I was visiting a blog from Boone North Carolina, near where I grew up, and enjoying the photos of the author's golden lab.

There is true value in the companionship of one's four legged friends.

Dachshunds are great animals. My mother has one that basically adopted my wife years ago and convinced my wife that she might tolerate a dog in the house if it were a little black wiener dog.

The dog belongs to her by the way. Me and the kids get to borrow her from time to time, but that dog and my wife - well - you know. She is a family dog though. She had me trained well before I came to Osan. She'd stand at the top of the stairs from the den and bark until I'd come up and fill her water bowl, let her outside, or sometimes she just wanted chicken out of the fridge.

Yep -- I miss the dog too. Lots of missing going on these days.

But lots of good ministry too. Yesterday was a day for getting lots accomplished. Met all my First Sgts, the Commander of the OSI unit I am serving (only one of my units) as well as many of his folks, and some counseling and so forth. Good day.

I was deeply moved, tried to hide it, but seeing a memorial picture in the OSI hallway of one of the men I buried brought back images of his small children sitting on chairs beside his young wife at Arlington.

We have to win. There is evil out there. We cannot afford to quit or fail. Liberty is a mighty powerful force for life but in too many ways it is also, because of human nature, a fragile thing and costly. Freedom is not free. Like anything worth anything in life, it take effort and sacrifice.

I miss my family, very much, but then I remember young men like this and his wife and children who I am sure would like to have him home too.

Then I remember why I'm here. Why we are all here.

Maybe one day, when work is done, I'll retire to Boone and have me another Dachshund and a cabin and maybe even a Golden Lab, but today - I've got work to do.

But if you want to visit a great blog site: here it is: Come enjoy the flavor of the mountains.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul-John Muir

September 11

I will never forget.

Miss home

Watching the sun rise over the Smokey's by webcam isn't quite the same as watching it from the deck of a cabin at altitude, but given I'm half way around the world - I am thankful for the technology that allows me to do so.

It does make me miss home and my family though. I truly love my job and the challenge of each unique day serving the incredible men and women who for our Air Force. But I miss the quiet simplicity of life in the mountains.

LABOR Day Weekend

This weekend certainly lived up to the name "Labor Day". I'm bushed. We had a large Protestant service this past Sunday. Saturday I thought I would give my brother chaplain a hand with food preparation. I wound up in a freak accident with a bean can lid which swiped my leg and left me with four stitches. (I was the first person this particular tech had ever sown -- she had someone teaching her.) Sunday was a very long day by the time setup, service, and clean up were done. Hardly any of the blasted beans were eaten. We poured them in a trash bag and put them on the back of the truck, where they promptly fell to the ground with a large splat when the driver popped the clutch. I won't be dissapointed if I don't see another baked bean while I'm here.

Which is entirely possible.

Monday my boss invited me to come along to go eat Shabu Shabu. Its a bit hard to describe. It turned out to be a cook your own meal which consisted of very thin sliced beef, so thin it instantly cooked in the boiling beef broth, a mound of bean sprouts and other assorted green lettuce leaves, hot pepper and teryiaki sauce (still haven't figured out how to spell that yet), and rice balls in some lettuce.

The drive to the restaurant was an adventure. The boss's GPS speaks Korean. The boss doesn't. Traffic is like a constant game of chicken in some places and thread the needle in others. I picked up my Korean driver's license today. I hope I don't have the opportunity to utilize it.

We were visiting the city of Suwon, which was a mixture of poverty and age as well as brand new modernity. I saw a place where someone was growing mellons and curing peppers on their tin roof and in a few moments saw brand new high rises going up.

After dinner, which was quite good in-spite of two large raw shrimp that kept staring at me (not my thing), we visited the fortress wall that surrounds the old city. Quite a interesting and lovely hike even if it was threatening a bit of rain.















After dinner we walked a bit. Stopped at a bakery. On the street I bought some cinnamon like waffle circles - quite good and very cheep. Big bag for about 75 cents. Then we bought a bag of little yogurts (great frozen) from a "yogurt lady" again a dozen for about 75 cents. Dinner itself was only about eight dollars, and the restaurant and its service was outstanding.

Saturday there was a ribs and blues festival which also featured native Korean dancing, which was a new experience.

Miss home

From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. Rom 1:20

I just hit a webcam that looks out from the Smokeys. This is the sunrise going on right now back home.

I tell people there is a reason that Tennesseans were known as hillbillies who did not wear shoes. When the first European settlers came across the Appalachian mountains from the colonies into what was at that time the western wilderness area of Tennessee (from the Cherokee name Tanasi), they saw the smoke on the mountains and stopped to pray. God spoke to them through the clouds (you may recall how God went as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day when He lead the Israelites out of Egypt). God spoke and said, "take off your shoes, you are on holy ground". So from that time forth, Tennessee hillbillies have not worn shoes.

On a serious note, I have always felt close to God in these mountains. Perhaps these pictures can convey to some small degree the incredible testimony of the mountains to the glory of God.

Moving In Day

My household goods caught up with me finally. There is no predicting how long it will take things to get to Korea from the US. For example, my wife mailed me some cookies and a few other things just a few days after I left and they didn't arrive until Sept 1st. She mailed me a uniform on a Friday and it was here the following Monday.

My household goods arrived 3 weeks ahead of schedule, due in a large part I believe to the diligence of the person who was managing my account. She kept pinging the shipping folks asking when my stuff was going to get airlift out of Travis. And it sped through customs, which is unusual, but perhaps they were tired of getting her email. Anyway, have all my cold weather gear, my books, and my computer equipment that I need for ministry here. My room now has a few of the comforts of home, minus my family of course.

Had some computer issues today that kept me from Skyping my family on video. Vista updated to my laptop and disabled my sound driver. Had to do a re-install, which proved a bit challenging since Vista kept wanting to install a generic driver that would not activate my built in microphone, but finally got it up. My computer has not been the only one quirky. Have worked on 2 of my fellow chaplains computers.

We have a four day weekend, but we are not really off. We are preparing for a big worship service on Sunday. Tomorrow I am going to help a brother chaplain and some volunteers prepare a bit of food. To be honest, I'd rather have something to do than just sit around anyway -- so not having much off time hasn't been that bad. I've been here a month and it has flown by.

Had dinner with my supervising chaplain last night in one of the new apartment towers on base, 7th floor. You can really see the countryside from up there. Beautiful. Watched the sunset. I wish I had had my camera up there. It was incredible.

Cooking

My wife can cook. She can cook circles around me. No doubts. But she ain't here.

So guess who's cooking tonight?

I made my own terrioke marinade. (ok I have no idea, and the spell check isn't helping with terriyake) Anyway... used some vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper spice sauce (a Korean thing), splenda, pepper, salt, garlic, and bit of tomato paste. Marrinated some steak. Boy is it good. That with some spiced up veggies and a 1/2 glass of Sam Adams and dinner ain't too bad tonight.

Anyway, wanted to post this because I know my wife read this and this way she'll know I'm not starving.

But I have lost 7 pounds since hitting the ground here.

Catching a Train

A brother chaplain described your first weeks here at Osan as "trying to catch a moving freight train". I have to concur. We are spinning up our Protestant ministries, so I am on a fast moving steep learning curve about how we do things here.

I am responsible for AWANA which has a great leader already thank goodness. Also for PYOC (Protestant Youth of the Chapel) which we are restarting from scratch, but I have the help of a couple of dedicated local missionaries. I am coordinating outreach efforts, with the assistance of a local Korean who helps us with language and liaison items, for local orphanages. I am taking point on the Traditional Service which likely means that I will also be primarily caring for the Liturgical Service as well. Then I have a couple of Groups (a component of the Air Force) each composed of several squadrons as well as a few cats and dogs here and there to watch over. I also find that having my office at the chapel, I get a number of walk in counselings that are often crisis related. I'm also point on a number of projects for our chapel.

It is all work I enjoy doing. I enjoy coordinating events and counseling folks and the worship services I am watching over fit with my preferences traditionally. And I like staying busy, for if I can't be with my family, I'd rather be working than sitting in my room staring at the walls.

I only hope that my efforts can somehow make a difference in the lives of the people I serve. Already I've had several serious occassions to offer support to folks, most individual cases, but there has been one death that lead me to engage with an entire group of folks from the leadership down to the airmen, all grieving the tragic accidental loss of a friend. I also had the challenging privilege of supporting the notification of his wife, a local Korean woman, who spoke little English. Notifications of death is perhaps the hardest thing that we do as chaplains, for here there is no arguing with the reality of our life situation. We die. We offer what comfort can be offered in these occassions, not forcing our religious views on people, but if they share the hope that I share, then I seek to console them with that hope.

I'll have the Memorial Service later this week. My experience at Arlington is invaluable for putting together such an event for it happens quickly. I wish at Arlington that the waiting list was somehow less long, especially for active duty death, but even at 30 funerals a day, which is about the most that can be done without crawling all over one another, there is probably little that can be done to shorten the waiting list. But I do wish we could somehow get the service men and women lost in the line of duty in quicker. I was surprised at how fast Sen. Kennedy's service was taking place. I can only imagine how much work the staff in my former office is engaged in to bring such an important event together. But I also know that for them, each funeral is treated with the same level of respect and care -- each family has lost their loved one and deserves the best and receives the best that the Air Force, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, and Army staff can offer. I miss Arlington and especially miss my family, but the ministry here has already demonstrated itself as potent and necessary.

Spiders

Korea has some big spiders. And lots of them. We had a burger burn for one of my units last week and this big fat spider about the size of a walnut in his body has a web running between two buildings. And then in the corner where these little yellow and black stripped spindly spiders that stretched out about the size of one's palm. Gives me the willies.

I have finally moved into my permanent quarters on base, fairly comfortable. It is a two room efficiency type apartment. I am pleased to have a kitchen and my internet service back so I can communicate with my family back home. These past two weeks have flown by. It is hard to think that shortly I will have been here three weeks already.

Tomorrow one of the civilians who has been working for the chapel for many years will receive the prestigious Spirit of the 4 Chaplains award. This is a huge award and only given once annually. It says a lot about the civilian staff we have. They are a great bunch of folks.

I am starting to get to know folks and the program here and make some connections with others around. Always lots to do to get connected and spinned up so one can get the mission done. This is a fast paced place.

Now I'm headed for bed as I am up 0 dark thirty for PT. Actually looking forward to it.

First Sunday Services

I led my first services here at Osan today, the early liturgical service and the morning traditional service. I was pleased to learn that there are a number of Lutheran folks in both congregations. The musical director has done an outstanding job. She has a voice like an angel and leads a small but dedicated and skilled choir. A good bunch of folks in general. I enjoyed being back in the saddle again.

Visited the commissary here for the first time yesterday. I'm not going to starve by any means. Very nice. I started to order some items from Walmart for my digs figuring they might be here about the time to move in, but when I saw the shipping cost was more than the items combined I decided to go without. The BX here is ok. I've never been terribly impressed with the selections offered by base BXs but for a situation like here it is fairly good and is tax and shipping free so that part is good. There is a Starbucks here but it is pricey. I'm looking forward to getting my household goods so I can make my own frappucinos.

Making my way through inprocessing. Got most of the big rocks out of the way. Tomorrow I plan to tackle organizing and cleaning out up my office. I also have an invocation for a dedication of a refurbed dormitory here on base.

It has been very hot and humid but at least the monsoon rains have not slammed us like they often do this time of year. We had some rain with the remnants of the typhoon that past through, but it wasn't too bad.

Korea Day 2

I think my day/night cycle is normalizing already - at least I hope so. Today proved to be fruitful. I met my sponsor for lunch and then we toured the base where I got a bit of an orientation to where the units I am responsible for are located as well as where key support agencies are. The chapel is nice and functional. I see that I will have a quick challenge to master. My only experience with a stick is in the desert flat lands where I earned the nickname 13 (for the number of times I stalled it out in a row). I did get the hang of it, but I've not had to drive a stick on hill sides, and guess what Osan has a plethora of. Two of the three chapel vehicles are straight drive. Hence - I anticipate practice in my near future.

We had dinner out in the local area outside the gate at a small mom and pop Korean place. The food was quite good and surprisingly not as spicy as the Korean food I have had stateside. The shopping district reminds me a bit of Gatlinburg only older and of course Korean. But there is a mixture of high quality goods offered and chintzy souvenirs as well. My brother chaplain was proposition on the street by a prostitute, a lovely experience. My biggest surprise was in one shop that did embroidery where my sponsor was placing an order, two American but non-military gentlemen came in. I started speaking to them and discovered they were two Lutheran (LCMS) missionaries from the midwest. I never expected to meet two of our missionaries outside the gate of my base in Korea. Small world.

Am going to visit the two big service tomorrow - the traditional and contemporary to get a feel for them as I anticipate being assigned one of them as my primary service. Found out that I will also be working with AWANA and traveling around Korea a bit to some outlying bases to visit our remote units. This is shaping up to be an exciting, challenging and broadening tour already. I get the feeling the time is going to fly.

Used Skype's video function to talk to family for the first time tonight. While it is not the same as being there, it is certainly better than what I had from Iraq. Helps take the edge off.

Arrival

It is almost 1am in the morning here on Friday and I have arrived at Osan. Actually hit Korea about 163o local time. Fairly simple process to get through the airport to the shuttle to the base, though the cab drivers are very aggressive about trying to get your business as I was warned. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the chaplain assistants I will be working with that I knew from DC was also on my flight as he was returning from leave. Nice to have some company in a new country. A large part of our chapel team turned out to welcome me upon my arrival on the base. I am very happy that I have a room on base as many are staying at local hotels. I can tell already that it will be a very busy time but I am looking forward to the diversity and challenges here.

I will say that the dynamics of a 1 year absence from family is quite different from a four month or even six month absence. I think it hit us all harder yesterday when I departed than we anticipated. But thanks to Skype, I think we will survive.

Last Days

Last Friday I had my final funeral ceremony at Arlington, a full ceremony for a fellow Lutheran veteran of the US Air Force. At the start of the ceremony the wind was blowing something fierce and before it was over we had had a short but powerful downpour, but it was warm weather and somehow the scene fit with the ceremony. Following the service, I walked slowly out of section 64, a very meaningful section for me as this is where the victims from the Pentagon who were killed on Sept 11th are found. It was in those days following 9/11 that I started pondering, and looking back, decided to rejoin the military. My family was able to observe from a distance, their first and final time doing so. I was very touched by the kind words of blessing and farewell from honor guard folks who were out for that particular ceremony. I even had the LT who was so helpful to my wife when she catered the big luncheon for the Arlington Ladies commemoration serve as the Officer in Charge over the graveside portion of the honor guard.

I will truly miss Arlington. No doubts as to the truth of this fact. There is an extra special bunch of folks who serve there from those who serve in uniform to the civilian staff who work for the cemetery. As I said at my farewell, each person doing their job well makes it possible for each cermony to be perfect.

The pics are from my last ceremony.

Tomorrow is my last night at home with family for some time to come. It is hard to believe I'll be on a bird to Korea in 36 hours or so for a 12 month tour. I'm looking forward to the change of scenery and to the challenge of service and ministry in that location, but I will miss my family and my friends here. My wife and I went out and tried Korean food for the first time tonight in a local restaurant - very Korean, a bit of a taste in food and culture (including the fact that the folks who work/own the restaurant knew very little english). The food was wonderful. I even decided I like kimchee.