In just a few days I will be celebrating 21 years since I retired from the Army. I have, without a doubt, the best retirement date ever! 01-01-01. 01-01-01 was a Monday. I put on my uniform on the last day of the last year of the last millennium and preached what I thought would be my last sermon in an Army chapel. Later that evening the bride and I hosted a retirement party in our home and at 2100 (9 pm for you US civilian types) and 0000 in Washington, DC, we stopped the party and I played the National Anthem on the stereo. I saluted our guests, grinned, and called the man who had been my commander by his first name.

(My time with the Army didn’t end then. Little did I know the US would enter into a protracted war in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9-11, and the Army would recall me to three years active duty to serve as a chaplain in the Warrior Transition Battalion (what the Army used to call Medical Hold) at Fort Lewis some seven and one-half years later.)

On 01-01-01 I thought my Army career was over and done, and I wasn’t happy about it! In the summer of 1999, I was called into the Installation Chaplain’s office and told I had not been selected for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. I can still feel the cold wave that swept over me! I could not believe it! I had jumped through every loop, been a team player taking up the slack for men who weren’t as committed to the mission as was I, and some of them were selected and I was kicked aside. I was mad at the Army and even madder (is that a word?) at God. He had let me down!

At least I thought God had disappointed me. Some of the most important points in our lives can only be seen in retrospect. It’s when we pause and look at where God has led, that we can get a glimpse of why he has done as he has done.

I was passed-over the second time in 2000 and immediately received notification that I could either voluntarily retire at the end of that year or I would find myself retired involuntarily. Either way, I was going to move from the active list to the retired list within 120 days! And again, I was really mad at the Chief of Chaplains – his office never even bothered to contact me about this mandatory retirement. I thought I would be able to finish out twenty years as a major. Nope. Because I had eight years prior enlisted service in the Navy, the Chaplain Corps was going to count that towards my twenty and I was history. Now I was really disappointed with God! He wouldn’t even let me finish out my twenty commissioned years! I must really be on his Naughty list!
That’s how I felt on 01-01-01 when I lost my identity as an Army chaplain.

But, before I go any farther, God does not disappoint his children! Oh, like any child, we might think he isn’t acting in our best interest – and really, doesn’t God act with eternity in mind? So enough of the whining! Let me tell you how wonderful this mandatory retirement has been for me and my family.

Had I been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, I would not have stationed at Fort Lewis with the 555th Engineer Group (Brigade) and my second-born would not have met the woman he married twenty years ago, and they would not have begotten five of the most wonderful children the world has ever known. Not only that, but our third-born would not have added a daughter to my family who is a delight to this old man’s heart and with whom he would not have brought two boys into this world who will grow to manhood and take their place in God’s kingdom. Are you starting to see where this is going? What was bitter disappointment initially has given me blessings I could not have imagined. I have two daughters and seven grandchildren whom I love more than life itself that I would not have had if the Army hadn’t “kicked me to the curb.”

But the family is only the beginning. Retirement brought opportunity for ministry in ways that would not have been possible otherwise. Gwen and I spent four years, two in Korea and two in Germany, serving as directors of military support centers. We provided a home environment for soldiers and their families; conducted worship services and retreats, and even established an international English-language church in Germany during our time there. (As a bonus, our eldest was stationed in Korea when we were there and we got to be at the Army hospital in Seoul for the birth of our first granddaughter!) We formed many friendships during those years that continue to this day, and it’s all because God “disappointed” me with a failed promotion.

As long as I’m talking (writing) of the ministry that came my way after retirement, I can’t omit the many Holland America Line cruises where we served as the onboard Protestant chaplain. I didn’t keep track of the number of worship services I led on those ships, but the highlight was leading midnight worship for the Christian crew members on Sunday nights after they would end their shifts. Never would have happened if God hadn’t disappointed!

Sometime after my return to retired status after those three years at the WTB, we found a church here where we retired and I have been blessed by serving as an elder and teacher. Why, God hasn’t disappointed at all!

Let me tell you of what is for me of even greater spiritual significance – if it is possible to prioritize God’s mercies. Going into retirement at the ripe old age of 54, I didn’t quite know what to do with the rest of my life. (I’ve told you the wonders God performed but I didn’t know they were coming.) But I found myself thirsty for a deeper knowledge of God. I worked 6-7 days a week while in the Army and had little time or interest in deepening my understanding of God and his Word other that which I gained week by week in my preaching ministry in the chapel. But now I was thirsty and had the time to quench my thirst. I “discovered” James Montgomery Boice, R.C. Sproul, and Alistair Begg and their online broadcasts. Did I ever grow deeper into the Lord! Boice’s series on John and Romans caused me to see Christ and his means of saving men with greater clarity than ever I could had I remained on active duty.

So what if the Army didn’t love me as much as I loved the Army? That’s just OK. As the scripture says, sorrow is but for a night; joy comes in the morning. What I thought was for my hurt, God intended for my good. Looking back over these 21 years since that mandatory retirement, nothing but good has come to me because I was not selected for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. And if I’m brutally honest with myself, I wouldn’t have enjoyed LTC or COL. God made me more prophet than priest. I can do the administration, but God called me to preach not arrange the deck chairs.