Weekly devotional thoughts

I’ve begun writing a weekly devotional thought for my battalion’s Plan of the Week. I thought some of you might be interested in reading them, so I’ve listed them below. Because it is an official document and required reading for all hands, I try to stay somewhat religiously neutral in what I write. I also focus on addressing problems/issues that I see coming up in the battalion. Thus, the past few weeks I’ve focused on relationships and keeping one’s temper in check. There’s nothing like a long, hot summer in a war zone to make people go at each other’s throats!

Three Men and A Genie

Three men, aged 25, 50 and 75, were talking one day at their favorite pub about what they’d wish for if they found a genie in a bottle. The youngest confidently remarked, “I’d wish that I were dating a supermodel and had a really fast luxury sports car.” The middle-aged man thought a moment and replied, “No fast cars for me! I’ve got kids to put through college and retirement coming up in a few years. Give me 100 million dollars so that my family and I can be financially secure.” The older man, stooped over his cane, spoke slowly. “I can’t see well enough to drive a sports car and I don’t have too many years left, so I could care less about money. All I want is world peace. I’ve seen lots of war in my time and I’m tired of seeing so many people hurt by human hatred.”

Which man was the wisest? In reality, all three were simply wishing, and none got what they wished for. Simply put: wishful thinking doesn’t get us too far in life—setting goals and working on them does. As we enter the middle-stage of our deployment, I encourage all of us to review the goals we set for ourselves. Maybe your goal was to get your SCWS pin, or advance off the September exam, or help others do the same. Whatever they were, evaluate the steps you have taken to meet those goals, adjust fire and ask for help as needed, and keep plugging away at your plan. Don’t be the Seabee who looks back on this deployment with regret, knowing that you could have accomplished so much more.

Providing Shade for Others

”The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
--Nelson Henderson

Here in the desert we could all use a little shade. When the sun is beating down on us as we swing hammers, place concrete, weld steel and shepherd convoys, who of us doesn’t wish that we could just sit down under a shade tree with a bottle of ice cold water and doze off for a few minutes? Unfortunately, operational realities keep us from kicking back and enjoying the summer sun the way we used to when we were children without a care in the world. We have been called to the desert to work. More specifically, we’ve been called to the support critical construction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan in order to provide a more stable future for the citizens in these two countries.

So, as you groan every morning when the alarm clock goes off, forcing you to get your weary bones out of bed, remember that you are planting trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. When the hot sun beats down on you, remember that because of your hard work, peace is slowly coming to a trouble region. When you get tired of working, eating, sleeping and yes, even playing, with the same people, remember that you do not labor in vain. Our work here is part of America’s gift to the Iraqi and Afghani peoples; a gift of freedom, security and the opportunity to build a bright future. What an awesome legacy we are creating as Seabees—we all ought to be grateful that we have been called to be a part of it!

Created for Community

God created human beings to live in community. Even the most solitary, introverted of us (including me!) need other people in our lives to support and love us. We all find value and meaning in our interactions with one another. Now, some communities and relationships are thrust upon us—we didn’t choose our classmates at school, but we chose to make some of them our friends. We chose to join the Seabees, but we didn’t choose those with whom we work. We didn’t choose our families, but we do choose our friends and the people we date and marry. Whether chosen or not, all of our relationships are important. This week, I encourage each of us to take time to reflect on relationships that might need a little ‘preventative maintenance.’ Maybe you need to make a phone call, write a letter, or sit down and just have a chat with a friend here in battalion. Don’t let the long work days and the operational tempo keep you from taking the time to invest in your relationships!

Gentle Answers

As we head into the second half of deployment, long, hot days of work, combined with the day-to-day stress of living in theater, will continue to wear on our spirits. Add to the mix the reality that at some point all of us will have a bad day where a fellow warrior says or does something to us that rubs us the wrong way and we have a recipe for disaster! When we are faced with conflict, I encourage us to heed the advice of Proverbs 15:1: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” When we get into a verbal or physical altercation with someone just because they’ve upset us, we end up harming ourselves the most. When we lose our cool, we also lose our dignity. No one respects those who are hot-tempered, though they may fear them! If you feel like you are about to explode, walk away from the situation, take a deep breath and calm down. Don’t be the person who escalates a minor disagreement into a major incident—it is simply not worth it.