History

I want to share the history lesson(s) I've experienced in the last couple of days.  To start, let me give you an overview.

My dad served our Country in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.  His duty assignment was on the USS Enterprise (no, not the Starship Enterprise) between 1970-1972.  On 1 Dec, the Enterprise will be, "Inactivated" and the process to dismantle her will begin.  Dad was invited to attend the ceremony and to tour the Enterprise one final time.  So, dad, mom, my middle son Will, and myself have traveled to Norfolk, VA to tour the Enterprise.

The first history lesson was learned during the ride up here.  It was a lot of fun listening to mom and dad reminisce about the trips they had taken on the very same route some 42 years ago.  "Well now this road was just a two lane road the last time we were here."  When dad was drafted into the Navy, he and mom decided to get married.  The interesting part here is that my grandmother (notice I didn't say, "grandfather") had to sign off for mom to marry because she was only 16 at the time.  Can you believe that she was only 16?!  So dad went off to basic and received orders for his first duty assignment on the Enterprise which was docked at Norfolk for her first nuclear refueling.  Mom and dad moved up to Norfolk for six months while the ship was in port.

I learned on this trip that mom and dad collectively earned $90 per month in late 1970 (about $530 in today's money) and they lived in a small apartment.  My mom worked at a place called, "Shakey's Pizza".  I think my grandparents only knew it as Shakey's Pizza because they'd have had a duck if they knew their 17 year old daughter was playing piano for a bunch of drunks in a bar.  LOL!  Mom talked about how that she and three other sailor's wives would work together to by groceries and gas.  Mom and dad were the only one's with a car; a 1963 Ford Falcon with a busted out back window.  Now this was during the winter and being the good educated folks from the upstate of South Carolina they were, they obtained the finest clear plastic and duct tape they could find and taped up the back window.  My great aunt Felcie and other members of the family would take turns sending them gas money to make the trip home when dad would have leave time while in port.  They would then make the eight hour trip home and back in the Falcon with the plastic window. 

Today, we got to tour the Enterprise and I must admit, I was extremely humbled to witness the extreme amount of pride held by every sailor we came in contact with both past and present.  I've heard mom and dad tell stories about the how the community in Norfolk took care of the sailors and their families and I have witnessed that sense of pride today.  Our tour guides were two individuals with jobs that according to society, were less than desirable.  But these two young people spoke of those jobs as if they were the most important jobs in the world.  Why? Because they understood that we all have an important role to play in life and that each of us are important.

Now, if you have continued to read to this point, let me share my thoughts with you.  My mom and dad made a commitment to each other when they got married and that commitment meant something to them.  How many newlyweds would stay committed to each other, out of town, in an apartment, working at a bar, collectively earning $530 a month in today's economy?  How many 18 year old individuals would brag about cleaning up after people or working in a chow line? 

God hasn't called all of us to be Billy Grahams, presidents, or millionaires, but he has called us to do a job for him.  He only asks that we do the very best we can at the task he has for us.  I can tell you that I have been humbled by many real world examples of such commitment.  I for one am proud of mom and dad because they chose to be committed and set the example for me.  I can only hope that I am setting the example for others like has been set before me.

Lord, thank you for the examples you've provided for me.  Help me to earn the efforts and examples set by those before me by setting the example for those around me and who will follow me.

Chicken Crap for the soul

When I was growing up, we had all kinds of animals, critters, and creatures ranging from horses to cats, birds and dogs, ducks and geese, and we even had a turkey that thought he was a dog.  I'm sure you are wondering what in the world can I be up to with a title such as, "Chicken Crap for the soul" so let me explain.  We also had chickens and lots of them.  My dad had a whole mess of laying hens that would produce eggs out the tail (no pun intended, well yeah it was intended).  Dad had also built them a chicken house (hen house)where they spent most of the time.  And, like you might imagine, they created a lot of crap.  Here is where things get interesting.

We also had a garden every single year.  I hated working the garden as a kid because it was a whole lot of work for food I really didn't care to eat.  Money was always tight around our house, so we didn't waste a whole lot; including the chicken crap.  My Dad would shovel all that crap out of the hen house and spread it out on the garden spot year round.  Over and over again, he would shovel the crap and spread it out in the garden.  For you city folks, that chicken crap was used for fertilizer which helped produce some amazing gardens and we didn't even need to go to the all natural store to buy it.  It's odd to think that something like crap could be so useful isnt' it?  I mean, it's chicken crap right?!

I think the same concept can be related to our lives every day.  So many times in life, we've either found ourselves in a hen house full of chicken crap, had the misfortune of shoveling a load of crap, or maybe even had to be the one to spread the crap.  For sake of discussion, we'll call these things, "Crap Jobs".  The real question surrounding all this crap is, "What is our intention?"  Often times, God asks us to do things we think are crap jobs but God knows what the end result will be.  Just as with our gardens, the crap is an absolute essential to having a healthy life and whether I liked it or not, it put a lot of good food on the table.  Instead of spending time thinking about all the crap we're dealing with, maybe we should take a step back and see what God is doing with all that crap!

God never promised us life would be easy but God is infamous for making something special out of nothing.  He turned water into wine, made paraplegics walk, blind people see, and on and on.  It amazes me every single day that God blesses and loves me the way he does. 

So, when you find yourself being crapped on, shoveling crap, or spreading crap, just remember that if applied correctly, all that crap can be used to yield some amazing results.  The crap your cussing God over, may just be fertilizer, or "Chicken Crap for the soul".

Have a great week!