God is awesome!

These have been some interesting days. I've been doing evening prayer every night on my ship's intercom. For the last couple weeks, I've been reading some of the prayers of the Puritans. They are so heartfelt and genuine while giving all glory to God by acknowledging our fallen state. A few people have come up to me with complaints but most people come up to me and say how much they like them. They then continue with telling me how it made them feel guilty. That's the goal!

I also had the chance to play guitar with a new guy 2 nights ago. We played for 2 and a half hours straight. It was awesome! Turns out he led worship at his church back home. He wants to start coming to service on the ship and said he would also like to lead worship underway. Another guy who was singing along that same night heard that and said he would like to sing worship in the group. I told him I didn’t know he went to church. He said he used to and that he needs to get back into it. I asked them if they wanted to get signed up on my church mailing list and they both said yes. All of a sudden another guy who was just listening in asked to be added to it as well. There were also 2 other people who expressed an interest in going back to church again. That makes 5 people in a 2 and a half hour span who came up to me to ask about church and 2 of them want to participate in the worship group. That is incredible!

I held service last night. We normally have 2 or 3 of us if you count me. Last night, we had 7! More and more people seem to be expressing an interest. The sermon was well received for the most part and everybody said they want to come back next week. Whether they come or not will be seen but the fact that they want to makes me happy. Service went for an hour and a half but it didn't end there for me. 2 guys stuck around to talk to me one on one about stuff that confused them in the Bible. We talked for another hour and a half. Just as they were leaving, another guy (who was not at service) can walking in and caught the tail end of the one on one discussion. When the other 2 left, he sat down and started asking me some questions. That one went for another 45 minutes. That means church for me was over 3 and a half hours last night. I have no complaints at all. Please pray that God continues to do wonderful things here on the ship and that growth will occur.

Now that my 5 week series on the 5 points of Calvinism has come to an end (as of last night), I need to figure out what I'm going to teach on next Sunday.

Giving the world

Why is it that people on deployment often find themselves giving up the world? We have to leave our wife & kids for half the year at a time at a minimum. We are stuck on a ship with nowhere to go. We work with people we can't stand day in and day out with no way to get away from them. We deal with the stresses from back home without actually being afforded the opportunity to BE home. We work hard and try to save money just to have someone else spend it. We leave our family, pets, and hobbies longing to get back to them all only to find that family has changed, the kids have grown, hobbies have ended, and pets have been re-homed without ever getting a chance to say goodbye. Why do we subject ourselves to this kind of treatment knowing that once we leave, things are only going to get worse? Why does everybody back in the comfort of their own home seem to forget about the trials, difficulties, and stresses placed upon the deployed military man? Why are we expected to be able to perform just as we would if we were home while being forced to be anywhere except home?

These are the mysteries that are going through my mind right now as I am angry, irritated, upset, hurt, and exhausted. Despite knowing that an answer will never come, I can't help but ponder them. Not even 2 months into a 6 month deployment and my world is already being turned upside down by those who should be fighting to keep it the most stable. Finances are constantly going negative, beloved pets are being re-homed out from under me, kids are growing up, friends have stopped keeping in touch, and I'm out here being expected to deal with it.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day....maybe not.

Phuket, Thailand

Do I really have to tell you that Thailand is awesome? I didn't think so. My ship pulled into Phuket for a few days so I made sure to take full advantage of it. I had a great time. I got to do some shopping, eat some great food, relax with a couple massages (the legit kind. Hey, it's Thailand so you have to specify), did a full day tour to James Bond Island, and helped paint a wall at a school. My wife & I want to go back after I get back from deployment. Here are only a few of the pics I took while there.

Tired yet excited

Another day. That pretty much sums up how we answer a greeting of, "How's it going?" Only a few weeks in and routine has already become boring. I guess my body realized I was getting bored because it decided to throw in a twist. I feel like crud. Headache, sore muscles, runny nose, and mucus that I dare not swallow. Add topsy turvy waves to the mix and we've got a winner. I was cleaning the other day and found myself being choked out by a dust cloud that I stirred up. I think I breathed in a bit too much and caught the crud. We'll see how long this lasts.

Last night, I worked out for the first time since last deployment. I can feel it. Not sure what I was thinking. Hopefully, it will pay off. I'd like to come home and be in a bit better shape than I was when I left. I think Tiff would like that. Because I love my wife, I'll inflict pain and misery upon my body.

The evening prayer ministry over the intercom has been going well. I will admit that it becomes a bit tiring after a while though. There are nights when I just don't feel like going all the way up to the bridge. Thankfully, another person has volunteered to go up and pray tonight. This means I will get to go straight to the shower, straight to my rack, read my book (The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink) and then straight to sleep. I woke up 4 times last night so bed sounds mighty tempting.

For now, I think we are all just ready to hit our next port visit. It is sure to be a good time. Let's just hope it isn't too good of a time for the people that choose to waste it in bars. There is one thing I've learned about the Navy over the years. If we all stay out of trouble, we may not be rewarded, but at least most people will leave us alone. However, if one person gets in trouble, stand by the stand by because we're all about to get screwed.