When I left service in 2009 one of the hardest transitions was finding my place in the world. For almost 10 years my place was next to my battle, doing the same thing day in and day out. Up at 530, PT at 6, formation at 9, lunch at 1130, end of day formation at 1630. Its what I did for 95% of my military career. Finding that balance when I left service was hard. It will be 6 years on the 25th of this month that I have been out of military. Its truly taken me that long to, not stand with my hands behind my back. To be able to speak to the CEO of the company I work for. I’m still always 15 minutes early for everything. I make everything a routine and lay it all out before I do it. The many things the Army taught me they did for a reason. It disciplined me into being a better person and more efficient.
When I left the service I had one future in mind, becoming a Pastor. I gave my life to Christ in 2008 and started school at Grand Canyon University to become a Pastor. It became my life and developed into more than just something that I wanted to do, its something I felt a calling to do. But that all changed in November of 2011. The place I was working laid me off and those dreams where quickly killed because I was without a job and needed to provide for my family, so I used my skills and started seeking employment with IT tech firms and companies, but many didn’t want me because my degree didn’t match up with my job field. I did find something that kicked my IT degree into overdrive and over the years has helped me learn and develop the skills that the Army instilled in me.
When I was laid off I didn’t remove God from my life. I just set aside Church from my life. God is always there and will always be the guiding light to my life and the choices I make. But lately I have been feeling the call again. The call to speak, to teach, and to share the word of God. It doesn’t help that my best friend and something I trust as a real brother is on the same path and we are able to slowly walk it together.
The reason for all this is, there comes a time in you life that you realize that the things in your past have been leading to a point of where you are at the moment. You start to put the pieces together and start making changes that need to align with His plans and goals. God gives us all the tools to do His work. Whether we think we can do it or not, He will never let us fail if we have faith in His plan.
There have only been two places that I have truly felt like I belonged, in the military and behind the podium. And the podium use to scare me until God gave me the tools to overcome that fear. I’ve come to realize that these two places feel this way because it’s the two places where whatever I was doing was making a difference. Serving I was making a difference and serving my country, working to become a Pastor was service to my community and serving my Lord.
As a soldier the greatest is being a believer and knowing that God put you in the right place at the right time.
To all POW/MIA you are not forgotten. Your sacrifice is the greatest for this country.
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