There are good churches in Germany, regrets - and the band plays on!

Today I went to church off post with a another Christian I met while coming to Baumholder. It was very refreshing to be in the presence of other believers. I did go to chapel on post last Sunday but I'll reserve more mention of that to private conversations or emails. We arrived at Trinity Baptist Church at about 9:50 which was five minutes late (I guess some things don't change that easily). On the way, my friend McCarty informed me that the building the church is located in was a German brothel. It really warmed my heart to hear that God has taken another den of iniquity and claimed it for righteousness!

Anyway, we jumped right into the Sunday school class where we disected some of the sermon on the mount. The speaker, Dan, was very knowledgeable and well prepared for the lesson. The ten or so in the group also had good feedback and overall I thought the Sunday school was good. That lasted until about 10:30 when we stopped to prepare for the sermon at 11:00. During the break I went around to meet other people from the group and others that had walked in the door.

The service started with prayer, a reading and worship songs. The worship team consisted of a drummer, bass player, pianist and two singers (one of whom plays the flute too). They did a tremendous job of leading the music while the congregation sang with enthusiam. I should mention that I may have suffered some hearing damage though. I think the guy playing bass may have had his volume and the amp volume maxed out. As a former sound room guy it was hard to take, but I decided to sing with joy while the band played on. There were a few breaks during singing for prayer, bible readings and a children's minisermon(sp?). Then the fill in pastor came up and started the sermon. He read about three verses from Psalm 23 and then took one word from that reading to create a twenty minute message. I was a little shocked and had anticipate having a tad bit more biblical reference for the message but overall the fellow did a good job.

After church a nice young couple invited me and McCarthy to the food court on post to eat lunch which was nice since they had a vehicle to ride in (we took a cab to church at 7.50 euro (or about $10.00). This couple, Jason and Erin, married in June but have known each other since they were seven years old. They were both homeschooled and seem like they came from solid, believing homes. They hope to have children after Jason gets out of the military in two years. The fellowship with them, McCarthy and another soldier, Jonathan, was great. I should mention that McCarthy is a nice young man that has been married about a year and they have a newborn baby. He is hoping to have is wife come soon and will even fly her here for Thanksgiving to visit if she hasn't been able to move on the military's (taxpayer's) dime. The other fella, Jonathan, I didn't get to know as well but he seems like a nice fella that may be getting chaptered out the military for medical reasons.

While I was walking back to my barracks after lunch I ran into Dan and his family. Dan has been in the Airforce for the last fifteen years, is married and has six older children that are homeschooled. He seems like a solid believer and I was thankful that I got to see him again. His wife, Elizabeth, mentioned that Dan has never been deployed or gone from his family for about more than two months! At this point I'm wondering if God would do that for me. After talking for a few minutes I could tell that Dan and his family were longing for their ciesta and I let them go so I could grab my laptop, go to the bowling alley that also has wifi access and write this!

The military life is very, very hard on families. Many married people are sending their spouses back to the states in anticipation of the deployment in March 2008. That puts Sunshine and I in a tough position since it seems like she may not be here until December which is when my unit is scheduled to be in the field for a month. We're also scheduled to be gone the month of November, back for Thanksgiving and then gone again. Feasibly, that gives me three months (but not really since we'll be very busy during that time with deployment preparation) to spend with my family if I get sent on the deployment. Ultimately, I'm hoping to get deferred from the deployment or chaptered out of the Army has a hardship. I would really like to complete my enlistment but the toll of my family would be extremely difficult. I'm praying that they Army would see me and my family as an overall detirment to military service. However, I'm trying to trust God and his plans in this difficult time.

I know that only three short weeks ago I was touting the benefits of being in the Army. True, there are many benefits but the cost to a married man with children is so great and in my opinion that cost is too high. The attitude of many of the married nonChristians with children is "I miss my family but this is what I've got to do". Still others have been happy to leave their children with other family with the thought that they couldn't raise them anyway. In the military at large there is rampant immorality, drinking, adultry, fornication, foul language and lack of regard for God. I don't suppose that I should expect more since most folks here aren't regenerate (born again). It is a very tough environment to live in. At this point my general encouragment to any married man with children is to not go in the military. I suppose that many of you could say "I told you so" and that is ok. I'm sorry that I scorned so much good wisdom. Unfortunately, my family and my wife especially is paying the price. I'm sorry Sunshine. I've repented before the Lord and still continue to do so. I know that doesn't mean I have an automatic ticket to fix all my woes but on the other hand I know that God can do that too. I realize that God may well have called me here to do something but I'm having a hard time seeing what it is at this point... especially when I take my family into consideration.

And the band plays on...