Change in Plans

Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

While certainly not a huge problem, it doesn't look like I'll be going to jump school this fall. More than likely I will extend the practicum at Fort Leonard Wood about a week and head to an Emergency Medical Ministry training for two weeks later in the summer. Actually, while I hope to still go to jump school, it is probably better that I go after I assess to active duty. Beyond the disappointment, I am really excited about this two week training.

Outside of those details, I am also hoping to start some ministry with a local reserve unit. As a member of the IRR, I am not attached to a unit so the ministry I do with this group of soldiers will be on a volunteer basis. Some details need to be worked out so I will keep you posted, but be praying that the Lord opens this door. At this point, these soldiers do not have a chaplain, so I would be the only one to provide religious support to them. We'll see what the Lord does.

Other than the bummer of the Packers losing, all is well on the home front. Thanks for your prayers and support.


Rob

Not much going on

There isn't much to report at this time. We are doing well as we get back into the groove of being a family. Katie's schedule is great. I have all day Monday and Friday to work on class work and ordination "stuff." It makes the days I am with the boys a lot less stressful. I have also sent in paperwork for two practicums this year. I hope to go to Fort Leonard Wood and Jump School before I go active duty this fall. It is a busy year, but I am really confident that I can get it all done. It is really exciting!

We certainly appreciate your prayers. Eventually this will become a place where we share about the ministry God is doing through us, so we can communicate with prayer partners. If you are praying for us, I ask that you pray for diligence and clarity. Diligence to work hard when I have the opportunity and clarity in communication. Regarding communication, I am hoping to establish a prayer network for our future ministry by visiting and sharing with different churches. There is so much on my heart about the Chaplaincy that I want to be able to share clearly and concisely about what we feel the Lord doing in our lives.

Thanks so much! We appreciate your reading and praying for us.

Blessings,

Rob

A Little Update

What a great Christmas season! While there have been some unique challenges to returning home, I am really feeling like I am getting back in the groove of things. Benjamin really seems to be getting to know me and I am starting to get into his pattern of daily living. One thing they taught us at Chaplain's Officers Basic is the amount of time it takes to reintegrate back to living after being gone for a significant amount of time. They said that for each day away, it takes a day to get readjusted. That means for our troops coming back from 15 month deployments, it takes them 15 months to get "back to normal." Certainly something to pray about as our soldiers come home from deployment. Fortunately for us, I was only gone three months, so while it's only been a couple weeks since I've been home, I expect to get "back to normal" a little more quickly.

Something we did this new year was head to White Sulfur Springs where Officers Christian Fellowship has a retreat center. It was a great few days away. We took out time getting there and even stopped off to see some friends that we hadn't seen in a few years on the way home. We hit a little snow, but it really didn't slow us down. While on this trip, we used my brand new Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS. I will talk more about this later, but holy cow it was great! Got us to the doorstep of White Sulfur Springs with no problems. Again, more to come at a later time.

Well, I here Benjamin starting to cry. Thanks for reading.

Blessings,

Rob