Double Time, Marine Corps!

My friend Jasen came to visit me from Tampa, Florida. I have not seen him in about 5 years. We have known each other since the 9^th grade so if you want to hear stories about me he is the go-to man. A lot has changed since we have known each other. Jasen was one of those kids who joined the Marine Corps the day he graduated high school. However, his boot camp experience was different from many other recruits. Around the 5^th week of training, he dislocated his knee, which turned what normally would be a three-month stay in boot camp to an eight-month stay. Jasen was given the option of getting a medical discharge. Rather than accepting the discharge (which many would have done), he would wake up in the middle of the night to strength his knee by doing squats and lunges. Jasen would place an alice pack on his back and do exercises with it. The only way he would have made it out of MRP (Medical Recruit Platoon) was by passing the fitness test. Before the fitness test, he heavily taped his knee and ran the three miles with it swollen. He passed the run and was able to continue boot camp. Fast-forward a year later. I needed money for college and was thinking about going into the military. I was going to walk into the Army recruiter’s office when Jasen convinced me to join the Marine Corps. We joke that we have not seen each other for 5 years was because he tricked me into joining the Corps. Jasen always bust my chops because he saved all my letters I sent him. He came to my boot camp graduation and witnessed my senior drill instructor standing at 6’ 7” weighing in at 275 pounds. Since I was one of the smaller recruits, I would often be choked slammed if somebody else messed up.

Since our Marine Corps days, Jasen has gone on to be an amateur body builder and owner of his own fitness clinic where he has trained pro athletes in major sports and ultimate fighters. I know, it sounds a little bit more exciting than going to seminary. Anyway, every time we hang out together he almost talks me into reenlisting because we have the same warrior spirit inside of us. Warrior spirit or stupidity, I am not quite sure. While Jasen was here for the week, I often took him to the church and Woodland Park. Last Wednesday we combined puppy evangelism with Marine Corps evangelism. Rocky, my boxer pup, made a new friend name Lela who is a basset hound. We started talking to Lela’s mom and found out her dad was a retired Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps. Reaching the rank of Sergeant Major is difficult because it is the highest rank of an enlisted person. We got into why Jasen and I joined the Marine Corps and exchanged a few stories. It gets weirder when we find out her boyfriend is an ultimate fighter and she is a boxer. Jasen was able to carry the conversation further than I could have. It was cool to see how diverse the people are at Woodland Park. I do not think it was a coincidence that Jasen and I met this young woman together. I tell myself not to be surprised when I see God at work.