President’s Pen: July 2023

New beginnings…

In the military world we so often find ourselves in new surroundings. Every assignment is an opportunity for a new beginning and a chance to reinvent ourselves. Were you a gung-ho volunteer at the last base? You can take a knee at the next assignment and opt out of volunteer gigs. Kids loved their school at your previous duty location? Maybe you homeschool or substitute teach at the new place. We have hundreds of new decisions to make every time we move and our choices define our new experiences.    

Yet those are not the only new beginnings we face in life. Our identity as Christians opens the door for daily, hourly, and moment by moment new beginnings. This is only possible when we focus our hearts and minds on the power of Christ in us. Our flawed human nature can only be redeemed by His love and sacrificial gift of eternal life. This is our hope and inspiration to look at each new day as a new beginning.

Surely, the enemy will attack our efforts to cultivate deeper faith. The enemy will attack the seeds we sow and try to starve out our harvest with weeds of doubt, or naysayers may question how we are tending our fields. New beginnings are not for the faint of heart. But as the recent gospels have shown us—we are to glory in His power to bring about His plan for us and the world—in spite of our being earthen vessels. Every new beginning is a chance to rest in confidence that God is making a way for us and trust that we need only reinvent our lives after Him.   

I hope you find encouragement for your faith journey in this month’s newsletter. We have many new contributing authors and information about upcoming events. There are also opportunities for you to provide feedback and ideas to inform the board’s strategic planning. 

 Thank you for being the light of Jesus to our military community far and wide,

In Christ,

Bevin