takecourageandkuwait

[takecourageandkuwait]

Kuwhat The Heck?

Hey fellas (and lady fellas)!

    I feel the need to write a blog, not only because I feel like I’ve been the exact opposite of a poster-child for weekly blogs, but because God’s work here has been something truly, truly amazing. He voice and presence is simultaneously peaceful...yet powerful, meek...yet royal, humble...yet exalted above all else. Never have I ever been so awestruck with something so gentle and ferocious. His holiness and love is overwhelming and fills the depths of my heart, pushing infinitely past the limits of what my heart can take, causing my flesh to break down and produce the most joyful of tears. All of this presents itself as I sit in reflection of my first three months on deployment. Apart from His character, let us also reflect on the revelations that God has taught me in His infinite wisdom. 

It’s not personal, it’s personnel

     The above sub-title is something that I would hear my father say to his colleagues when he would joyfully and willingly take his children to visit his work to see what life was like as an Air Force Officer. That relates to this deployment because the Marines that I work with very much differentiate work and personal lives. However, at first, I didn’t understand that. I thought that a big part of being a good leader was to create a personal relationship with those around you and lead them in the way of truth and character (although there is some truth to that). That being said, when they would bring up something that was different than what I taught them (or what I was taught), I would get defensive, because to me, I viewed their oppositions as an attack on my character rather than viewing it as collectively and cohesively creating a more efficient and effective workplace. They, however, didn’t care about building personal relationship while at work, they just cared about work. To them, personal relationship would have to be outside of the workplace. “Well, why didn’t you just get to know them outside of the workplace, Paul?” Well, fellow navigators of life, it’s because with there being a rank structure in the Marine Corps, I didn’t want to walk the border of fraternization (Google it, yo). “Well, that’s great that you learned this, but how does it relate to God?” 

I’M GETTING THERE YO

*ahem* So, I was thinking about why God would chose to teach me this and I thought about worshiping. I thought about how when I first became a Christian, I would be nervous if I did anything outlandish (compared to a normal social setting) like raise my hands because I didn’t want people to to look at me and be like, “Oh my gosh...that guy is raising his hands? That dude’s a freak.” I thought that people would judge me personally instead of seeing the differentiation between worship-life and social-life. And the honest-to-God truth as to why I thought that is because before I was a Christian, I would think those exact thoughts. I would put so much judgement on people depending on how they worshiped. But, what if we, as Christians, started to look at worship the same way that my colleagues view the workplace? No judging someone’s character or who they are based on what they are or aren’t doing whilst worshiping. Making the clear distinction of “Listen man, what you do when you worship God is totally between you and Him and I’m still going to look at you the same way, whether you worship by planking on the ground or by sitting down with your arms crossed.” I’m saying this because I feel like there are quite a few people who want to put their hands in the air, or dance, or get on their knees, or spin and shake, but they won’t because of fear of judgement from others on a social level. But it’s not social is it? It’s worship. We do not worship God so that we can look holier for the girl or guy next to us. We do not worship God so that we can get a leg up in the social ladder. We do not worship God so that we can show off our singing ability and hope to get complimented after church. We worship God to recognize His holiness and give Him praise for saving us from eternal separation from Him. How would you worship God if He were standing right in front of you when you worshiped? I guarantee you that you wouldn’t be standing with your hands firmly gripping the chair in front of you, quietly singing so that no one heard you and tapping the drum beat with the lifting of your fingers. You would fall straight to your knees and begin wiping your tears from His feet with your hair. This point is something to think about the next time you see someone doing something during their time of worship with God. 

The Spiritual war(state)fare

     Recently, I have been reading a book on Military strategy called...you guessed it...Strategy by B. H. Liddell Hart. It’s actually a pretty good book. There’s a part of it that talks about the strategy to win the war rather than the battle (shocker, I know). He briefly talks about how all war is about deception. If you have 10 soldiers, you want to make it look like you have 10,000, and if you have 10,000 soldiers, you want to make it look like you have 10. Same goes for your supplies (few=many, many=few) and your distance from the enemy (close=far, far=close). He then talks about different fighting conflicts, being Direct Conflict and Indirect Conflict. Direct Conflict is like Braveheart or Chronicles of Narnia, where the two opposing parties clash together, putting both their infantries in an all-out brawl against each other. This is what’s glorified about war. This is what infantry troops love and so desire. It is a pure battle of will and strength. But, however cool it is for the people of Braveheart and Narnia to talk about their brutal experiences in direct conflict with the enemy, it unfortunately doesn’t win wars. That brings us to the next conflict...indirect. Indirect Conflict is secretly taking out the oppositions plumbing, decreasing the morale of the enemy, or infiltrating and urinating on their food supply, further decreasing morale and destroying them form the inside out. If you look closely, these two conflicts are in direct relationship with the enemy’s strategy spiritually.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” - John 10:10 “To locate, close with, and destroy the enemy, by fire and maneuver, or repel the enemy assault by fire and close combat.” - Mission of the Marine Corps Rifle Squad I put the above two together so that you can see the similarities between spiritual war, and physical war. The enemy, our enemy, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. Well, how would he go about doing that? How would he win? With indirect conflict. Think about it, how often is the enemy facing us head on in a shear battle of wills? Very little. And seeing as we have God on our side, that would be a very, very silly strategy on his part. He uses deception and indirect conflict so that our flesh may be bested by his schemes and tricks. He whispers to us, “You’re doing fine. You don’t need help. You can do this on your own” (Deception). He tells us, “Oh, just one little glance won’t hurt anyone. You’re just appreciating the body that God gave them. Who would know that you did it?” (notionally [again, Google it, yo] taking out our supplies) He says, “Oh, it’s just lunch with a friend. What, a friend can’t have lunch with a friend of the opposite sex anymore? Your wife will understand.” (destroying us from the inside out).  All the above things mentioned are strategies that the enemy uses to take out our camps (our hearts) and destroy us by us destroying ourselves. He knows that he can’t win head on, so he does the smallest, most seemingly insignificant things to deceive us into thinking that we still have a fighting chance on our own, when in reality, the enemy is winning the war against our flesh without us even realizing it. “Well, what do we do now, Paul?” We let God in. Which leads me into my next and last subsection.

Love? Actually....

     I want you to think of something before you read on. Do you think that there is a difference between loving someone and being in love with them? Reeealllly think about that. You can love tacos, but could you ever be in love with a taco? The answer is no. Just like you can love God and the things He does, but not be in love with God. “Woooohhh, Paul! You can’t tell me how much I love God! I know how much I love Him!” And I’m sure you do. Truly, I think that you love God more than anything. However, there is a difference between loving someone and being in love with them. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, but he doesn’t tell us to be in love with our enemies. (Luke 6:27-31). This differentiation is critical in truly having a bride and bride-groom relationship with God. “Well, what does it mean to be ‘in love’ then, Paul?” It means walking in vulnerability and trust. If you are in love with each other, you are walking with each other, trusting each other with each other’s heart. It’s a two-way relationship. If you are never vulnerable with someone, you can never be in love with them. I’m sure you’ve told God how much you love Him, but have you told Him that you are in love with Him? 

“5 For your Maker is your husband,   the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,   the God of the whole earth he is called. 6 For the Lord has called you   like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off,   says your God.” - Isaiah 54:5-6

Have you ever asked God to marry you? Have you ever asked God if you are in love with Him or just love the things He does? I would encourage you to talk to God about it. Ask Him. He’ll tell you. 

A long, long blog ago

     For the readers who actually got this far, we’re done! We made it! Yaaaayyy! Haha Anyway, I wanted to thank every one for praying for me up until this point. You have made such a harmonious impact on my time here. But please, don’t stop! Haha I definitely need it. Well, abee-abee-abeebadee that’s all folks! 

God bless,

Paul     

Prayer requests:

- Please pray for the hearts of the Marines that I work with.

[takecourageandkuwait]

A While In Dog Years...

Whaddup yo!

     I’m not gonna lie, as I sit here nostalgically listening to Green Day’s American Idiot album, I can’t help but think that it’s been a while since we’ve talked. Honestly, I actually prefer it that way. I realize that the communication has been a pretty big disappointment from my promise of “weekly blog update”, but it’s okay because....well....Jesus! haha  But seriously, as soon as I got here, God told me to keep it pretty exclusive between Him and I for a while (with the exception of a few people). Try to imagine it like Jedi training, but, you know...with Jesus. Don’t worry though, I still have my emotions, my mind, and I’m not dead or on fire, so I’m pretty peachy considering! Anyway, let’s go ahead and jump right into this. And don’t worry, it’s not gonna be one of those suuuuuper long blogs because I have two months to catch you up on. It’ll be about the same length as the others. Also, kind of on an unrelated note, the time here is going be so freaking fast! it’s crazy! Anyway, jumping right in...

Mission Himpossible

     I like to think that the opportunity here has been pretty unique. Think about it, beside the fact that I get paid a butt-ton to sit around and talk to people all day, there is really no better place to share the Gospel with Marines than being with them on deployment. I mean, this totally goes against what Jesus did, because when He came down to earth He waited for everyone to come to Him.... ....SIKE! Uh, yeah right! He went out! He didn’t wait for the people to come to Him, He met them where they were at. Another good thing is that I truly enjoy what the Marine Corps has to offer, so it makes it a little easier. I’ve had a lot of really good conversations while being over here. I’ve shared the Gospel with all of my co-workers and shared the Gospel with someone who would later become a really good friend of mine. I could not have asked for a better place to be. I get to be in contact with (literally) hundreds of Marines while I’m here, and each time I greet one, I try to show them the love of Jesus through my actions. Most of them are going to pretty tough places (Iraq or Afghanistan), so showing them that someone truly cares about them before they leave is pretty cool. One of the first conversations that God and I had when I got here was the why I was here anyway. We went back and forth, but the basics of what He told me were this: “Paul, you have a very unique opportunity to be a missionary for Me and reach those in the Marine Corps. This is less of a deployment, and more of an opportunity for you to get some missionary experience and grow closer to Me because of it.” So, viewing this deployment as a mission opportunity (rather than spending 6 months in a combat zone of boredom and too much alone time) has really opened up a lot of growth in my heart. Now, let’s get to that...

Easy, Medium, Heart

     The heart is a very interesting thing. It’s the most valuable thing that people have to offer, yet, it’s probably the most under-developed part of a person’s character. There are different parts of the heart as well, and some parts are more developed than others, making it unbalanced and unhealthy. Imagine someone’s heart being a person. The arms are their pride and humility, the legs are your discipline and responsibility, your torso is your communication with yourself and others, and your heart of your heart is your soul and identity. Obviously, there are more points to a person’s heart, but for the sake of this blog, we’re going to use these. Now, with these examples, let’s (very, very briefly) break down each part, first with the arms. Arms: See, a lot of people think that you can’t be proud of anything. But you definitely can. However (<---and that’s a BIG however), if it’s not balanced with humility, then you end up thinking that your accomplishments are what make you who you are and that you don’t need anyone’s help with anything, and you can never apologize for hurting anyone or messing up. If you imagine pride as biceps, then it’ll be hard for people to take any advice from you on humility (triceps) when you only work on your humility so that you can tell people how humble you are. Basically, you post on Facebook that you’re working triceps today, but you get to the gym and actually work biceps. Legs: I can’t stress this enough...DO. NOT. SKIP. LEG. DAY. Leg day is a pretty important role in your overall workout routine and is actually really good for you because your body pumps more blood to your increasing leg size, which gives more blood flow to the rest of your body. Legs in the case of discipline and responsibility is equally as important for the rest of your life. Without discipline, you don’t brush your teeth at night, or do laundry, or pay bills on time, or heck, even go to work on time, or even heckier heck, don’t go to work at all! If you always skip leg day, it’s not too late to work that muscle! Torso: You don’t want a giant back and a tiny chest and no abs. Your back in this case is you talking about yourself all the time, and your chest and abs are how you communicate with others. Most people really don’t care what you have to say about yourself. Why? Because they want time to talk about themselves. If you can learn to genuinely listen to others for understanding rather than waiting for a moment where you can speak and talk more, your chest and abs will get bigger.  Heart: This is your identity. Now, in some people’s hearts are fraternities or sororities, some people have old high school state championship football trophies, some have abuse and pain, some have another person, some have their bodies. Unfortunately, you can’t really “work” this one per se, but, you can definitely re-enforce it and replace it. Now, the important thing is this: You don’t want to put your identity in something that can fade away. ‘Well, what the heck Paul? Doesn’t everything fade away eventually?” and you’re right....EXCEPT ONE THING SUCKA! DAS MY BOI JESUS! HOLLA! There’s a lot here, and I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think it was going to take up that much space, but it did. Anyway, I’m basically saying all this to say that God has very graciously shown me a mirror into my own heart and I’ve seen just how imbalanced and unhealthy I actually am. I thought I was good, but there is a lot that I need to work on. At first I was a little shocked and overwhelmed, but God said, “Don’t worry. I am with You.”

Smoking that MJ

     So really quickly, there’s this girl here, and her last name is Minjarezsugich, but we just call her MJ. She’s become a really close friend here and we’ve had a lot of really good conversations about spiritual things, life things, and, most importantly, Jesus things. I’ve shared the Gospel with her (the bridge illustration), and she seemed pretty receptive but still trying to figure everything out. Please pray for her. Please, please pray for her. I would say that if you only had time to pray for either me or her, please forget about me and pray for her. 

Please excuse the tardiness of this e-mail

     See, the heading is funny because I sent that same sentence this morning haha Anyway, Things are going well here. I’m digging the alone time I’m getting and maaayyyybbbbeeee I’ll try and get another blog out to y’all at some point in the next month, but we’ll see.  God bless, Paul  P.S. I just remembered that ‘fat’ could be another heart-body-thing, which would just be the world. If you have a lot of ‘fat’ then it’ll take time for that to come off, but it still will. A healthy amount of ‘fat’ is good though (more for seeing a different perspective through the eyes of the people you’re trying to reach). Anyway, that’s just real short.  Verses memorized this past two months: - Would you believe me if I told you none? Hahaha...haha..*gulp* Prayer requests:- MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ x1000- Did I mention MJ?

[takecourageandkuwait]

Jesus, Take The Wheel (We Rolled Over).

Hey guys (and non-guy guys)!

I’ll start off by saying that this week was significantly better than last week in all respects. Training was better, the time with God was better (difficult....but better), the people were better, everything was better. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was ‘good’ per se, but still not too bad. ‘Good’ would be if everything turned out my way, but of course that never happens, so I’ve had to deal. Anyway, let’s get started.

“Roll over, Roll over, Roll over!”

    So, this week was really cool as far as training exercises are concerned. We did stuff involving night-vision goggles and vehicle roll over simulators

i.e.

So that stuff is pretty motivating. Waaaaayyy better than last week. I’m not gonna lie, it feels pretty good being able to lead Marines through all this stuff. I’ve also found out that I truly love shooting my rifle. I wish I could do it more often. 

But yeah, training was pretty sweet this week. Below you’ll find a couple seconds of the vehicle simulator. Enjoy.

Marines: Land, Sea, and Chair

      So, I got a message from my boot camp contact overseas and he told me that I won’t actually be on a Marine Corps base in my time there....I’ll be on an Air Force base. This really, really, upset me because I don’t like luxury in the Marines. I can’t stand it actually. What’s the point in being part of the world’s greatest fighting force if you’re not even going to be getting the full experience? I also feel like that being in ‘the suck’ allows me to get the full experience of what the Marine Corps has to offer. This is weird, because before boot camp I didn’t want to deploy at all, and now all I want to do is deploy. I’ve also been doing everything I can to try and deploy with the Infantry (taking online classes, trying to get my unit to send me to a Machine Gunners course, etc.). 

There are quite a bit of other reasons why I was upset at this. 1) How the heck am I supposed to reach out to Marines if there’s only two other Marines on the whole base? and 2) This only seemed to solidify the thought that every desire of my heart has been shot down by God. Being Artillery (I got screwed into becoming a Wireman), being in Quebec Battery (I got screwed into going to a Logistics unit), going to Afghanistan (I’m going to Kuwait), sharing the Gospel with a bunch of Marines (I’m going to an Air Force base), and a lot of other things. This then led to an immense anger towards God because it seemed like I couldn’t trust Him with the desires of my heart. And it’s not like these desires were bad, which is why I was so confused. But, you’ll read later as to why I’m using the past tense for all of these feelings.

Gravy Training

     Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :D I realized I forgot to mention that up top. BUT, this does lead us into a smooth segway towards our next topic. THANKSGIVING!! It was Wednesday afternoon and I was getting my last signatures for my pre-deployment checklist. During that time I found myself waiting (shocker) in this conference room for the Sergeant Major (the senior enlisted Marine in the Command) to sign my sheet. As I was waiting, the Command XO noticed me sitting there, got my attention, and asked what I was waiting on. I told him. He left and would later come back to ask me what I was doing for Thanksgiving. i told him that I was probably going to have Chow Hall turkey and watch Charlie Brown on Netflix. He laughed and invited me to his home to have Thanksgiving with him and his family instead of sitting in the Squad Bay all day. I went over to his house around 11:30, then we proceeded to stuff our faces with turkey and stuffing, watch the football game, played some Rummy, and threw the football in his backyard.  First of all, how awesome was that?? I can only describe that as a blessing from God. Second of all, I got to spend quite a bit of time afterwards to talk with him about the Marine Corps and such. I told him about my feelings of wanting to be in the front lines, in the suck, being with Infantry. He then asked me, “How much time did you say you had left in your degree?” I told him, “about three semesters” he said, “Well, from talking with you and getting to know you a little bit today, it looks like you should get your degree and become an Infantry Officer.”  My first thought was “Holy Crap! He’s right!” then I heard God say, “Yes Paul. Do that.” So that was awesome. God and I would later talk about how that fits into my desires and His plans. Hearing that really solidified my thoughts about the desires of my heart and the control that God has over them.   

Encouragmentos

So, I got to share the Gospel this week! It was through an encouragement letter that I gave to one of my Sergeants. Also, if y’all haven’t started writing your encouragement letters, I highly encourage you to do that this weekend before you go to school. 

Thanks for reading!

God bless,

Paul Moody

Verses memorized this week: Ephesians 2:8-9 Acts 16:30-31

Prayer requests: - I would continue to seek my Father about what He said concerning my future in the Marine Corps (if that was actually Him, etc.) - I would lead Marines well in this last week with them.

[takecourageandkuwait]

Slapped with a bored

First of off....

      I wanted to preface everything with this....

....this week sucked. Like, seriously. I just wanted to let y’all know that I’m already pretty bitter going into this, so if it’s not as dainty and well written, that’s partly why (also partly because, well....I’m not a writer) I mean, you’ll read about some of it later, but yeah, just thought I’d start off with that...anyway.... *Clears throat*

Where we left off

     So, Bible study right? That was actually really cool. I met this guy (Jim) and basically he shares the Gospel with Marines like, twice a week or something. He seems like a pretty genuine guy, and I guess he sees a lot of people come to know Christ, so that’s like, super cool. Actually, I’d say that’s probably the best part about this week. It’s awesome to think about really. The reason I like it so much is because I feel like God was showing me that Marines can actually come to know the Lord, and it’s happening without me being there. That being said it was really encouraging to see that God’s still doing things despite my lack of action or inaction. Also, another cool thing is that they call it ‘soul winning’, which sounds awesome to me haha 

Bless us, O Lord, for these Thy grits

     Chow has been alright. It’s pretty much the same meals for 7 days a week. Ya gotcha choice a pasta, pizza, cereal, or Mongolian (yes...I said Mongolian). I usually try to get cereal for every meal, with some chocolate milk to fill the bowl. It’s always derricious :) But yeah, before every meal I pray. I talk to God and recognize Him in the place and in my heart. I obviously pray for Him to bless the food He’s provided, and I pray for some other stuff too. But why does all this matter? Why the heck am I telling you about food? Well, because it’s seems like that, although I might be surrounded my Marines constantly, there is no place to have privacy. I’ve had literally all of my phone conversations in my rental car because I can find no other place for privacy. ‘Well, still Paul, how does that connect to food?’ I’m getting there....anyway, another place I find privacy is while I’m praying for my food. I know, weird huh? But yes. I don’t know why, but I feel God’s presence most when I take the time to close my eyes, bow my head, and pray for my chocolate milk filled cereal. There is such a peace there. I personally think it may be because I’m finding time for Him amidst the pressures and normalcy of food. So, I find that I really enjoy going to chow. Not because of the food, but because that’s where I’ve met God most whilst here. So, I would encourage those reading this to try and slot out some time for God. Having quiet time in the morning is still awesome and highly encouraged, but taking like, maybe two minutes to talk to God that day. Set a reminder on your phone before you go to bed to some obscure time the next day (like...10:17 or something), then whatever you’re doing, set a time for one minute and just check in with God and recognize Him in wherever place you’re at. 

Laura the Rings

     So, Laura Parreira. Yes, we all know her, we all love her. The Laura Parreira. ‘What about her, Paul?’....again....I’m getting there. Anyway, she set a challenge for me in an encouragement note. It says, “Lastly, I leave you not necessarily with an encouragement but a challenge for your time in Kuwait- to spend more time with God than watching Netflix.” I love this challenge. Why? Because it’s exactly that. A challenge. A....Christian...challenge you could say (OHHHH BAZINGA! POW! WOOOO! GOSH THAT WAS GOOD!!! OH YA! HAHAHAHAHA....Hahahahah...haha...*looks around Starbucks to see if anyone is listening*....ahem). And yes Karson, I felt your slow-blink from there. Anyway, I digress....

I think y’all will be happy to know that I’ve only watched Netflix ONCE. And that was only because it was Veteran’s Day and I wanted to watch Saving Private Ryan. But even then I didn’t even finish. In those times with nothing to do (which is....literally this whole week), I’ve been reading my Bible. I will say though, other times I just don’t do anything. i either go to Facebook or I somehow find my way to the deep-dark-depths of Youtube. But, I haven’t been watching Netflix, which is good? I guess...

But yeah, just wanted to mention that. :) [Shout out to Laura....also Karson haha]

“Welcome to ‘The Suck’”

     First off, for those of you who don’t know, ^ that up there is a quote from the movie Jarhead to describe the Marine Corps. Great film, highly encourage it to get a taste of what the Marine Corps is like. Anyway, here’s why this week has sucked....you ready? I’m bout to tell you...ready?....You sure?....Oh...crap....I was half-way hoping you’d say ‘No’....or like scroll past this section....frick....alright...I’ll explain.... This week there has literally been NOTHING for me to do. I finished all my online Marine Corps classes on Monday morning, leaving Tuesday through today to sulk and marinate in m own self pity. I would find myself staying up later and later. Why? Because if I went to bed, that means that I would have to go through another day of this crappy place. I found myself spiraling in a pretty deep depression, hating where I was, who I was with, where I was going, how long I was going to be there, and worst of all NOT HAVING CONTROL OF A SINGLE THING GOING ON IN MY LIFE RGHT NOW. None. Zero. I can’t wake up when I want, eat when I want, shave when I want. I hate it. The worst part is I can’t leave when I want. I can’t leave here early by getting stuff done sooner, I just have to wait. I was so busy the last week I was in Colorado trying to get all this crap done so I could leave sooner, and now it all means literally nothing. It doesn’t matter that I did any of that stuff. I could have just done it here. It’s stupid. Every night I’ve gone to bed this week I’ve literally been internally screaming as loud as my thoughts could produce. Even now, I’m internally cursing this place and the Marine Corps. 

“Paul, this is going to be a season of great trials. You will learn to lean on Me in such times. We will dig down into the deep, deep parts of your heart. You will not like it there, but be faithful and steadfast, and you will receive the crown of life promised to you. I love you, Paul. You will be in great pain. Pain so great that you cannot handle it on your own, but only with Me by your side and Me as your strength, My love for you is greater than you can imagine, which is why you must trust my discipline and trial. What good would a father be if he disciplined his son for his own gain instead of the good of his son? Trust me, son. Look to Me in your trials and you will bear an abundance of fruit. Be steadfast, my son, for you will have strength that those around you have never seen. You will have my strength with you. I love you, son, and I am with you.” 

That’s that God said to me on the 11th, literally right after I wrote the last blog. And so far, He hasn’t been wrong. It’s truly awful. I hate it. But God is bigger. I still love Him. So, so much. 

Lie down in green Pastors

     So, when I was at the Bible study last week, I was introducing myself to people and trying to get names of everyone and I saw this guy talking with all the Marines. He looked like he was in his early 30s, so my first thought was, “Oh, I bet he runs this whole thing!” So, I ask the guy next to me what his name was and he was like, “Pastor...” and I was like, “Wait...his name is actually Pastor?” and he was like, “No, his name is John, but he’s the Pastor of the church we go to, so we call him Pastor.” And I was like, “Oh...could I just call him John?” And the look he gave me looked liked he was completely taken aback that I would even think to ask such a ridiculous question. Then he gave me some answer regarding Pastors in the Bible that I don’t think had any theological backing at all, but I got what he was trying to say. Anyway, so after the Bible study the Pastor was about to leave and I went to re-intridocue myself. I said, “So, remind me of your name again?” and he said, “Oh! Yeah, my name is Pastor.” . . . . . *my thought process* wut? Are you serious? Even HE introduced himself as Pastor? *sighs.* whatever...I’ll just go with it.  Haha, anyway, I thought that was funny, so I’d thought I share :)

Thanks again so much for taking the time to read. I truly means a lot.

God bless,

Paul

P.S. “Yeah, I invited him because I saw him reading verses on the way to the gas chamber” - what that Corporal who invited me said to Jim.  MEMORIZE/REVIEW SCRIPTURE! You never know who may be watching =)

Verses memorized this week: 1 Timothy 5:1-2 Hebrews 5:8 Prayer requests: - I have a peace of mind as these trials take over my life. - That I don’t view the relationships made here as ‘pointless’ because I only have a couple weeks with them.

[takecourageandkuwait]

Alone with God

Hey everyone!  I hope everyone has had an awesome week so far! I cannot tell you how much your prayers and encouragement and meant to me. The love I’ve felt has truly been a sweetness to my heart. So thank you :)

Fear of the unowned

I’ve got to say, this deployment has been such a growing experience for me. I am doing something that not many people have done in their lifetime. I mean, how many people get to say that they went on a paid mission trip with the Marine Corps? I’ll tell ya...

Not many.

And by not many I mean you could probably count on one hand how many. But, any case, there wasn’t really anyone I could talk to regarding my faith and deploying with the Marine Corps. I mean, my dad gave me a lot of confidence in what it’s (potentially) going to be like over there, and my mom was there when I was stressing like I’ve never stressed before [shout out to Mom and Dad. Love ya.]. But as far as keeping up with my disciplines like Scripture memory, daily quiet times, discipleship, I mean...a wut the heck? How would I fit that one in? Anyway, long story short, I was freaking out because I had NO idea what to expect, and there wasn’t really anyone who had gone through what I was going to go through. So, it was difficult. Really difficult. 

     A big fear of mine is that I was just going to be forgotten. I thought that when I left, I was going to be totally alone. I even had a fear that God wouldn’t be there. I kind of thought that God would be like, “Well, I’m sorry, but you’re not in Boulder anymore. Wish I could help you out. Sorry bud.” Then I would even be forgotten by my Best Friend. Totally alone. Just me. 

So, I had just sat down on the plane, and my first thought was, “Holy crap...I’m so freaking scared right now. God, I’m so scared. I’ve never been this scared before. I don’t know what’s going to happen. To me, to others. I don’t even know how to feel. Lord, I’m so, so scared.” (For the record, if you’ve never known what it’s like to not know how to feel. It’s terrifying.) Then, to make things worse, there’s some dude with his headphones blaring, which of course, makes me think “.....this gon’ be a long flight.” But as his music played, I heard what sounded like Chris Tomlin. Then I was like, “Hey! These sound like Chris Tomlin chords!” Then the more I listened, I heard the singer say, “Our God is greater! Our God is stronger! God You are hiiiigher than any other! Our God is healer! Awesome in power! Our God! Our God!” then I was like, “HOLY CRAP IT’S CHRIS TOMLIN”. So that was awesome. I mean, what are the chances that there would be someone blaring worship music on the same flight on my way to deploy? Very slim I tell ya, very slim.

All jokes aside, when I heard that music, I felt God’s abundant peace overwhelm my soul. It was something I had never experienced quite like that. Then, I heard God say, “Paul, I am still here. I am with you. I love you so much, my son.” 

Woodlands

     This week has been stupid busy. Like, crazy busy. 16 hour days, sometimes more, packed with classes and running around base trying to get stuff signed off so I can leave. It’s crazy though, God has been with me through all of it. There hasn’t been a single moment where I was like, “God?....God?? Where you at God?? AHHHH D:” It’s always been, “God?” and He says, “I’m still here, Paul. I love you so much.” and I’m like, “Okay cool. Just checking. :)”  It was weird the first morning I woke up though. That’s when I realized that I couldn’t visit any of my friends. I was in it. Just me and God. And let me tell you, it’s awesome. I’m not really 100% sure how to explain it, but it was kind of nice to be by myself for once. I realized that I have been around people constantly for at least a couple years. It was weird doing things because of integrity and discipline rather than because someone was watching or so I could tell someone about it later. I mean, not that I did that before, but I do truly think that it’s a testament to the disciplines and habits that Christian Challenge has developed in me throughout the years. I mean, before I went to bed, I switched out my daily review verses. Why? Because I know that that’s one of the things you do to continue to build relationship with God. I mean, I prayed throughout the day, I reviewed verses, worshiped before I went to bed, all on my own :D I mean, it’s basically like spiritual adulting haha so, for those of you who don’t know if what Christian Challenge instills works, I’m a good example of that. Seriously, if I can do it, literally anyone on the planet can do it haha Basically, trust the staff of Christian Challenge. They definitely know what they’re doing. And if you haven’t started these disciplines yet, please, I highly, highly, encourage you to start. Not to come off harsh, and I mean this with the utmost respect, but you’re wasting your time if you don’t. Now, this doesn’t mean to be perfect by tomorrow, but maybe this week set some goals for yourself. Like, “I’ll read two Psalms and memorize a verse this week.” That’s a very doable thing, you know? Start off small. And if you don’t know where to start, ask the staff yo. They know a LOT. 

Your lips are chap(ped)lain 

So, before I left, I had to do this pre-deployment phone call for make sure I had all my stuff together before I left. This really nice lady asked me what I do and I told her I’m a student studying Psychology planning on getting my Masters in Counseling from a seminary somewhere. Then of course, she was like, “YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BEING A CHAPLAIN??” And I was like, “Yeah...I’m good.” Then I was talking to my old company gunny about praying before the ball and stuff and he was like, “YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BEING A CHAPLAIN??” And I was like, “Yeah...I’m good.” Then when I got here, I was listening to some worship music while showering and one of the Captains here was like, “What do you do on the civilian side?” And I told him about me being a student and what degrees I wanted to get and stuff and he was like, “Oh...cool man...YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BEING A CHAPLAIN??” And I could literally hear God laughing. So, of course I was like, “Yeah...I’m good.” 

Anyway, I thought that was funny, so I thought I’d share :)

Thanks for reading this! I’ll be sure to keep y’all updated!

God bless,

Paul Moody

P.S. I guess one of the Corporals saw me reviewing verses, so he was like, “Hey Moody, you’re religious right?” And my first thought was “No...not at all” but I knew what he was talking about, so I was like, “Yep!” then he invited me to go to Bible study with him tonight. So, we’ll see how that goes.

Verses memorized this week: Luke 22:44 1 Corinthians 10:24 Prayer requests: - That I wouldn’t become complacent. - That I could share the Gospel one time this week.