Thing’s I Could Not Have Gotten Through Deployment Without

Thing’s I Could Not Have Gotten Through Deployment Without

(from Len)

1. A Playstation 3 that my roommate brought on deployment.

2. A healthy sense of humor, from my family, and a developing sense of adventure.

3. The experience of hospital chaplaincy, where I learned to stand in the painful moments of life with others and just be.

4. An iPod Nano from my sister, Karin, along with her uncanny ability to make me believe in myself.

5. The coolest flashlight ever, with red light for my evening prayers on the bridge, from my sister, Jeannie, and brother-in-law, Joe. Along with their amazing generosity and support. And a great, little pocketknife that I always have on me and is great for removing IPs.

6. The fact that my brother, Dennis, is proud of me, even though he is not the biggest fan of the military. (He thinks we go around blowing everything up)

7. The education, both from books and experience, that I was given to me from my many professors at ACU, the many colleagues I have been blessed with, like Charles Goodnight, and the lessons from the Navy Chaplain School.

8. The godly and thoughtful upbringing that my parents gave me. They blessed me be teaching me to always strive to be better and that when you live your life for others and not yourself it is the most blessed life there is.

9. Of course the awesome love and support that my wife, Kara, and my three beautiful daughters, ‘R’, ‘B’, and ‘N’ give to me. They are why I can get on a boat and do the job I do every day. The fact that they love me and miss me keeps me going and I miss them more than words can say.

10. Lastly, the love and competence that my God gives me. His mercy is deep, his love never ends, and his patience is long-suffering. I am not competent in myself, but somehow God takes the little bit that I offer up to him and makes something great out of it. He is truly a good God, no matter where I go.