Last night was the last time my wife and I will see our son for about 11 weeks. We dropped him off at a hotel near DFW so he could ship out with several other recruits to Fort Benning, GA for basic training. My son joined the Army National Guard of Texas a few months ago and has been working very hard at improving himself. He has taken online testing, scored well on his test, referred 2 friends, and completed a ton of PT. He is going in at an PFC/E3, two grades above most of the people he joined up with. He is a smart kid, he will go far. I guess that is what hurts me some. He does not do well in school, even though he has been tagged as gifted. He does not like school, but instead is a very physical person. He has great aptitude for music and all things mechanical. He has not taken the love of I/T like I have, but he is very sharp nonetheless. He picks up on technology like a duck to water.
He will return in August to start his senior year in high school. After he completes that, he will go to AIT next summer. He will then qualify for another promotion. He is very gung ho for the Army National Guard right now. He wants to become a peace keeper and travel. Like us, he has a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. He was hurt to know he could not take a Bible to BT, but was relieved to know they were going to issue him one when he got there. He also took his Crucifix, the one he normally carried in his wallet. We said a prayer for him in a quiet corner of the hotel before we left. We were sad, but we knew we had to move on. We had forgotten how hungry we were until we passes a busy little bbq joint. The smell of hickory beckoned us, so we had some ribs, brisket, and sausage. We then continued home to go walk our two dogs. It gave me more time to reflect and pray. I needed that.
1 comment:
That was a very touching entry. You must be proud as a parent to have your son be in the Army, although I imagine that it must have been very hard to let him go. But that is wonderful that he is doing this for his country; not all teenage boys would be willing to go through all the training and physical exertion that is necessary.
It is also wonderful how strong of a Christian he is, especially with how teenagers these days are acting; he will be a witness to others in the army. I will definitely keep you and your son in my prayers.
God Bless.
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