As many of you know, I spent almost a year in Afghanistan in active military service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A day like today a year ago I was home on R&R. Then I left and five days later had to return to attend my father's funeral.They in the military warned me that going to war was going to be a life-changing event for me and for my family, and they weren't wrong. These few months since my return - gee, that was back in February but it still feels it was like last week - have been, well, interesting.
One the many things going to war taught me is how to put many things in perspective. Suddenly, many things to which I attached a lot of importance became insignificant whereas others reacquired a new shine: family, friends, home, tranquility and of course, God.
Though I can't tell you that I am completely stress and worry free, I can tell you that I've learned to put many things, more than ever before, into our good Lord's hands. Furthermore, things for which I had developed an unconcious neurotic attachment or which I approached in a perfectionistic manner, POOF! Disappeared. Praise the Lord!
Let us learn to keep the number of important things in our lives very few and for the rest, trust in God. Don't sweat the small stuff. Look upon the Cross and the one on it and get your perspective and reorient your universe from the Cross; let the Cross of Christ be your north star.
