it was natural for her

So I have finally made it to beautiful Monterey, CA. I decided to travel along I-80 through the exciting states of Iowa and Nebraska. I thought, "I don't want to miss any remarkable sites that these parts of the Union have to offer". Yeah, I drove through at night and I must say it was more exciting than during the day.

I arrived Thursday night and stayed with my long-time friends Dennis and Susan Jones. It was good getting caught up with them. Interestingly enough, it felt as though I had never left. They remodeled their Carmel Valley home, but other than that, not much has changed.

My inprocessing doesn't officially begin until Tuesday morning, however, since I've been stationed here before and know the ropes, I was able to do a lot of my inprocessing on Friday. I just walked around informally introducing myself to people and getting all of my checkmarks in the appropriate boxes.

I did meet a very interesting lady while I was doing all this. Her name is Ms. Costello, she works in the personnel office as a civilian contractor, and she was here when I left three years ago. Well, she's still here, only with a cane and a slight limp (she's old). I said hi to her and she said, "Hang on, I have something for you". She left for a moment, and returned with a piece of paper in her hand. "Do you have any friends who are from the Vietnam Era? Do they have any diseases? Here is a list of diseases the VA will cover if your friend claims it." I didn't know what to say to her. Sure, I have quite a few friends who fought in Vietnam, but she didn't even know who I was and she was already talking to me like we were friends. Then I remembered that this woman ALWAYS talked about ways to help soldiers. She had been helping soldiers for so many years that that was all she could think about....all the time. So it was natural for her to approach a soldier she didn't know and tell them about all the wonderful opportunities within their grasp.

I want to have that same passion about Christ and his precious Book. I want to approach complete strangers and tell them about Him, the one who saves their soul. I want that to be the first thought I have in the morning and the last thought I have at night.

Anyway, I spent a lot of time running around town doing odds and ends. I reached my 5 a month Starbucks limit on Saturday (doh!). I also moved all of my things into the barracks which conveniently is located on the third floor. The personnel office asked if I wanted to live off post since I'm high enough in rank to do so. I told them I wasn't interested. I figure it will cause more grief going on and off post every day. Plus, I can meet so many more people living on post and I have everything I need right at my fingertips.

Speaking of people, my roommate is a Russian. Yep, full-blooded. Moved to the USA when he was seven. I invited him to church yesterday and he accepted! We both went to church this morning at Lighthouse Baptist. My experience there is going to have to be another story. I wasn't sure if I would still attend there because it is a smaller church and I'm used to GCC and meeting hundreds of people at a time with numerous service opportunities. However, I prayed for an answer and I believe the Lord provided me with that. I'll explain tomorrow.

Anyway, that's my life right now. I went for my first run on the beach yesterday and it was beautifully difficult. I forgot how hard running on sand is. The last time I ran on sand was when I dunked Jeanna at Lake Michigan and she was chasing me with a knife made out of sea shells. She's crazy.

For those who have read this far, I miss you and look forward to when we can all be in paradise celebrating our Lord every day, never having to worry about saying goodbye again.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
~1st Corinthians 9:25