Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.” Whatever our role, our position, our organization—we should strive to be the best. Agreed. But what if there was more . . . ?
Some PCS moves you anticipate—others come as a surprise. Some moves are a relief—others are a burden. But no matter if you have faced “good” moves or “bad” moves, there is one thing they all have in common—change. And some people deal well with change—others do not.
Bedford is a small town in rural Virginia. Nestled in the Blue Ridge foothills, it’s a tranquil spot to visit and ponder the enormous price this community made in service to our country on June 6, 1944—D-Day. Upon this beautiful town fell proportionately the heaviest share of American losses on that day. For out of the thirty young men from Bedford who had joined the National Guard and were called into service in 1942, twenty-two were killed in the invasion. For the “Bedford Boys” who landed on Normandy’s Omaha Beach in 1944, their bonds meant just that—bonds.
Like most of you I have been TDY or deployed more times than I can count—away from my own family and my church family. One of the temptations during those times apart is to “excuse myself” from opportunities to worship. . . because I want to “relax” or “don’t know what church to go to” or “afraid of different worship styles.” However, those of you who love your local fellowship, as I do, know that to miss a Sunday is like missing a meal. It makes you hungry for the next opportunity to worship God with your Christian family. And when I am in an unfamiliar place, I have found that God is faithful and will provide for my spiritual needs if I rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Because I have developed this discipline of finding a church in which to gather with fellow Christian brothers and sisters, I was recently blessed with one of those unique opportunities to get out of my “comfort zone” and experience a wonderful time of worship and fellowship while on the road.
In the military it's always wedding season, and with each present I wrap I enclose our favorite wedding verse. It is Colossians 3:12-15. Perhaps this is a bit of an unusual choice for scriptural instruction on marriage, but my experience has been that it gets right to the very core of the challenges of married life.
Is discouragement ruling your thoughts? Have you despaired at the trials of this deployment?
Has loneliness during deployment caused you to “talk to yourself”? Do you often feel that no one understands your situation? Perhaps you have experienced that your family . . . . your neighbor. . . . maybe even your spouse does not really understand what you are going through. Well-meaning people may offer a listening ear, but sometimes that just doesn’t help! I think we've all been there.
On Memorial Day we honor those who died in service to our country . . . and thank the guards charged with keeping watch over the unknowns who represent the utmost bravery of our American military service members.
On this week of Memorial Day 2025, thank you for your sacrificial service to our country and our Lord. We shall never forget. . . .
For me, the story of “Taps” is a local story because I live close to where it was composed. I could easily drive to Berkeley Plantation in Virginia, where there is a monument marking the “birthplace” of Taps. Tour guides will tell you that the haunting 24-note bugle call is actually a revision of a French call to signal to the troops the end of the day and “lights out.” The story goes like this: