Kool Aid Experience

I wanted to say thank you for the hug and the kiss. I needed it! This past year has been an emotional roller-coaster, making it difficult to keep a clear mind. And your brotherly embrace came at a time when I was teetering with the thought is the Army the place where I am called to serve. I know you warned me about drinking the Kool-Aid, but somehow I drank a few cups, okay maybe a gallon. And Based on the evaluation of the others of what makes a great officer, I became upset that as cadets we were all seen as equals, except for those who were generationalist Salvationist. I started to think how can my experience and education be devalued, compared to others (it was and oblivious sign of pride on my part).
However, I was harshly reminded this

past week why I am here, as I heard the news about one of my teens. After I had left as the youth pastor of this church in Pleasant Grove, one of the teens in the youth group became addicted to meth. He spent eight as an addict and his body had sustained internal damage due to the constant drug abuse. The week before he died, he went to see the pastor of the church I worked at, asking if he would help him get his life together. They prayed and the pastor said he would start discipline him one on one. A week from when they were supposed to meet the young man went inside his friend’s house sat down and passed away. At the time of his passing the young man clean but his abuse of drugs and failure to maintain his diabetes caused his body to fail. The pastor I spoke with said, “He came here to see me so he could get right with the Lord.” This story is not surprising to me, it was the reality that I lived; it is the reality that many live where I was raised. I forgot this and in turn forgetting the purpose for which I was called, to save souls and in the words, of William Booth, “Go for the Souls and Go for the Worst.”
Therefore, I was reminded that it is God the great orchestrator who has placed me here. He took my life experience to open my eyes to the suffering of the world. And equipped and gifted me with talents to be utilized in The Salvation Army. God’s plan for me to be part of The Salvation Army was set in motion before my knowledge of The Army.
I know I have taking a long time to say thank you. But it because your embrace gave me encouragement.