ODS #1

Alright. I'd been standing on the diving board long enough. My wife and I had prayed about it, sought counsel, and recieved countless confirmations that God was calling us into the Naval chaplaincy, at least for a season. It was time to jump in.

The water was cold.

After being sworn in on December 16 and running the holiday gauntlet, I found myself stepping off the plane on Jan 2 into a below freezing Rhode Island winter.  I hitched a ride with a random guy in a naval uniform I arrived about an hour later at King Hall, a deteriorating relic (my dad stayed here when he went through ODS almost 20 years ago and it was falling apart then) my home for the next 5 weeks. 

I was dropped off at the Quarterdeck, where I quickly learned that I needed to salute the flag, show ID, and declare in my big boy voice, "I have permission to come aboard".  I was then taken up to the fourth deck (navyese for floor) given a pair of sheets, some stylish coveralls and shown to my room, the size of a nice hotel bathroom.   My roommate was already there.  The first words out of his mouth were, "Hey man, I got to tell you I snore really loudly.  I usually have a breathing machine but they didn't let me bring it."

It was going to be a long 5 weeks.