Having finished reading "Chosen for Life" by Sam Storms I have come to realize that I'm truly blessed. No matter how contentious or challenging my life may or may not be I must remember that my first & most urgent need has already been met; & that need would be my need for a saviour.
Now I can face death without fear; pain with long suffering; & persecution & ridicule with almost supernatural tolerance. For now I know without a doubt my salvation is assured, because the One who assures it says I cannot be seized from His hand. For the first time in years I am beginning to again believe that I am loved & accepted by the only One who matters.
As I read "Chosen for Life" my heart was moved. I cannot describe the emotions I experienced as I was reading except to say I was profoundly humbled. Humbled by the fact that God for no other reason other than expressing His mercy & for His glory alone seemingly arbitrarily chose me before the dawn of time to be His.
This fact by itself reinforces in me the need to know Him more, not out of arrogance but as a form of humble worship. Although there is no way I can re-pay the debt I owe Him I am still inspired as I have never been before; hence, I will no longer worship Him out of a spirit of obligation alone but also out of a spirit of intense gratitude. I will pour out my heart to Him both privately & publicly, & glean every bit of knowledge I can from the Scriptures concerning His character. I will put to death what sin in my life He brings to my knowledge, not by my power but by His grace. Lord, may You sanctify me to become more like You!
Not only sanctify me but also let others see the changes You make in me not for my credit but for Your glory so that they, too, may desire to come to know You as I do; may they come to repent & know saving grace because of what they see You do in the heart of a frail sinner such as I.
Lord Jesus, I also repent & beg Your forgiveness for not believing in You & doubting You. If I truly believed & had no doubts I would not sin. My sin is doubt & unbelief even as I looked upon Your face! Forgive me, Lord, & strengthen me....
As I read "Chosen for Life" it became clearer to me why we worship God: We worship Him because of who He is. We worship Him because of what He has done & continues to do in our lives. But more & more, for me, it is because of gratitude for choosing me when He was under no obligation whatsoever to do so.
Before I believed as I do now I worshiped more out of obligation not to God but to those around me. I had reason to doubt my salvation. Even if I had no doubts, why would I lift my voice to worship? Who was I worshiping? God?
Now that I look back through re-newed lenses I can see that I was indeed grateful; but I wasn't grateful so much for what God had done, rather I was grateful for the opportunity He freely offered & for the potential it posed therein. If I truly worshipped at all it wasn't out of gratefulness to Him alone but also out of gratefulness to myself! Could it be that I was actually worshipping both myself & God? Lord, let it not be so!
Nonetheless I should be cautious for I could easily fall into the sins of arrogance & pride even now. For although others may not share the same beliefs that we do it still doesn't make us any less brothers & sisters in Christ. Because I am not of Calvin & they of Arminius but we are all of Christ.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Ah, Kuwait!
Ah, Kuwait! Bordered by Iraq to the north, Saudi Arabia to the west & the Persian Gulf to the east, it serves as the primary logistics hub to both the U.S. & the Insurgents. Her landscape is hard on the eyes & is mostly sand & rock. Kuwait looks its best after nightfall, even better if observed through shut eyelids. Why anyone would proudly call this place home is beyond me.
We finally arrived in-country after a long, 16 1/2 hour flight that began just before 2 a.m. on Friday & ended at around 5 a.m. on Saturday. While in the air it seemed as if our plane was chasing the sun; indeed, we caught the sun & eventually passed it as darkness once again enveloped us. Imagine, if you can, the jet lag from which we suffered.
Eventually we would arrive at the place we would come to know as our home for the next few months. Ironically, it is known as "Mayberry" to the men & women who stay here, for the camp is small compared to the others in Kuwait. But I can't complain: We have free room & board, a Morale, Welfare & Recreation building & we're paid a whole $3.50 in per diem a day.
After we were afforded the remainder of Saturday to sleep & recover from our long journey we were given our assignments & sent to work. Yes, our first day was Sunday, & it did not begin with the ringing of church bells but with a muezzin calling on all faithful Muslims to prayer.
Being one of eight sailors assigned to a vessel team I am busy only so long as there is a ship in port; otherwise I have a short work day. I am keenly aware that those who are not on a vessel team are envious & I believe that it won't be long before they begin to voice their displeasure. Indeed, they have already begun to do so in spite of their strenuous two days on, one day off work schedule.
As it stands right now my day begins at 9:45 p.m. & concludes usually around 1 p.m. the following day. Although we relieve the other vessel team around midnight, we have to first pick-up our weapons, commute to the work site & eat. When our shift is over at noon we have to return to our camp, which explains why our day typically ends at 1 p.m. But, of course, if no ship is in port we can leave early.
My beloved wife was able to expeditiously mail out my trunk & as a result I have already received it. Which is good for all of us, because in that trunk is stowed a camera. Hopefully I will be able to sneak a few photos of where I'm staying & maybe even download them to this site.
We finally arrived in-country after a long, 16 1/2 hour flight that began just before 2 a.m. on Friday & ended at around 5 a.m. on Saturday. While in the air it seemed as if our plane was chasing the sun; indeed, we caught the sun & eventually passed it as darkness once again enveloped us. Imagine, if you can, the jet lag from which we suffered.
Eventually we would arrive at the place we would come to know as our home for the next few months. Ironically, it is known as "Mayberry" to the men & women who stay here, for the camp is small compared to the others in Kuwait. But I can't complain: We have free room & board, a Morale, Welfare & Recreation building & we're paid a whole $3.50 in per diem a day.
After we were afforded the remainder of Saturday to sleep & recover from our long journey we were given our assignments & sent to work. Yes, our first day was Sunday, & it did not begin with the ringing of church bells but with a muezzin calling on all faithful Muslims to prayer.
Being one of eight sailors assigned to a vessel team I am busy only so long as there is a ship in port; otherwise I have a short work day. I am keenly aware that those who are not on a vessel team are envious & I believe that it won't be long before they begin to voice their displeasure. Indeed, they have already begun to do so in spite of their strenuous two days on, one day off work schedule.
As it stands right now my day begins at 9:45 p.m. & concludes usually around 1 p.m. the following day. Although we relieve the other vessel team around midnight, we have to first pick-up our weapons, commute to the work site & eat. When our shift is over at noon we have to return to our camp, which explains why our day typically ends at 1 p.m. But, of course, if no ship is in port we can leave early.
My beloved wife was able to expeditiously mail out my trunk & as a result I have already received it. Which is good for all of us, because in that trunk is stowed a camera. Hopefully I will be able to sneak a few photos of where I'm staying & maybe even download them to this site.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
He Made It
Craig was able to call this morning and all is well other than a bad case of jet lag. There is a seven hour difference; eight hours after tomorrow since Kuwait does not recognize daylight savings time. It was just about 5pm when he called (his time) and he had a briefing at 6 and after that I think he was heading off to bed to get some much needed rest. All he has right now is a sleeping bag and he was going to go and buy a pillow. I sent him his big foot locker the other day full of things from home like sheets, his pillow, a camera and other fun things for him to enjoy. We are also hoping to send him care packages or letters at least every two or three weeks. It takes about that long for him to receive them so maybe we can keep them coming :)
Well that is all I have for now. I am hoping that Craig will be able to update soon.
Oh....that picture that I thought was Craig isn't. He told me this morning that he knows for sure it's not him and he's right. I enlarged it and sure enough it's not. Bummer!
Well that is all I have for now. I am hoping that Craig will be able to update soon.
Oh....that picture that I thought was Craig isn't. He told me this morning that he knows for sure it's not him and he's right. I enlarged it and sure enough it's not. Bummer!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Well, He's Off!
Well Craig has left for the Middle East and I anxiously await his call to let me know that he has arrived safely. I was pretty emotional the night before his departure mostly because I knew that he would be so far away. There was some comfort knowing he was in the States. Even though we weren't together I knew he was safe. The good news is that this is just one more step needed for him to get home. The sooner he gets there the sooner he can get home....right?
The night he left he called me from his pre-paid cell phone that we bought right before he left for Virginia. He said that he had 9 minutes and about 35 seconds left and he wanted to use them up. So our conversation was pretty funny because I kept looking at my phone to see how long we had been talking and report that back to him. We were saying what we wanted to say to each other really fast because we wanted to make sure that we said everything before the time ran out. We did manage to tell each other that we loved each other and actually get to say goodbye before time ran out.
In other news, we have a great Ombudsman who keeps us updated and sends us information on our Unit. She sent an article that talks about Craig's unit and the work that they will be doing. And there is a picture of Craig holding one of the flags. It doesn't say who's in the pictures but below the picture you can click "View Larger" you can see it bigger. It totally looks like him ;) Check out the article if you get a chance at: http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32952
Well I guess I will go now and wait by the phone - just kidding - maybe! Actually I don't expect a call today. Tomorrow maybe but not today. Thanks for your continuing prayers. They are greatly appreciated.
The night he left he called me from his pre-paid cell phone that we bought right before he left for Virginia. He said that he had 9 minutes and about 35 seconds left and he wanted to use them up. So our conversation was pretty funny because I kept looking at my phone to see how long we had been talking and report that back to him. We were saying what we wanted to say to each other really fast because we wanted to make sure that we said everything before the time ran out. We did manage to tell each other that we loved each other and actually get to say goodbye before time ran out.
In other news, we have a great Ombudsman who keeps us updated and sends us information on our Unit. She sent an article that talks about Craig's unit and the work that they will be doing. And there is a picture of Craig holding one of the flags. It doesn't say who's in the pictures but below the picture you can click "View Larger" you can see it bigger. It totally looks like him ;) Check out the article if you get a chance at: http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32952
Well I guess I will go now and wait by the phone - just kidding - maybe! Actually I don't expect a call today. Tomorrow maybe but not today. Thanks for your continuing prayers. They are greatly appreciated.
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