Who's program?

“You just on your own program?” everyone knew what was next...lots of pushups.  Someone had, once again, gone against, (more likely than not ignorantly) Senior Chief's will.  Over the first week of ODS we quickly became aware of the need to understand and comply with Senior Chief's "program".  The ingenuity of the "program" was that not knowing the "program" and consequently suffering the consequences of going outside the "program"...was all part of the "program".  Senior Chief was teaching us to three important lessons:
1. The importance of being on the same page
2.  How to read and operate on that page effectively with limited information
2. That the page was more important than our individual wants and desires.

During the many "You on your own program?" inspired pushup sessions I thought about how that idea translates to my walk with Christ.   The great men and women of the Bible were not on their own program.  They followed God the Father's plan for their lives and the end result was something so much more than what their "program" would have been.  Yet for none of them, Jesus included, were the dots always clearly connected.  They did not get a brochure with a ten step process and happy ending promised. There wasn't a clear map. They did not have all the information available upfront...they had to trust.  They had to realize that their life was not their own, that they were part of something bigger and if they would just trust - learning to operate and obey the information they had been given, all the while seeking more and more clarification - their life would matter, they would be part of "The Program"...even if that would not be comprehensively clear except from the vantage point of heaven.



I don't want to be on my own program.  I want to be part of the "The Program".

ODS #4: "Accelerate Your Life"

The lazy will not survive in the Navy (or Marine Corps).* Everything about the environment pushes you to perform and produce. I used to think I was so unproductive because I was so unorganized. But now I realize that I was unproductive because I was lazy. ODS (at least the first 3 weeks) has activity for every minute of the day (minus 4-5 hours for sleeping - if you are not on duty) and when there is down time you feel restless because you know you can still be doing something and there is always something that needs doing.
I have never been surrounded by so many driven people in my life than at ODS. Not in the church. Not in chaplaincy school. Not at Bible college.
What drives these people is as varied as the paths that brought them to this frozen outpost on edge of the Newport Harbor. But whether compelled by something outside of themselves or propelled by some deep inner strength, they are determined to find a door when everyone else sees only a wall. They are determined to live up to the commission of Naval Officer that they have been given.

How much more should those who have received the commission of ambassador of Jesus and the right to be called a child of God through Christ Jesus be driven to spend our lives for His glory and the good of a desperately lost world?

Not everyone has to join the military to repent of laziness, but I did and I hope it sticks.


*since originally writing this in ODS I have found exceptions to this rule. However I think my standards of laziness have changed since joining the Navy, so I still stand by my above statement when using a general (civilian) definition of laziness.

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.