Only Eight Weeks...

...to make an impact for the Lord on my fellow Coast Guard recruits and Company Commanders, to shine the light of the Gospel in a dark place, to have the attitude of Christ Jesus as I give my best in all I do, and to be a witness of the transforming beauty and power of the cross.

Tomorrow I embark upon an eight-week adventure, which marks the beginning of my service in the Coast Guard. Boot camp will be hard and challenging, but it is only eight-weeks...eight weeks and it will all be over. I will be a Coastie, heading to a new duty station where I'll meet new challenges (hard, fun, exciting, difficult, etc.) that will stretch me. In such a short time (even though it may seem like an eternity at the moment), boot camp will be behind me...it's only eight weeks.

But a good friend challenged me to look at it in a different light---to look at it through Christ's eyes. I only get eight weeks to make an impact on the people that I'll come in contact with; only eight-weeks to be a witness of my precious Lord and Savior; and only eight-weeks to make much of Him through my actions and attitudes at Cape May, New Jersey. I am an ambassador of Christ, and He is the one who has placed me in Coast Guard boot camp for such a time as this. I thank and praise Him that I get eight weeks to serve and glorify Him in Cape May, New Jersey. An exciting, challenging adventure is just about to begin in my life---God is with me and He will strengthen me to shine for Him.

Thank You, Lord, that I get eight-weeks of boot camp---eight-weeks to point others to the Living God.