From Pastor Ted Hambrick:

"Gomer Joins the Army"

It's been a long time ago, when the bus from the classification center delivered us to Bravo 1,1. It was my company area where I would be trained to be a Solider in the U S Army. I was a naïve 19 year old from down in Wilkerson Hollow in Joelton, Tennessee. Everybody knows that in Tennessee we practice Southern hospitality. I think I grinned ...and spoke to everybody I met on the street, as a matter of fact everybody did. Now I was in the Army and my southern hospitality wasn't ready for the men with the Smokey the Bear hats that were standing waiting for our bus to stop. I knew that there would be a Drill Sergeant, but I kind of thought we would be assigned one, and we'd kind of follow him around learning about being a soldier. When the bus stopped and the door opened, three of the drill Sergeants stormed on the bus, shouting at us, calling us names and ordering us to get off the bus. And they yelled and shouted at us all the way to the barracks. As a matter of fact, they yelled at us the whole time we were there.

That same day they lined us up and began to teach us how to march. I learned that there were two different kind of lefts, my left and the Military left, and most of the time they were not the same. The Drill Sergeant always insisted we use the military left. There was a special moment when I realized who I was. We were marching and I noticed that everybody, but me was out of step. My Drill Sergeant looked back at me and I saw fire in his eyes. He got right behind my ear and screamed at me. I thought, “I've seen this before.” It was the same way Sergeant Carter yelled at Gomer Pyle. I thought to myself, “I'm Gomer!! That's exactly who I am. I'm a Gomer! When I laughed, it made the drill Sergeant shout louder.

One thing that this Gomer could do was run. After a few weeks of training I had the stamina to run. One day we were on the rifle range and we were ordered to run back to our barracks several miles away. After we had run 1 or 2 miles, soldiers began to quit and fall out, but we were ordered to keep running. After several miles, we came to a big hill that the troops had a special word of endearment describing it. I will not be sharing that word with you. More soldiers fell out, but I kept running. I began to make wise cracks about those who fallen out and made remarks about those who looked as if they were about to drop.

Then I decided to show off, I turned around and started to run backwards making fun of the others. I hadn't gone far before my feet slipped out from under me and I fell flat on my back. I lay on the ground moaning, everybody laughed at me as they looked down at me and ran past. The drill Sergeant, my friends; everybody laughed. I figured if I hadn't been such a jerk, somebody would have offered me a hand up, instead they just laughed.

The Bible teaches us to: “Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you.” It's a principle that really works in life. If you want kindness, be kind. If you want compassion, be compassionate. If you want to be loved, be loving to others.
Want a helping hand up when you fall? Give a helping hand!

Sincerely,

Dear Church Family, Friends, and New Friends:

I work at home and don't see a lot of people. I do have my posse: that's my dogs Jairy and Bart. Jairy's a lab and Bart is a Chihuahua. Bart often spends his day in my lap as I work on my ...computer. Jairy guards me from the sleeping position at my feet. When I get up maybe to go to the refrigerator, we all go to the refrigerator. I'll stand there with the door open surveying my possibilities and when I look down, Jairy and Bart are doing the same.

Sometimes we need some exercise and Jairy likes to retrieve a ball. He will bring the ball back as long as I will throw it, with one exception. If a squirrel happens to run from his tree, Jairy will stop in mid-stride and chase the squirrel. It's like he has this disconnect in his brain when he sees a squirrel. I call it squirrel alert. Squirrel!!!! You can yell, plead, threaten, baby talk. Nothing works as long as the squirrel alert is sounding. The squirrel has his full attention.

A few days ago I was at Wal-Mart with Patty. We were in the wide isle behind the registers, passing the women's clothes. She was telling me a story about something that had happened at work. I, as a good husband was dutifully listening, wondering if the story had a point. Suddenly in mid sentence, she stopped, turned, I'm sure I heard the word “SQUIRREL.” Maybe not, but it sure seemed like it. Patty stopped and said, “Would you look at this, I can't believe the price.” We didn’t buy it and we proceeded on our way and she continued her story. Suddenly, “SQUIRREL!!” She saw another bargain! There we went again, diving into the woman’s section.

After thinking about my discovery, I wondered if we all have a SQUIRREL alert: the alarm that goes off inside of us when we see something that we just love. I thought about mine. I could only think of one. If I see a nice 50's model Chevrolet pick-up, my brain shuts off and I want to see it and talk trucks. “Squirrel!”

Then I realized a lot of people have a squirrel alert in their walk with the Lord. Things are going fine, and you're growing and enjoying the Lord's presence, then seemingly out of nowhere, “SQUIRREL!!!” Your attention is diverted to something else. I don't mean it is always a major offense, just something that takes your attention away from the Lord. For some it's a football game, “SQUIRREL!!” You can't miss the play-offs. For others it’s career, others family, for others it’s problems.

Whatever it is, you're taking the focus off of the Lord and directing it to something of far less importance. I don't know if we are born with a “SQUIRREL ALERT,” but I do know that we need to be aware that if Satan can redirect us, half his battle is won.

Praying for each of you.