Happy Memorial Day

We have been doing some traveling and have thoroughly enjoyed God's creation.

We have found that this time of year in MS, AR, LA, TX, and OK reminds us of HI (those are all states, by the way). We even had a gecko on our window.

We also want to wish everyone a happy Memorial day. I think that a lot of folks have forgotten what Memorial day is really all about. However, I am including a picture of a church in LA made up of some folks who have really taken the holiday to heart.

I am also putting up some pictures of our new housing. We are very thankful. The house is great and we are looking forward to getting settled.

So, happy Memorial day everyone.

Have a great day!

We Have Housing!

We have moved into our housing!

We are very excited and will hopefully have all of our stuff out of storage soon.

We are in a quiet neighborhood (for the most part) on a somewhat secluded portion of the post, at the end of a street. I really do not know if I could have asked for a better placement. In fact, it is really close to my office. The only thing that is quite a ways away is the high school. However, I think we can work with that.

Things are coming along. I am still figuring out how this job/ministry actually works. There is PT (physical training) every morning and I try to participate with different groups of Soldiers so I can get to know them, and they can get to know me.

Then there are meetings for training, scheduling, and general command issues, plus chaplain specific meetings.

Then I have counseling sessions with Soldiers for a variety of issues. I also have suicide prevention training that I actually conduct, and marriage/relationship training or retreats that I try to plan and organize.

So, needless to say, life is pretty busy and I do not yet have a chaplain’s assistant. So that means that at this stage, with my government PCs not working quite right, I am trying to do all of that on my own. Not complaining, just recognizing that I might be a little busier than I will be when I get some help. That just makes me appreciate chaplain assistants even more. Those folks do a lot that goes unseen.

We’re going to be doing some traveling for the holiday and block leave coming up. I will try to keep you posted. Hopefully we will be visiting my brother (and maybe my nephew) soon. Should be fun.

Please remember the real reason behind Memorial Day and take time to actually remember.

Blessings.

Happy Mother's Day

I would like to wish all of the mom's out there a very special "happy mother's day!"

I have had a chance know to meet some Army moms, and they have my respect. However, I can say that about most of the mothers that I know.

It seems like being a mom just gets tougher and tougher as the years go by. In fact, the Army has begun to offer programs to help strengthen families. They realize that there are a lot of soldiers struggling with the decision to stay with the Army or not, and in many instances a deciding factor is the strength of their family.

I have met families that work well with the stresses of military life, and I have seen others that have really struggled. The Army's "Strong Bonds" program is designed to help families be and become stronger and healthier.

Mom's play a significant role in the strength of our families. So I want to say again, thanks mom for all of your love, help, support, sacrifice, and strength. And that goes for all moms.

I have included some pics from the area. We've had a fair amount of rain and everything is greening up very nice.