… and Happy Veterans Day! It is with a humble gratitude that I approach this day.  My dad was a US Marine for two years between the Korean and Viet Nam wars so his was not a military career.  Part of my fondest memories of wrestling with my dad as a small child was his US Marine Corps tattoo on his forearm.  He never said too much about his experience in the Corps except this, “I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone, but you couldn’t give me a million dollars for it either.”  Something very important took place in his life.

I found out a little more about it when I was floundering around the age of 19.  I was in college at Miami University in Ohio.  It was painfully obvious that I was not going to make it as a science major and the career path into dentistry was less and less likely.  This would lead to a little chat with my Marine Corps trained father.  He said that he had some starts and quits in his life, and that the Corps changed that for him.  Then he said, “You are not going into the military but you are going to finish college!  Now get your ass back in there and finish… zoology courses and all!”

I only had five more years with him after that, but enough time for him to see me graduate from college… not in Ohio, and not as a zoology major… but from Pacific Christian College and with a call on my life that is as strong today as it was when I received it as a student at Miami University.

I am thankful for the global impact of our Veterans on freedom and democracy… and the personal impact of a two-year USMC Veteran on my life of service in the kingdom of God.

For His glory,

Pastor Mike