Stranded
The Air Force in all of its wisdom decided I needed to be assigned to a northern tier base, so I was sent to F.E. Warren AFB, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There is a saying in the Air Force, "There is no such thing as a bad assignment". Don't mention that to my wife, Ann. She thought we were being sent to Siberia. It turned out to be one of my best assignments according to me.
F.E. Warren is a missile base. It managed missile silos in and around the region. The chaplain's responsibility was to visit the personnel assigned to the silos. Our travel could be as close as Sheridan, Wyoming or as far away as North Dakota, out in the middle of nowhere.
While the visits were routine, they were nothing but routine during the winter. We were required to make a visits with teams of 2. We were required to have winter gear with us. Winter parkas, winter boots, extra heavy duty gloves, and blankets. We were to have enough food and water to last us a week. The thought was you didn't want to get stranded in the middle of a blizzard without an emergency survival kit. In my pea brain I thought, "Who is going to get stranded?". And Oh by the way, it was before the use of cell phones.
On one of our winter trips we did get stranded about 30 miles from Fortuna, North Dakota. My first prayer was, "Oh God what are we going to do now?" The temperature was hovering around 15-20 degrees below zero. No houses, no gas stations, no towns.
God had a way of getting my attention. I wasn't a praying person until then. Since I am writing this I did survive.
This winter has been an especially cold winter. It has brought back memories of nearly freezing to death near Fortuna. Fortunately we had what we needed to survive. We were required to be prepared.
In my faith I don't leave home without being prepared spiritually. I take God with me. Whatever mess I get myself into, with the help of God I find a way out because I allow Him to lead me.
If you find yourself stranded, remember God provides survival gear, in His promise, His faith in you, and a never ending love that is always with you. You can rely on Him for that. Because He loves us we are never stranded.
F.E. Warren is a missile base. It managed missile silos in and around the region. The chaplain's responsibility was to visit the personnel assigned to the silos. Our travel could be as close as Sheridan, Wyoming or as far away as North Dakota, out in the middle of nowhere.
While the visits were routine, they were nothing but routine during the winter. We were required to make a visits with teams of 2. We were required to have winter gear with us. Winter parkas, winter boots, extra heavy duty gloves, and blankets. We were to have enough food and water to last us a week. The thought was you didn't want to get stranded in the middle of a blizzard without an emergency survival kit. In my pea brain I thought, "Who is going to get stranded?". And Oh by the way, it was before the use of cell phones.
On one of our winter trips we did get stranded about 30 miles from Fortuna, North Dakota. My first prayer was, "Oh God what are we going to do now?" The temperature was hovering around 15-20 degrees below zero. No houses, no gas stations, no towns.
God had a way of getting my attention. I wasn't a praying person until then. Since I am writing this I did survive.
This winter has been an especially cold winter. It has brought back memories of nearly freezing to death near Fortuna. Fortunately we had what we needed to survive. We were required to be prepared.
In my faith I don't leave home without being prepared spiritually. I take God with me. Whatever mess I get myself into, with the help of God I find a way out because I allow Him to lead me.
If you find yourself stranded, remember God provides survival gear, in His promise, His faith in you, and a never ending love that is always with you. You can rely on Him for that. Because He loves us we are never stranded.
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