Staying Occupied

Time keeps marching, fast at times but slow at others. I try to stay focused on my job at hand, but that only lasts so long. Filling in the evening hours with basketball and other activity, and taking online courses in computers and networking for a CompTIA A+ certification--I just found a site with a lot of great training that the Navy provides free of charge. Keeping my brain active is better than just sitting around watching movies or playing games.

My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord

I woke up this morning happy to be alive, counting only my blessings. It feels great. I thought last night as I was trying to pray, why I didn't pray more and with more faith. There is no shortness in God's riches and gifts. He is not stingy. God has promised to give us the good things we ask for, so why not ask? If we ask and He doesn't provide, we know there must be a better reason or that we haven't asked enough.

Isaiah 61:10,11 

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

New Boss

I have a new department head. I reported to my previous department head for the first fifteen months of my Navy career. Now he is moving on to his next duty station and I have a new boss. It's funny how we start to love people and things just because they are familiar. I could wear myself out by listing traits of his I admire, because he is a good officer. But that's not even close to the reason it hurts me to see him go. Change brings some kind of pain; I love the familiar. I loved him because I had learned from him, because I was used to him and his expectations, and because through shared trials and victories we earned each others' trust.
I am excited, too, that I have a new DH. Even if he turns out to be half the officer my first DH is, there are still perspectives and attributes of my new DH that I can learn from and grow by. Change is not always welcome, but it should cause me to refocus and make me better and stronger.

Getting Closer

Wow it's been a crazy few weeks here. Our ship stayed very busy in May and June, but it seem all our plans in June were foiled one by one. We were one day away from a four day liberty port in Dubai, UAE when, for reasons beyond our control we had to turn around and go back to home port. So instead of enjoying all the fun and games we had planned, we ended up working on the ship in Bahrain. That was just one example, there were other instances in the first half of this month where our plans just had to change at the last minute. But we keep working hard.
Our crew has a basketball team I am a part of. It is a lot of fun; we are pretty good.
We are down to less than two months from returning home. I am afraid this will seem a very long time to me; please pray. I had a good day off last Saturday. I listened to a good sermon online from the first chapter of Hebrews referencing the 45th Psalm. The message was that Jesus is a King forever. He set up the kingdom on earth he has ever intended and will not need to return so He can get it right. I sang some songs to myself from the Old Baptist Hymns and felt refreshed. I am looking forward to the RMA so I can renew my strength. Consider this passage from Isaiah 46: 9-11: Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from the ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.