Trip to Tennessee

You can ask people who know me and they will tell you that I will speak of how proud I am to be a Tennessee hillbilly. I grew up in those beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. Opportunities to return home always recharge me and fill me with bittersweet memories of friends and place that I don't often get to visit. But this past week my family and I were able to return home for a short time. We traveled through Kingsport down to Dayton to visit friends from my former parish. I spent Wednesday with the JROTC at Rhea Central Highschool to say thank you for their phenomenal support for my work in Kirkuk during my deployment. They where instrumental in the collecting and mailing of thousands of cases of Little Debbie cakes to my deployed location for the troops and airmen manning the Airbase.

I spoke with all five classes showing them some picture of the places and people in Kirkuk and then spoke of the general mission and the work of chaplains in a deployed location. I truly enjoyed my time with them. There are some very sharp young people there, many of whom are planning to enter military service this summer and fall. I believe our military will benefit from having them.

I want to thank M&T for having us down. It was truly great to see old friends. I am very proud of Little T who is giving success a whole new definition. This young man is blowing college away and already is developing a reputation with certain government leadership as someone worth listening to and depending upon.

I stopped by and saw my friend Kevin at his cafe Jacob Meyers Deli. It was great when I left over two years ago. It has only gotten better. They have now installed a great cappuccino machine. I truly urge that if you pass through Dayton, to enjoy this stop downtown as one of the highlights that Dayton has to offer. It was sad though to see how Dayton seems to be in a time of downsizing. Many local businesses have closed up including our favorite place for dinner at the Western Sizzler. But word has it that TVA is bringing in lots of folks so property values are starting to rise and I suspect businesses will be coming back if so. Spring City has changed a great deal and is looking great. I am also proud of the work that Manny has down with the local YMCA. It is looking great too.

I think that one of the highlights of the trip was to visit with the Engel family. I was honored to do a baptism for one of the children in the family. I presented them with coins from Andrews AFB where I am stationed. I presented the couple who were most instrumental in starting the collection of Little Debbie cakes for Kirkuk with a flag flown during one of our medivacs from Kirkuk to Ballad. It was a special moment and bittersweet for I find that I truly miss these people. They were a blessing to my ministry in Rhea County, continued to bless my ministry in Kiruk, and are a true blessing to all they work with and who call them friends. I wish I could always have parishes filled with Christian servants like these.

Passing back through Tennessee, I spent a day with my mother taking a few hours to run an old mountain trail that I used to run in college. I miss that too. I'm still a bit stiff and sore. Being 40 isn't like being 30. Who knew?

We also made sure to hit the Super Walmart while in town. We have shopping in DC, but the stores are usually trashed and it is very difficult to find tasteful items that are not hanging damaged on the rack. Plus people are just rude to one another here. So we took advantage of good old fashioned southern shopping and laid in the clothes and some other things for the kids. All in all a good trip to the store.

Remembering the Blue Angels

I have had the privilege to twice see the Blue Angels in action. Some years ago, while I was in the Navy, I saw them perform in Tennessee. Last year I saw them perform here at Andrews during our Joint Service Open House. The picture to the left is offered as a tribute to their service.

My prayers and condolences go to the family of the angel lost today and to his teammates.

Assigned to Arlington National Cemetary

I have the official word. My nomination to Arlington National Cemetery has been approved. I'll be transferring there toward the end of the summer.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/

Lots of stuff is in the air these days. I'm to have a wisdom tooth out in a few weeks. One finally decided to move after sitting still for 40 years.

It was a sad week for us here. We bid farewell to a one tremendous commander who past away over the weekend. This man was truly an outstanding person, someone I looked up to as an example of leadership and quiet Christian confidence. My wife and I had his family, and several of our chaplains, and the man's commanding officer over for Easter dinner. These opportunities to get involved and make a difference truly make it worth while to be part of this ministry. Once again my wife did an outstanding job putting together a first class meal for 20 folks. We all have our giftedness and our vocations for service. Together, we make a difference to one another.

I just returned from the ASF, the unit in the hospital that takes care of the wounded returning from over seas. I had quite a bit of opportunity for visitation and counseling tonight. I truly admire the Red Cross volunteers who are always there. Some of those volunteers seem as if they live there.

There is a great deal I'll miss about Andrews. I'll miss the 5 minute drive to work, especially fighting DC traffic to get to Virginia. I'll miss the incredible team I work with here at Andrews from our chapel staff to the folks in the units. I'll miss the great diversity in opportunities to reach out to our servicemembers and rub shoulders with them. I'll miss visiting with the wounded and leading my worship service.

But Arlington opens up new avenues for ministry. It provides the opportunity to honor those who have served their nation well and to comfort loved ones as they bid the family member goodbye. As a Christian chaplain I feel that I and my fellows have something to say about death. O grave where is your sting? O grave where is your victory? There is reason for hope and that reason is tremendous.

Today, I was asked to do an invocation for one of our Master Sergeants who was retiring after 22 years of faithful service. Being a Christian, he asked me to share a Christian witness and prayer. I spoke briefly from 1 Corinthians about the giftedness of folks and then prayed with thanksgiving for how God has used this man and his gifts to serve his nation and asked God to bless his continued life with service. This man gave a bold witness to the role that his faith has played in his life and his service. It was a true honor to share this moment and to be asked to speak to him, his family, and his friends.

Holy Week at Andrews

This has been a special week for me. As a Christian, this week holds special significance as we celebrate the holy days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and tomorrow Easter. I conducted two Good Friday services. A shorter devotion at noon focusing on Psalm 22 and envisioning the cross, and later in the evening a Tenebrae service. The Tenebrae is one of my favorite services throughout the year. Tomorrow I'll be up early for our 6am sunrise service and will be conducting the Easter celebration for my regular morning service.

I spent quite a bit of time this week working on preparations for the upcoming airshow, the Joint Service Open House. We look to have a substantial chaplain presence there for the public to learn more about what the various Chaplain Services bring to the fight.

I've also been fairly engaged in caring for a family whose child has been very sick. We are celebrating that the news has been good this week.

Debbie, my wife, has been working very hard, especially today. We are going to have several of our staff over for dinner tomorrow afternoon including some family of one of our folks who is very sick in the hospital. My wife has an incredible spirit of giving and is hugely gifted in the art of cooking. She is a true support of my ministry in so many ways. She makes me much better at what I do that I could ever be by myself.

The week has also been a big one as I received some big news. I have been given a new assignment. While the assignment is official, I'm going to wait a bit to announce where and when I am going. But I've known about the possibility since even before I returned home from the desert because I was told I was being nominated for this particular assignment which only a few Air Force chaplains have the opportunity to do. Being a special duty assignment, it has its pluses and its challenges.

I wasn't looking for an assignment. My plan was to finally settle in without facing long TDYs or deployments for a bit of time so that I could invest some time in leading my congregation and interfacing with my squadrons at a deeper level. And I truly enjoy being part of this team. The pace is quick but it is a true joy going to work each day. However, as the saying goes, "flexibility is the key to airpower". I think this new assignment will be just as rewarding for a number of reasons including the big one of knowing and enjoying who I will be working with.