November 11 is a significant day in my life. It is Veteran’s Day, and because I served in the US Navy, many people thank me for my service and offer me free meals at restaurants. It was also on November 11th, in 1975 that I was married at Bethany Bible Church after a ten-day engagement.
SERVICE IN THE NAVY MADE MY LIFE DIFFICULT
For the last 48 years, Debbie and I have had an easy marriage and few
disagreements. Four days after we were married, I boarded a plane to the Philippins where I waited to board the USS Midway and sail to Japan. I arrived just before Christmas, Debbie joined me in Japan at the end of January, and we began our married life.
Being in the Navy as a lower enlisted man was very difficult. The first year we were married I was only home 62 days; for over 300 days I was at sea. We were very far from home living in a very small apartment, a long distance from the Naval base. We had no phone, no car, and no television. We were surrounded by Japanese language and culture which was alien to us, and which Debbie had to learn to navigate while I was at sea.
I did not enjoy my time in the Navy. My time on the Midway was difficult, and at times it felt impossible. However, it was likely the best thing that could have happened for my marriage and my calling. For the next couple of years, Debbie and I learned to function as a team apart from the influence of her parents, my parents, or our church community. In the fall of 1977, my contract with the Navy came to an end, and we moved back to Phoenix. However, we were different than when we left only two years before. We were united and felt that together we could do anything. We reasoned that if we could live in Japan and successfully deal with all the trials that came our way while in the Navy, we could do anything.
SERVICE IN THE NAVY MADE MY LIFE BETTER
I have always felt that I received more from the Navy than I gave. While in the Navy I got to see much of Asia, I received the GI bill which paid for my undergraduate degree in theology, and a VA loan helped me buy two houses. But even more than the tangible benefits of being in the Navy, being overseas, poor, away from familiar resources helped us to build a relational foundation which has led to the best possible marriage. It was also while in the Navy that I discovered my calling as a minister of the gospel, although I didn’t realize it at the time.
Today many people have thanked me for my service, and I politely say thank you. However, it was really the Navy, and the generosity of the US government, which had served us.
We read in Hebrews 12:7, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father.” And four verses later we read, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Every year on November 11th I reflect on, and celebrate, a wonderful marriage and thank God He brought Debbie into my life. I also celebrate the discipline that God brought into my life that didn’t seem pleasant at the time, but produced something far more beautiful than I could have imagined.
I pray that today as you think about your hardships and trials, you would thank God that He is treating you as his child. I also pray thatthe disciple you are experiencing, while not pleasant, will produce a harvest of peace and righteousness.
