Fort Stewart

Greetings friends and prayer partners. I am sorry it has been so long. We have only recently gotten the internet hooked up, and things have been crazy busy. We left Fort Wayne on September 7 and traveled to see my parents in Maryville, TN for a week. After going to church with them on Sunday the 14, we traveled to South Carolina where we stayed with some of the Peterson extended family for the night. We had a great time with them and were thankful for a place to crash that wasn't a hotel. Now to the good stuff...

Many of you know that one of our prayer requests was for post housing. After our church planting experience a few years ago, God birthed into us a passion to live in the community in which we were doing ministry. For this community, that means living on post. Because there are so many officers of my rank, there is sometimes a shortage for post housing. During the process, we were told it could be a couple weeks to a couple months wait for a three bedroom house. Since living in a hotel with a whole family for a couple months was not really a viable option, Katie and the boys were initially going to stay with my parents in Tennessee. Although this was a viable option, we decided that Katie and the boys would at least come down for a week. The weekend before we came down, I talked with another chaplain who encouraged me to think about the possibility of a two bedroom house. Initially, it was not really an option, but with the bunk beds, we thought Ben could eventually move out of the crib and into his brother's room. So we called back to the housing office and asked if there were any two bedroom homes open. They said, "yes." As a result, we said "yes" as well. So, on September 15, the day of our arrival, we signed the paperwork for our house! No waiting! Our stuff arrived last Friday and after in-processing, I start my job next Wednesday! How awesome is our God?! He provided a home in one day, He got us our stuff in less than a week, and we have great neighbors and a small park right in our backyard! We are so blessed. All that to say, God has answered our prayers and we are home! Oh, by the way, I forgot to add, we closed on our house in Indiana yesterday! What a mighty God we serve!

Please continue to pray. I am excited about my job, but recognize some challenges. Please pray that God continues to open doors and give me wisdom as I start this new ministry with these great soldiers.

Thanks again for your prayers,

Rob

Promoted!

Greetings friends. Most of you know that I recently finished my classes through Liberty. I was also recently promoted to 1st LT, and given the opportunity to "pin" the cross on my uniform. As a Chaplain Candidate, I did not wear the cross of the Christian Chaplain, but since I was assessed and completed all the required "stuff," I was able to pin on the crosses. It was a really cool moment. The two Chaplains who helped out were CH (MAJ) Dave Bowlus and CH (MAJ) Doug Prentice. Both have had an impact in my preparation for this ministry, so it was really exciting to have them participate. I was issued my new oath of office by Major General (Ret) Dees, who was conducting some training for the C&MA Chaplains on PTSD. It was amazing training!

All in all, things are going well. The movers come tomorrow, so stuff is a little crazy. Two blessings to report: 1) Our house is sold! Well, we accepted an offer. The house will be sold when we close on the 30th of September. 2) Post housing is available. At least for now. There are three homes in which to choose. Just pray that no one takes all of them before I arrive for in-processing in just over a week. Since they are refurbishing the homes, it will take a month to get in them, but we are thankful that it is only a month as the initial estimates were 2-3 months.

Things are moving right along. Thanks for your continued encouragement and your prayers.

Rob