Blah

That is the one word that seems to sum up each and every day. If I had to pick a different word, it would be routine. Every day is the same. One day rolls into another. One week into the next. It is nice because the days seem to fly by but it is also dreadful because it is exhausting. What I wouldn't give just to sleep in for 1 day!

We are preparing for a change of command tomorrow. Our XO is stepping up to CO and our CO is moving on to another command. I've heard word that I might be doing the invocation but nobody has said anything official to me yet. In fact, I only heard it by another guy coming up and asking me about it because he heard the planners talking about it. All I can say is the day before is not the time to let someone know this kind of thing. Now I need to hunt people down, make sure my uniform is pristine, and draft something up just in case.

In other news, I missed the potty training of my son, my daughter is growing up before my eyes, my dog was given away, my work load has tripled, and I'm still out here in the gulf waiting to get back home. Fun times.

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.

Land!!!

While there are far worse things than being underway for just over 2 weeks without land, it is certainly enough time to realize the things you take for granted in life. Who ever thought I would long for solid ground? Who ever thought I would long for walls that stood vertical instead of tilting at a 45 degree angle. Who ever thought I would long for sunlight? Who ever thought I would long for a hunk of metal with 4 wheels attached to it? Ah, these are all questions that might seem silly but hold much meaning within my heart.

We pulled into Guam yesterday. While I was given all the things above, I was also given buckets of sweat and a stench of a couple hundred sailors surrounding me at an all hand's call. To summarize it in 3 words: Guam Is Hot! I guess it isn't really that is it hot outside. It's more a matter of feeling like I am walking through a concrete jungle with enough humidity to make me want a towel after a few minutes of being outside.

It's beautiful! How can I declare this after all I have just said? There is so much greenery after weeks of nothing but a dull & drab gray of the ship. The water is a perfect green turquoise color. You can see fish swimming around the pier that you would normally only see in a saltwater aquarium at your local pet store. I just wish we had more time here so I could go snorkeling. Oh well, maybe another time.

We are about to get ready to hit the open water again. While I am not looking forward to it, I also desire to get it over with. To look on the bright side, any change to get back out to sea is another chance to move forward and closer to home. I choose to look at it as we are on our way home. It's just going to take 5 and a half months to get there.

Shark bait

Yesterday was swim call. It is a tradition where sailors get to take a break and jump off the ship into the ocean. This was only my 2nd time doing it in the 9 and a half years that I have been in the Navy. I had a blast! Nothing quite like taking a leap off of the aft missile deck and plunging into the deep. Our XO was sure to pass the word that the nearest land was 22,000 feet straight down. It's amazing how the presence of a ship can make the difference between a feeling of fun in the sun and a retake of the movie Open Water. I thought it was hilarious that they played Jaws on TV right before swim call. In the end, we all had a fantastic time.

I learned I should be a part of the paparazzi. I unknowingly took a picture (out of all 110 pics I took) of a wardrobe malfunction. I then proceeded to share the pictures with everyone on the ship by posting them to the Sharedrive. It wasn't until later that it was brought to my attention. The pic was taken down, deleted fom everybody's profiles who copied it (gotta love being a LAN admin), and then deleted from my personal camera. Whoops!

Last night was a great night for church service. I started a 5 weeks series on the 5 points of Calvinism. It was a very in depth study. Then again, most of my sermons/lessons are fairly in depth. I'm not a fan of all the shallow teaching that has consumed the postmodern church services today. Overall, it went well. There were only 3 of us but I am not concerned with merely numbers of attendance. I am concerned with speaking the Truth. One girl seemed very confused because it was not what she had grown up believing her whole life but she was having a difficult time disagreeing with Scripture simply because she had never seen it as a whole before. I am praying God will reveal His Truth to them through His holy Word. If He desires to use me as an instrument, I will consider myself to be blessed.