Indomitable

It's the end of an era. Born in the 19 teens, Bunah May Klingman Heston had designs of being a teacher. However, the Great Depression intervened. She also had designs of marrying another man, but a move and her father intervened (interestingly enough, she was written to by two men, but only received letters from the one her father deemed "the lesser of two evils"). She ended up married to a farmer in Southwest Oklahoma. This is the same man she "forced" to buy a car because riding on a horse would cause runs in her hose! A diminuitive woman, Grandma loved kids, chickens, colors, new foods, stuff galore, teddy bears, knick-knacks, gossip, games, hot pink, and helping other people. She did NOT, however, love my attempt at positive thinking while riding in the back seat as Granddad drove her to the hospital for a broken arm. "Just try not to think about it, Grandma" went over like a Yankee carpetbagger in Louisiana. That's the same summer I used a lawn mower to run over her cherry trees she was trying to grow. Grandma was blunt beyond belief, having no problem asking very personal questions of my girlfriend at the time the very first time they met. Jennifer married me anyway!

Some of my favorite memories are . . . gathering eggs with/for her from the chicken coop; eating her country-fried steak; seeing my 80+ year old grandmother walk around in a hot pink sweatsuit; the box of sermon illustrations she clipped out of newspapers, newsletters, etc, and gave me for Christmas one year; the child's toy she gave me when I was a teen because she thought we could play with it together!; the too-small backpack I took to Germany with me and have since passed down to my children (far outlasting any of the "real" backpacks I used in college); her cheating at every game we played (much like her father did in dominoes); working in the garden with her, especially the summer we gathered potato bugs and talked about making a pizza with them (you had to be there); her pride at my being a minister and her love of Jesus Christ; driving her around the countryside just last month as she enjoyed the green grass, colorful flowers, and livestock . . . .

Driving down to Colorado Springs Friday night, preparing to go to a family reunion in Texas, Mom called me and told me that Grandma was gone. It was the weirdest trip down, as I alternately cried in mourning and laughed at the prospect of Grandma in heaven, face to face with Jesus Christ. I listened to an old song--"Ain't No Grave"--by Russ Taff all the way. Sorry--I'm not proficient enough to place it on here, but it's worth listening to. Saturday night, I fixed Country-fried Steak a la Grandma, and we toasted her as we ate. I think she would have appreciated it. It's really strange to me. On the one hand, Granddad was always the one we talked about--Grandma was a little strange to us. On the other hand, what an indomitable person she proved to be, and one who just grew better with age. Thank you, Jesus, for the wonderful opportunity to have Bunah Heston in my life.

Cheyenne Frontier Days!

Yep, for those in the know, it's that time of year in Cheyenne again! I won't post all of the pictures, but here's a few for you to enjoy.

First, we have the 500 head of cattle drive down the ride (we could see it from our house, but chose to get a closer view!).




Our youngest took the pics, so you must accept them for as they are! Yesterday was the first Cheyenne Frontier Days parade (with Gen. T. Michael Moseley as the Grand Marshall). There's just a few pics from that.










Lastly, I had to have new "official photos" taken, so here's my best shot. I'd really like to know your opinion of this one!!!

What a year!

So, today I pinned on Captain (that means I promoted to the rank of Captain). It's been exactly one year since I went to Andrews AFB, and some young Captain swore me in as an Air Force officer. I wasn't, at first, all that impressed with putting on Captain. For Chaplains, it's kind of automatic. But then I thought--I went through 3.5 years of seminary and 6 full years of ministry and 1 year as a 1st Lt to get these, and I'll be in these for 8+ years. Maybe I should treat it as a bigger deal than I have been! Besides, just working with Mark Garrett is enough to have made me a Colonel!!! With all of that in mind, Ch Breig (our Wing Chaplain) read the orders and swore me in. Jen had made homemade cinnamon rolls (excellent, as usual), and I had brought orange juice, so we sat down afterwards and had breakfast together. Actually, it's pretty meaningful to take the Officer's Oath. Check it out at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj02/win02/keskel.html.

What makes this really important is thinking about where I was last year (it's been a pretty sweet year) and the year before (that was a pretty crappy year). God has certainly blessed us in this last year. I've had the chance in the last year to get a job that I enjoy very much; I spent time with my dying grandfather and ailing grandmother that has been very meaningful to me. I am closer to my sister than I ever have been, and I've seen more of Mom than I have for a long, long time. Jen's happy; the girls are happy; my promotion today simply marks a God-blessed year. May He get all of the glory!

James 1:2-4

I'm preaching through the Book of James in my church, and this week, I'm preaching on James 1:2-4. Studying for it, I did some word studies, and wrote my own "translation" of the passage. I am particularly impressed by the definition of "perseverance" being "characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith by even the greatest trials and sufferings," as well as the idea of perseverance becoming mature within us. Anyway, here it is--let me know what you think.

"See it as a matter of pure joy, my fellow believers, when you are utterly drowning in those experiences sent by God and designed to test your faith, holiness, or character, because--knowing the person, character, mind, and plans of God--you know that the testing of your strong convictions about Jesus as the Messiah will result in you having the characteristic of one who does not waver from his deliberate loyalty and faith--even when crushed! Allow that characteristic of unwavering loyalty and faith to Jesus to become full-grown and mature in you with the end in mind of you yourself becoming a spiritual adult--ethically free from sin and lacking no spiritual grace."

I am constantly amazed that God redeems EVERYTHING in our lives. Everything we experience (kids, marriage, bosses, friends, family, jobs, etc.) is PURPOSEFUL in the hands of God. What a cool concept that is!

Family Time

This last week was a really neat week. It started on Saturday with the girls, Jen, and my sister experiencing (very mildly) a "deployment." They went through a deployment line; they toured a C-130 and a Blackhawk Medivac Helicopter. They came back to Base X, where they tried MRE's, ate lunch, put on chem gear, and more. My sister's favorite experience was driving the bomb robot! It was really well-done. If you'll go to www.warren.af.mil next week, you had ought to be able to see a pic or two. I'll try to post some next week here as well.
We left on Sunday for Oklahoma to visit my mom. It was a horrible, wicked, no good, very bad day! I was cranky; Jen was cranky; we hit a concrete abutment and flattened a tire (Thank you, Lord, for safety!); we hit at least one bird, and a doe walked up to the edge of the road. It's already a 13-hour drive, which didn't help at all! However, we did eventually make it to a very green and wet Oklahoma--most unusual for late June!!! In fact, not many people could remember this wet of an OK summer. Be praying for them--wet ground makes harvesting difficult, if not impossible! We stayed in OK until Jen and I left on Thursday. My Grandmother is 92, and suffers from dementia. She is skin and bones, and often refuses to get out of bed. We had a great time with her! She enjoyed going on rides around the country; she did puzzles with our youngest; she was cracking us up. She told me she was going to cry when I left. I did indeed almost cry, because I don't think I'll ever see her on this side of heaven again. However, I'm really grateful that I was able to spend some time with her. She has always been very proud of me for being a pastor--in fact, one year for Christmas, she gave me a box of clippings to use for sermon illustrations! She loves bright colors (finding the flowering shrubs, etc., while we were riding around was always a plus), so Jen bought her two yard ornaments--the spinny kind. I grew in appreciation of this wonderful woman this week, and the wonderful woman--Mom--who honors the Scriptural mandate of taking care of one's family. It was a bittersweet week. My Dad is buried there, Mom's gravestone is also there. My uncle is buried there, as are my great-grandparents. When Grandma dies (she thought I called her "granny" this last week and got hot!) and Mom leaves, my family will be out of a town lived in for many years. Nevertheless, what a great opportunity to be with family we had! The girls remained, giving Mom much-needed "Mimi" time and help, so Jen and I are enjoying our time alone.
Tomorrow's sermon begins a series on the Book of James. It's titled "Revolutionary Living." May your lives be filled with the revolution of the love of Jesus Christ, and may you revolutionize the world around you! Happy Independence Day (such a misnomer for Christians)!

Yikes! I'm in 7th-grade!!!

Hi! This is Kayla. I'm in 7th-grade now, and I'm a little nervous. I've visited my school with the rest of my class, and I should get my schedule soon. They showed us a play (a la Cinderella) that I really liked. We got to ask questions. I don't like that we MUST dissect a frog (Dad thinks it's cool--ugh!!!).

Saturday, sister and I are going to "deploy." It's called S.P.A.C.E. Jr Deployer. We get to experience what Dad does when he deploys. It's not exactly the same, but it's pretty close. I think it's going to be cool. We've received our orders already. We get ID's (even though I have a real one) and dogtags. We get to wear Daddy's clothes, if we want to (just the shirt and hat). It's gonna be cool.

Friday, June 8th, multiple things happened. 1) We got out of school. 2) The Father-Daughter Banquet happened. It was AWESOME!!! We danced with Dad, and ate supper, and had dessert, and had our pics taken, and all sorts of stuff. I loved it!

In case any of you don't know, my Aunt's horse (Expresso) had a baby (DoubleShot). She was really stubborn about having it, though. We kept waiting and waiting and waiting, and she waited another week to have it! I can't wait to see her. Here's a picture of her:



That's all for this week. Come back next week for MORE!

Sincerely,
The Smiths

Who Knew?

Sierra was tested for a gifted program within the county, and scored a 134 on the Wischler IQ Test (#4). Must be a genetic anamoly somewhere!!!

Breathe in--breath out!

Wow! What a week it's been!!! I'll start from last Friday (8 June).
* Girls got out of school.
* The Base Chapel held its first ever Father-Daughter Banquet (led by me). It was an amazing time. Nothing preachy; just wanted to get Dads and daughters together to have a good time and enjoy each other's company. Andrew Ralon came out (thanks, Andrew!) and played his violin (called a "touch of class" to have him strolling around playing). It was awesome. I received this e-mail today in regard to the Banquet:

...I wanted to say how great the Father daughter dance was. All the
girls there including my own were smiling from ear to ear. It was the
first time I have really danced with my 15 year old daughter and a night
that I will forever remember and cherish. I received an honest heart
felt unprompted "I love you dad" for the first time in a long time. It
was something that I and a lot of military dads are missing out
of--quality one on one time with our daughters. Thank you so much for
that opportunity. I hope you are able to do it again next year.

I almost cried. God truly blessed that night. I cannot begin to tell you how meaningful of a night it was. If you want to see a pic of the girls and myself, shoot me an e-mail.

Saturday, 9 June
* Hiked Vedawou with the girls and Andrew (http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/Vedawou_bouldering_58075.html)
* Received call to be at Base Command Post by 0600 Sunday morning for possible Active-duty death.

Sunday, 10 June
* Arrived 0600 to find out that A1C Eric Barnes, from our base, had been killed in Iraq.
* Preached the 0800 service.
* Commander's Call at A1C Barnes' squadron to inform squadron. Gave some pastoral care to grieving and shocked Airmen.
* Preached 1100 service.
* Took 2 hour nap (after the service, of course).

Monday, 11 June
* Worked with squadron and began memorial service plans.
* Had a funeral service in the morning. While preparing the sermonette (a.k.a., "Words of Comfort"), Sierra looked over my shoulder and said, "He enjoyed life?!!!! Life is not fair; how could he enjoy life?!!!!" I'm sorry my child is so abused).
* Jen and girls took Andrew back to the airport.
* Talked with dorm residents where Eric lived at 1700.

Tuesday, 12 June
* Visited with squadron.
* Worked on memorial service.
* Received call from Command Post re: another Active-duty death on base. Really strange circumstances there.
* Another Commander's Call for another squadron for another death.
* While Kayla went to CAP, I struggled with my "words of comfort" for A1C Barnes' memorial service on Thursday. Didn't get very far.

Wednesday, 13 June
* Worked on the script for the memorial service.
* Visited the squadron.
* Finished the "words of comfort" for the memorial service tomorrow. If you want to see what that looks like, let me know.
* Did take the family out for supper and a Tops In Blue performance (http://www.topsinblue.com/).

Thursday, 14 June
* Breakfast with squadron and A1C Barnes' family--0800.
* Invocation for another squadron's Change of Command (0930).
* Memorial Service for A1C Eric Barnes--1300.

In all of that, include counselings, sermon prep, etc. It's been a busy week! You might keep our base in mind. One person's death never affects a small group only. Couple that with two deaths in one week, and the effects can be overwhelming. Pray also that I might give God's comfort during this week.

The "Exercise" continues . . .

Tuesday was spent setting up camp, doing visitation, etc. Wednesday was the really FUN day. We practiced being attacked all day long (literally--I got home at 1900). So, I spent most of the day in Chem Gear! Yay!!!! My all-time favorite uniform.



You can figure out which one I am. Anyway, the day was not ill-spent. Having never been deployed, this at least makes me think about what I will do (for instance, chaplains minister to the folks at Mortuary Affairs while they are preparing the bodies or have prepared the bodies) in certain situations. It was a thought-provoking day, actually, although those who have done this multiple times may not understand that. So, here are a few pictures of camp for you to enjoy.





Jennifer scored me BIG points. Someone challenged me with the statement that another Chaplain always brings doughnut holes, and I wasn't keeping up! Jen sent me on Thursday with around 175 homemade cinnamon rolls and a huge bag of banana bread muffins! Thanks, Jen!!! Several people told me their shop would always accept such items.

Okay, that's enough for the monkey gallery to make more nasty comments. I enjoyed (for the most part) the exercise; the real thing will be here soon enough.

A Boy and His Battle Rattle

Okay, so here's the deal. 100+ of us here at F. E. Warren AFB are "playing" war games this week. Yours truly, for instance, had to be on base in place locked, cocked, and ready to rock at . . . . . . . . . ready for this? 0400 (that's 4 a.m. for you non-military types). I got home at 1800 (6 p.m.). We start again tomorrow at 0545 and are scheduled to end at 1800. What fun! What thrills! What a waste of time some of this is while the leadership gets the administrative details together. What do we do while playing? We set up camp; we train; we are attacked. I, as the Chaplain, will have a service on Wednesday afternoon (thinking of focusing on those really deployed and missing), make up a simulated schedule, visit the Airmen, counsel, and participate in various scenarios. The first day is a pain, administratively, but the other days can be quite fun. At any rate, it's worth giving you a look-see at Kraig in full battle gear, otherwise known as "battle rattle." Here goes!



Who'd of ever thunk it? Okay, off to bed at 2000 (figure that one out!) so I can rise early in the morning. Anybody want me to call them?!