God

Yeah, a lot could be wrapped up in a title like, "God." I have been taking a systematic theology course for the past 5-6 weeks. It has been intense, but it has been good. The more I learn about my God, the more I am in awe that he would fellowship with me, a sinner. You see, one thing I wrestle with is the plan of God. Actually, I am writing my final paper on the plan of God, and while I am learning a lot, I still wrestle with the "unknowns." It is those "unknowns" that I believe the enemy uses to stifle me. The "unknowns" of whether or not I am making the proper choices or whether or not I may disappoint someone who trusts me. And in my struggling, I sometimes get so focussed on me I lose sight of the fact that while my God is the almighty and powerful God, he is also a God who cares about me. He knows my fears and my struggles and he walks with me through them. Then I slowly start resting in God and the fact that His plan will go forth.

As we wrestle with better understanding God's plans, I found out today that in all likelihood I will be attending the September CHOBLC class. (Sorry Dave, I was looking forward to meeting you. We'll get together sometime.) I was hoping to do a practicum first, but the Chaplain Candidate Manager wants me to attend CHOBLC before I do a practicum. Then I asked if I could still get into the September class. He said, "Sure." Wow! I can't quite express how excited and overwhelmed I am about this opportunity. It seems almost too unreal to be real. Add this to the fact that my wonderful wife will give birth to our second son about two weeks before I go and things get pretty intense. As we have talked though, we just feel that this is a good time for me to do my training. Liberty will give me nine hours of credit and both my parents and my wife's parents have helped us devise a plan that will keep one of them with her for most of the time I am gone. Actually it is a little better than going in the winter because she will have some maternity time left to actually go and live with her folks for awhile. That, on top of not worrying about the possibility of her getting stuck in the snow one day while I am a few hundred miles away makes this a really great time to go.

Yes, I serve a good and all powerful God. He created all things from nothing and he called me to be adopted as his son. He provided me with the most wonderful woman in the world for a wife and I have the greatest son, soon to be sons, in the world too. What an awesome blessing it is to know God!


Rob

A date and a time

Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 7:00. This is the date and time that I will be commissioned into the Army. My parents are coming up so my dad can issue me the oath of office, where I commit to upholding the constitution among other things. A really good friend of mine from High School, who is a Sergeant in the Pennsylvania National Guard will be here to give me my first salute. He is also picking me up a set of ACU's (Army Combat Uniform), so I can be commissioned "in style." It is a really exciting time. Initially, we were looking at the end of August, but since my paperwork came so quickly, we are going to do it more quickly. This will get me in the "books" so I can get my orders, get my ID and talk with the Chaplain Candidate Manager about training opportunities this next year.

It is an exciting time and will be an exciting year.

By the way, a week or so ago, I asked readers to post about their success, or lack there of, with their cell phone companies. Well, although I think I only had one response, and this was through another site, we decided to go with AT&T. So, now my wife and I both have a phone. No we did not get an i-phone. While it is a little more a month than we were paying for one phone, it is a necessity since I will be away sometime this year for training. If, by any chance, anyone reading this is interested in switching to AT&T, let me know so I can get some $$$ for a referral.

Thanks for reading,

Rob

Paper Work is Here

Wow, believe it or not, my oath of office came today. After growing up as an "Army Brat" it is kind of strange to see 2 Lt. Robert Olson on an official government piece of paper. Ok, it's really strange, but it's also really exciting! I am waiting to be commissioned by my father. He and my mom will come up in mid-august to officially commission me into the United States Army. While we could do the ceremony in a matter of seconds, we will probably make it a nice service at the church.

It will be really exciting! Don't worry, I will make sure to post pictures of the great event.


Rob

Chopper Pilots

The story I am linking to is about two helicopters that were shot up a few days ago. One was able to make it back to the air base, while the other crash landed near a group of insurgents. I've written a little bit before about my brother-in-law. He is a doctor deployed to Iraq with this squadron. It is a pretty amazing story.

Here is the link for the written story.

Here is the link for a short video about the story.


Rob

Mobile Phone

Ok, so my wife and I are looking at changing mobile phone companies. I don't know how many people read this blog, but if you are interested, we would love to hear what company you have and what your experience has been with your cell company. Comments on dropped calls, coverage, and customer service would be great.

Thanks,

Rob

Family Fun

We have been having a great time with the family in Tennessee. A couple days ago, we went to a Tennessee Smokies game. The Smokies are the AA affiliate to the Chicago Cubs. It was a really great time. The ball park was really nicely laid out and the prices were typical minor league prices. When it comes down to it, minor league baseball is great!

Yesterday, my dad and I went fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I don't claim to be a fisherman, but it was a great time. We didn't catch anything, but the two inch little fish were biting enough to rip apart our tiny flies.


Tonight we went to the Black Bear Jamboree. This is one of many dinner theaters in the tourist trap that is Pigeon Forge. My folks went a couple years ago and it was designed for kids. This time the show was really more of a variety show that, while decent singing and dancing, was really not designed for children. It was good clean fun, but I would not recommend it to people looking for a kid friendly show.

It has been a fun time, but the week is just about over.



Rob

Family

We're in Tennessee this week visiting family. Although we've seen my family pretty regularly, we have not visited here in about a year and a half. It is good to be here just chilling out.

As a nice surprise, we just got a call from my brother-in-law. He is an Army doctor deployed to Iraq and while either heading to or from work noticed the line for the free phone calls was pretty short, so he stopped to give us a call. I guess, there are free phone calls offered a couple days a month and while there is usually a long line, today he just stepped right in line and made the call. It was pretty amazing to hear how clear the line was. There was no delay and no crackling. At one point I thought I lost the call, but he was back within a couple of seconds. Thanks to whomever pays for those calls! It was nice to chat with him and hear how he is doing.

It is good to have such a great relationship with all my family! We are truly blessed.


Rob