Hubs' 4th week

This past week I fulfilled a long-held time aspiration: earning a Parachutist Badge (aka "Airborne Wings") from the U.S. Army Airborne School located at Fort Benning. In so doing I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I can jump out of a C-130 Hercules from 1250 feet, five times with profound calmness when I put my confidence in the Lord and wear some high quality equipment. I learned that sitting on a hard wooden bench in silence while harnessed to a T-10D parachute is uncomfortable and borders on being definable as medieval torture when exceeding six consecutive hours. I learned that the ground is a remarkably apathetic surface; it does not generally discriminate, except it occasionally extends mercy to those that weigh less. I learned that 32 year olds can keep up with 18 year olds given the appropriate amount of effort, but that 32 year olds don't seem to heal up as quickly from the physical pounding. Some of these lessons will be immediately useful to military ministry while others will be simply be stashed away for my grandkids to hear about.

We ended up jumping once Monday, twice Tuesday, and twice Wednesday. The fourth and fifth jumps included combat equipment and the fifth jump was at night. Thankfully, only a few guys from my class got injured and none too seriously. When Friday came, 462 out of the original 520 students starting with me earned their wings at graduation. Christie, the boys, Christie's parents, and some of our family here in Columbus attended the ceremony. I was grateful to have them in attendance. Christie and the boys stayed through the weekend and it was really great to catch up with them and catch up on sleep. Thank you to all who lifted me up during this period of testing.

One more week and I'll get to go home for a few weeks. At present the Installation Chaplain's Office has assigned me to observe the Chaplain at the Ranger Training Brigade which should be a lot of fun. Pray that I will be a useful vessel during this period of interaction with some of the Army's finest soldiers.

Please also continue to pray for the decision of the Accessions board meeting this week. By the end of the week I should have their decision on whether or not I've been accepted to become an active duty Army Chaplain following graduation from seminary. Pray that we would be placed in the ministry context that maximizes our effectiveness at ministering to people.

For God and Country,
Hubs