Throughout
all of my teenage years I had one ambition, a strong desire to be a United
States Marine and serve my Country in a uniform. This desire must have started
while I was very young and knowing that I was too young to enlist in the
regular armed forces, I moved to do the next best thing I could think of, which
was to join the local National Guard. When I was but fifteen years old I
proceeded to prepare a birth certificate showing me to be seventeen and
enlisted in the Army National Guard.
While I was
approaching my seventeenth birthday, I made plans to enlist in the Marine Corps
just as soon as I turned seventeen. On November 21st of 1952, on my
seventeenth birthday, I was waiting outside of the Marine Corps recruiting
office, waiting for the door to open so I could enlist. Something I had been
looking forward to for such a long time.
At that time
I was living in Paducah Kentucky with my Mother and Stepfather. Before moving
there with them, I had met my present wife, but had only known her for a week
or two. I can say with all probability, not really long enough for much of a
relationship to develop. The reason I say that will become relevant as I
explain more of what came about.
So on my
seventeenth birthday I went through all the necessary things required to join
the Marine corps. Just a few days later, I received a phone call that was
instrumental in changing the course of my life. This became the life
changing moment and was the most unforgettable day of my life. To
this day I regret what had happened and what I had previously done to cause
this day to be what it was.
The phone
call was from the United States Marine Corps recruiter informing me that they
were unable to accept my enlistment. This was a day that just shook me to the
core and all hopes and dreams just vanished before my eyes knowing that I would
not be able to fulfill what my desire had been for years.
After that
had happened, I decided to return to Jeffersonville to live with my
Grandparents. This presented the opportunity to renew the relationship with the
girl who was to be my wife. Unlike our first period of courting, which only
lasted a couple of weeks, we continued dating which gradually blossomed into a
more meaning relationship which resulted in us getting married about two months
later. Thus we proceeded on our life together, raising a family and are still
married after these almost sixty years.
Now we will speculate
on the course that my life might have taken if I had been accepted into the
Marine Corps when I enlisted in Paducah Kentucky. If this would have taken
place it probably would have meant a long period of time before I would return
to Jeffersonville and the initial relationship with my present wife very
probably would not have evolved into what it had done. Since we had only known
each other for a couple of weeks before I left for Paducah, the relationship
between us would have probably cooled off and because of the time which would
have passed, we both might have lost interest in each other.
With some
degree of certainty, I believe that my life would have developed into a
lifetime career in the Marine Corps. This became evident to me as I look back
knowing that even after we were married, I reenlisted in the Indiana Army
National Guard and took very well to being a member of the armed forces. In just six or seven years after being a
member, I advanced through the ranks from an enlisted man to a Sergeant First
Class Grade E-7. This is just an indication of how successful I would have been
in the Marine Corps.
If this path
would have developed after being accepted into the Marines and my wife and I
had not been married, who can say what our lives would have been like, as well
as those who became our children. One could speculate that these children would
never have been born, or at the most would have been born into a totally
different kind of family.
But you see,
I completely believe in the providence of God that He has predestinated each
one of us to be where He wants us to be, to do what He wants us to do in order
for Him to fulfill His plan in the lives of each of us. If my path would have
been different when I was seventeen years old, I probably would have not been
led into the ministry of His Word that He predestinated me to be. The same goes
for each of us, that for His pleasure He has put us where He wants us to be.
What should
we do? Should we say to God: why was I not allowed to fulfill my teenage
desire, why did you bring me into such and such a place in my life when I would
have desired something different? One would say to God: why was I born into
this dysfunctional family when I believe I deserve something better?
Our lives do
not belong to us, they belong to God. He put us where we are to fulfill His
plan, so who are we to question His Judgment and the things in our lives that
He set in motion?
There are
times in every one of our lives when we face a crossroad and the road which we
take could make a Hugh difference in our lives. At times we embark on the road
of which we have no choice because it is made for us. Then there are times when
we choose which road to take. If we take the road which is not God’s will
because we have turned our face from His teaching or instructions, then we find
that we have disobeyed God. We should always ask God what His will is for us
and find the answer in His Word and follow it.
What we
should say is the same thing that Jesus said to the Father when He was faced to
take His place on the cross that God had predestinated for Him to take.
Not my will Father, but
your will be done,
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