What do these past few days have to do with beavers? Ever heard of "busy as a beaver". These past few days have been busy. Served the past week as duty chaplain and had a whole bunch of calls. This was probably the busiest duty week that I've had since coming in the Air Force. But these are major opportunities to make a difference in the lives of someone.One of those was to console someone who had a very tragic event in their lifetime which has been characterized by many high ups and low downs. They shared that God must have a purpose. And it occurred to me that maybe the purpose God has for us in tough times, and even in good times, is to live and serve in the moment. Yes, I believe in being goal and future oriented and aiming to achieve things, but there also comes a point in one's life that you realize that just maybe this is where God wanted you to be so that you can bring your gifts and strengths to bear in the lives of others. Maybe the purpose of this moment is not just to prepare you for future moments but rather the purpose of this moment is service in this moment.
So anyway learned some lessons about myself and the value of pacing. Wound up getting very tired over the past few weeks and having some physical issues resurface that I thought were resolved in DC. So, now I will have a new experience -- finding a Korean hospital on my own for an MRI. In a country where I don't speak the language, I expect it may be a bit of an adventure. I did visit our local ER last night and feel much better after a few liters of fluid. Fill me up please.
You know, getting old is a real pain in the backside. I tease people that I have OAS (old age syndrome) but I find that I can't do as much as I used to. Used to I could get up before dawn and go run or lift for a couple of hours, shower, go to work and work 12 hours or more. There were even times when my job pace allowed it that I would spend 3-5 hours working out hard. But I just can't do it anymore, even if I had the time, and a few weeks of 12-15 hours days has exhausted me. My boss even fussed at me and told me to rest. I hate to admit that I'm slowing down. But it will still be a bit before I can take some solid time off as I have pretty full days for at least another week. But I'm going to be certain I get sleep.
Lots of good stuff going on. I have a good group of solid Lutherans here who are attending my services and I met another who just came to Osan today. Good folks. This weekend I will be with two other chaplains conducting a retreat at a local retreat spot near Seoul. I am starting a "Divorce Recovery" support group. I've also been working on a portion of a very large outreach program to Korean children called Pearl S. Buck. I'm looking forward to this in December. And speaking of things I am looking forward to, Tuesday the chaplains are having lunch with some local ministers just to build relationships. Tomorrow I am making chili and good old fashioned Tennessee mountain cornbread for dinner tomorrow night at the Retreat Center.
Spent about three hours today with our team helping make cookies. The Officer Wive's Club here at Osan makes cookies for every military member in Korea. Our shift prepared about 10,000 in a little less than three hours. Hooah! (We only ate the broken ones... really!)
Found out that I didn't get picked up for a school I was hoping for, a counseling degree in PTSD. So I will be waiting to find out my new assignment sometime in early Spring time. I'm looking forward to going home after the first of the year for 30 days to see my family. I'm trying to find ways to stay involved and busy over the holidays since I really don't want to just sit around my room. I'm tossing around trying to go TDY to the outposts attached to us and doing some services down there since those guys don't see a chaplain too often.
