the TVs so they could watch it happening as it unfolded on the news. No censorship. At the time I was upset by the school’s decision, but in hindsight, they did the right thing. My son’s love of country is amazing.

It’s not that he just wants to go shoot people. He is following two career paths. One, his degree is in international relations, to understand others and to try and be a part of bringing others to the table to talk things out. And to teach others about other cultures, primarily those of the pacific-rim.

Second, has chosen to go into Ordnance, not to just blow up things, but primarily bomb disposal, to destroy IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that kill and maim ours and our allies’ troops daily. He will be competing for only a few slots for the school when he reports to his first assignment and it is his goal to get one. For him, it is a means of saving lives.

The teen I sent to West Point has come back to me a man, one I am so proud of. A man who is becoming who I truly believe God has created him to be. I cannot believe how blessed our family has been by the Lord. I look at our son and wonder what I did to deserve such a gift. I would be lying if I said I did not fear what the future could hold. The military life means danger. And I cannot begin to express what grief I would feel were the worst to happen. But God has led him to this point for reasons unknown to me and He has a purpose for his life. For now I will rejoice in and with him. And God will have to keep him. He is now no longer under my care. 

Making time for Prayer

It’s amazing how much I depend on the internet. I go online daily to chat with people in far flung places, to research, to pay bills, check my work email and personal email. Today, my internet provider went down and I suddenly found myself cut off from the rest of the world. It was frustrating to not be able to just sit down with my laptop and be instantly connected to the places I go and the people I love.

I am reminded of how easily communication can be disrupted in other areas of my life as well, most notably the communication between God and me. Prayer is connecting with God in a tangible way. We can be casual, earnest, angry, humble. There are many postures we can take in prayer, but we first have to pray and do so often. I am willing to spend time daily on the internet communicating with others, how willing am I to spend time communicating with God? I admit, I don’t pray as much as I should, at least not in my estimation. I pray daily, don’t get me wrong, but I am sometimes on the run and breathing out prayers as I go instead of sitting down and making sure I have time when it’s just God and me. I always have his ear, but he doesn’t always have mine.

Sometimes it’s a matter of something getting between God and me. I allow attitudes or unconfessed sins to block the way to an effective prayer life. There is a disconnect that takes place and it’s on my end not his. Unlike the unreliable internet service, God is always there with the channels open between us, but I fail to do what I need to do at my end to make sure there is no disruption. I need to check my heart for those things that would interfere with my prayer life and confess them, asking for forgiveness. God hears and answers always and I am aware of that when I keep my side of communications open.

Hopefully, my service will be up soon and I will be able to do what I need to do today. In the meantime, I think I will spend some of that time in prayer. God is waiting for me and I don’t need an internet search engine to find my way to him. He is already here.