Disclaimer: Im certain that a more reflective entry will follow in the next week or so but for now it’s to much of a raw thing to put into words just yet so I’m going to bore you with the gritty details of getting a service-member off of the front line and back home to be with his family in a time of need.

Let me begin with some back ground information in the unit that I serve with so that you can understand how far from normal we are in the grand scheme of things. 3/6 is a Victory unit, I.E. they are the trigger pullers, they are front line. So being their chaplain I’m about as far forward as you can get. Granted this is not a conventional war and there are no front lines but we are out there. So getting home involves jumping through some hoops, set on fire, surface of the sun hoops, but meh it all just another day in the life of.  So how this works; the Red Cross, yes that Red Cross, confirms the emergency And actually contacts the command. In fact the only official way to contact a service member, even when in the US is to use the Red Cross as they are, for whatever reason the confirming authority on all emergency matters that may pull the service member away from his job to be by families in times of need.

Now in case you think this process is slow. I checked my email right before Worship Service and then right after it, about an hour later. In that time the command had already received my Red Cross and was pushing my request for leave up the chain before I found out via email (the reason I was not contacted in that hour was my choice for various reasons that are to length and moot for this post) The information gets there fast. And by the days end I was packed and staring out of the back of an Osprey, headed off the front line towards Camp Leatherneck, the hub off all things Marine in Afghanistan.

Let me stop for a second and point out that for the battalion going to war, I left on a Friday and arrived at Marjah (the FOB the 3/6 is headquartered at) on Thursday of the next week. As I type this I’m in Atlanta, on Tuesday and should be home tonight, I was notified Saturday. 3 days quicker – because it matters. I may hate the government right along with you but one thing the Department of Defense does very well – in fact better then our allies based on conversations I’ve had in country with other coalition forces is we take very good care of our own.

So Saturday night I arrive at leatherneck and sleep on a mattress for the first time in 6 weeks – divine! The next morning I’m off to board a C130. A fun ride kinda like a roller coaster that can kill you. But it got us to Kandahar, which was my last stop in country before actually getting somewhere to hook up with a civilian airline. The trip from Kandahar was great! Imagine an airplane with an unfinished interior where you can see all the wires, there are no windows and you have a luxurious seat made for a midget to yourself. It’s not really that bad if you think happy thoughts – like why does my seat move every time the plane inches forward. None the less by Sunday night I was at Al Udeid Airforce Base in Qatar.

Wait… Where?

It was a fuel stop on our way to Kuwait and the personnel who began my booking said it would be quicker to start there rather then go through Kuwait. Sounded good to me, and hey I got to sleep at an USAF forward base to boot. I just have to say, the Marines are pansies, the Air-force has it the worst – I mean being forced to daily pick between taco bell and burger king would drive a sane man crazy! I kid, but it was kinda weird to think I was still considered in a combat zone at this point.

Now comes the fun, in a blurry kind of way, part. Here was my Tuesday:

Shuttle to Qatar airport left at 8pm Monday night. My flight was 12:45am. 7 hours later I was in Frankfurt Germany for a 5 hour layover, noon flight to Atlanta that would arrive at 4pm.. No it was not a four hour flight, I’m a time traveler, it was a 10 hour flight. At around 9 tonight I’ll fly home to arrive around 10:30.

The best part, I rarely sleep on planes, so I can fully understand the term “the red eye, as I’ve been in a half life since leaving Qatar 36 hours ago, and I’m not entirely sure I haven’t said something sacrilegious in this post.  I’ve come to some conclusions from this mis-adventure, even when it is absolutely worth it, being a world traveler is the ninth level of hell.

The smile I’ll see in about 2 hours will make it all a bad dream. And Wednesday,  Wednesday will make it fade completely as I’m rejoined with sisters and a mother I desperately need to be with right now.

God is good, even when He forces me to fly.

Chaplain Carson

I’ve been moving around the Battalion AO (Area of Operations) for about a month now staying little more then 2 days in any one place. We have a multitude of positions ranging from FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) that support 500+ personal to OP (Observation Posts) that have a few handfuls of Marines and being one of one I care for them all.  RP (my assistant/bodyguard) and I are the wandering gypsies of the tribe, sleeping where-ever we can stretch out and eating whatever is served – where-ever it is served. We travel light.

A back pack filled with the essentials:

• A sleeping bag
• A fresh T-shirt (great for a rolled up pillow)
• A toothbrush, and razor (fieldd hygiene is not really about smelling good as it is about looking good)
• A Bible
• A kit for communion
• A crossword puzzle book (for boredom)
• And I bring my iPad

Food and water we get where we can. And about once or twice a week we are at a place where we can shower, and get into a fresh set of clothing so it’s not all bad. And I love this life of a vagabond. I get antsy after a day or two in one place. Typically when I arrive at a new location I hold a Service or Bible-study for the men there and then proceed to “hang-out” usually wandering over to the designated smoking area (I don’t smoke cigarettes but the conversation is worth it). Then as our time wears on guys seek me out for a word of encouragement or advice and we are off again. Strapping on a vest that digs into your shoulders, cramming a helmet that was not designed for comfort we climb into a vehicle that appears designed for the moon (and seat that are made for people that are 4ft tall) and we creep across the desert to the next point in our destination, which I might add is not entirely up to me. I am the proverbial hitchhiker, asking every convoy moving – where are you going and can I come.

The answer is usually a resounding yes – something about a chaplain’s presence – probably has to do with the comic relief I provide to the men doing the real work. I have never been so content in my life. I need for nothing. MY life has become based on simplicity and I think I thrive on it. I have settled in, spiritually, to this life of doing without, and I’m content know that those things in this life that matter most to me are in far more capable hands than mine. My children are loved and protected by their Father in Heaven and my wife is encouraged and built up by the arms of her Savior. What more can I ask for – but Joy for today and bright Hope for tomorrow.

Life is good, because He is good.

In His Grips

Chaplain Carson

3 weeks in, 6 months to go. I’m quickly finding out how deep the rabbit hole really is. I’m settling into a routine and yet at the same time already missing some good old creature comforts from back home. You’d be surprised what you miss when you have it taken away from you.

• Shuffling into the bathroom without going outside is a luxury I long for. Nothing like answering nature’s call in the wide blue yonder of nature.
• Walking around in grass – barefoot – yeah I’d avoid that like the plague over here – the Taliban have recruited ants the size of cockroaches.
• Green and brown is nice, but man going the next few months without the right to wear jeans or a T-shirt is murder – something about being in any uniform makes you sit a little straighter.
• Pizza – now, if you know anything about me you know this is without a doubt the end all be all of my diet. The cornerstone if you will to my outstanding physical condition and being denied this most basic of dietary needs is a proverbial 40 years in the desert itself.
• While I’m on the topic of food (I like this topic) How about some real cheese, not cheese in a can, not cheese in a bag, not Kraft “I’m pretending to be cheese” sliced cheese. But real, came from a cow, block cheese. It just won’t last out here – it’s not practical, so we are denied.
• Internet that is faster than 56k. I realize we are spoiled as a nation and I like it, and miss it.

In all seriousness, I’m learning to do without things I don’t really need. And that’s kind of the point and the spring board for my most recent soap box.  What do we really need?

I’ve started a prayer journal this year and find a common theme running through my spiritual life of late and that is my walk is 90% me and 10% God. At least most days it feels that way. I wrestle control on a daily basis often ending up with a bum hip by the end of the day due to the struggle. (10 points if you got the reference without this hint *cough* Genesis 32 *cough* ). I’m so concerned with what I’m doing I often forget why I’m doing it. This is for the glory of God, no I don’t mean Chaplaincy or Ministry or Deployment or any of that sort of stuff. I mean life; LIFE is for the glory of God. So why do we claim Him and deny him in the same breath? We claim Him as Lord and yet we continue to carry on not only under our own power but without even consulting Him. And that brings me full circle.

What we really need is Him, not truths, or theology or Biblical self help (self help –HA!). We need Jesus to fill us. To consume us so the lines blur and it’s hard to see where I end and He begins.  We talk about using all the stuff in our lives to glorify Him, from facebook to multimedia, from song to the spoken word. When in reality all we really need, the very air we breathe, is Him. And that is our power – that is the miracle, the very power of the Christian life. We become a light on hill not because of how effective we share his message but by how close we are to the source.

I am convinced that to know Him more is the key to evangelism, discipleship, church growth, spiritual growth, joy, peace, patience, I could exhaust this list with every supposed “church” endeavor on the earth. We think we need so much more and it’s the reason we live mal-content lives: because we desire what we don’t have.  I still want a pepperoni pizza, but I don’t need it. So if I never satisfy that want, that’s ok.

I have everything I need.  Even when I have nothing…

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Because He not only lives, but reigns.

Chaplain Carson