One hot and dry afternoon back in July of 2006 a couple of soldiers came into our church building asking if they could hang a poster on our bulletin board. They were actually recruiting a chaplain for the National Guard Unit here in Twin Falls.

What began with a simple conversation has now become a reality for me and my family. Yesterday afternoon on June 6, 2007 I was given my Oath of Office as a Chaplain Candidate in the US Army and more specifically the Idaho National Guard. Interesting tid-bit of trivia: It was 24 years ago to the day, on June 6, 1983 that I arrived in Columbia, South Carolina for Basic Training at Fort Jackson, my first stint with the National Guard.

Beginning next month, July 2007, exactly one year after that fateful afternoon I will don a uniform and begin a relationship with the soldiers of our city and state of which I truly hope will bring glory to our God.

I have no real idea what this will mean in a tangible way for our church and for the Kingdom, but I do hope to have an impact on many of the men and women in our Twin Falls Community.

Shari and my girls have been so solid in their support and I can't express how much that means to me in any kind of words. They have celebrated with me and I can see how proud they are by their reaction.

One of the most amazing things took place yesterday afternoon. I discovered I have a real friend. Let me tell you more.

This past Sunday afternoon I received a call from my recruiter SSG Sharrai informing me that the State National Guard Board wanted to meet with me that following Wednesday at 1:00pm. SSG. Sharrai said I should expect to be there at least two hours and that I would take my oath of office once I was approved by the board.

I began to realize that if my family came along it would be awkward at best if they were standing in the hall for two hours while I met with the board, so we decided reluctantly for me to travel alone.

In reality, I was only in the room with the board for about fifteen minutes after waiting for an hour for them to call me in. Once I was done, they didn't actually give me my oath of office as I expected, but my recruiter took me over to the Chapel there at Gowen Field where we met with several other chaplains. The officer who actually gave me my oath turned out to be a friend I have known for years, Captain Rob Morris. What a blessed surprise.

But the amazing thing was when my friend Paul Thompson walked through the doors. He had traveled all the way to Boise to be there at one of the most important times in my life when, because of circumstances, my family couldn't.

Thank you Paul, this really meant so much to me that you took the time to stand with me. I hope the Whopper and fries I bought you for dinner won't mess up your training for the Sawtooth Relay this weekend. ;)

One of the really neat things is that we will have a ceremony in a few weeks on Sunday July 1, 2007, here at our church to mark my commissioning as an officer and Chaplain Candidate. This will be attended by a few military types and hopefully by many of my friends and family who are able to make it.
-John