OCS Begins...

It is Saturday night, 31 May 2008, and I am less than 24 hours away from starting the journey of officer candidate school. I checked in on Friday and it was a bit of a difficult experience as I had to take of my stripes as a noncomissioned officer and put on the rank of officer candidate. The course will be difficult because of the fact that so much of what we will be doing will be dictated by the members of our class. It will be both physically and mentally challenging, but I am looking forward to it.

Please pray for me on Tuesday as I will be taking the Army Physical Fitness Test; that is our first major challenge and it will play a large role in our order of merit list which is what will be used to choose our branch.

God is good and I am trying my best to witness to everyone I come in contact with. Please pray for the people that are not saved in my class that the Holy Spirit would soften their hearts to the Gospel and that He would provide opportunities for me to show them who Jesus really is...our Lord and Savior!

I love you all and thank you for your support and prayers.

A Soldier For Christ,
Will

Ft. Benning, GA

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I am here at Ft. Benning, GA and things are going pretty well. I am in an inprocessing company with a bunch of other soldiers who are getting ready for training as well. Things are pretty low key here which is nice. God has been at work and showing me the type of ministry that I will have while I am here. I have already met several other Christians and together we have been hard at work witnessing to our fellow soldiers and letting them know about the love that Christ has for them.

I think that I will go to OCS this week, probably Thursday...and start my class on the following Monday.

Thank you all for you prayers and I ask that you continue to lift up Danae and the girls as they have a harder task than I do. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Ft Benning, GA

Well, Will has made it safely to Ft Benning and has completed most of his inprocessing. He is off for Memorial weekend and will not continue with anything till Wednesday. He has his cell phone if anyone wants to call him and chat. He is hoping to ship to his Officer Candidate (OCS) training sight by Wednesday. He is doing well, and I will post an address as soon as I get one. Maybe as early as next week.

We are doing great. Lots of changes and challenges for the girls, but God is great and His grace is sufficient for us for all times. Thank you for your calls and emails. It's is helpful to be busy and have lots of stuff planned.

Danae

Officer Candidate School

Today I finished up my initial entry processing into the Active Army and got sworn in. I fly out tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. and I'm off to Fort Benning, GA for the next 14 weeks.

I don't know all what my training will entail, but I can imagine that it will be somewhat rigorous to begin with. Most of the people I will be training with will have a grand total of 2 months in the Army...so I imagine the initation process will still be in effect. It doesn't bother me though, I know that this training is designed to help me lead soldiers in combat and save lives.

Today was also a great blessing as I got to share the Word of God with some of the Army's newest soldiers. The Gideons came in and gave us all Bibles and I was able to share some key verses that helped me through basic training with them. Verses like 2 Timothy 2:2-4 and Ephesians 6:10-18.

The time away from my family will be tough; please be in prayer for all of my girls as they will have to adjust to not having Daddy around for a while. There is always a positive side to every situation - in this case being away from my family will only strengthen my reliance upon the Lord and His power to get me through. I couldn't do this without Him, and my heart breaks for those that will be with me that don't know the love of Christ. My prayer is that the Lord will use me to change that part!

Danae will post my address as soon as I send it to her and she will keep the blog updated while I am away. I love you all and will miss you while I'm away.

A Soldier For Christ

Will

Emotional Experience

Today was my last day at Central Valley Baptist Church; it was an extremely emotional day for me. I was overwhelmed by the amount of hugs, cards, gifts, and "God Bless You"s that I got today. Danae and I both are a bit tired after saying "see you later" to so many good friends. I am grateful for the lessons and blessings that God has given me and my family through CVBC, and I know that the Lord had a plan when He brought us to be members here. Danae will continue to attend CVBC until we are reunited and begin our move to our first duty station (wherever that is). We will continue to be members until we can find a good SBC church home at our first duty station.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you Central Valley for all that you have done for me. I will always treasure our service to the Lord together.

A Soldier for Christ

Will

I started a blog

After several requests from friends, I have decided to start a blog. I will be leaving on Tuesday the 20th of May so Danae will keep it updated as to what we are up to while I am gone.

Please continue to pray for us as we follow the Lord's direction in our lives.

Will