So that’s Christmas done … it’s the time for resolutions now … so easy to make, but so hard to keep for many of us! The decision to keep going with it can be hard, but we all have hard decisions to make don’t we? Which reminds me of a decision making meeting on a warship in the Caribbean in the mid 90s ….…
The WIGS deployment as it was known (West Indies Guard Ship) had been, up till this point, a complete ‘jolly’. Swanning around the West Indies for 6 months showing the flag and visiting idyllic islands every weekend, enjoying hands to bathe (stop the ship and jump off the side for a swim), Flight Deck BBQs and getting a ridiculous sun tan … but things were changing. Drug smuggling in the region was on the increase and we were getting more and more involved with other Navies and coastguards working together to combat the smuggling as best we could. But we were making the rules up as we went really, they were using what we called ‘go fasts’ very small boats with ridiculous outboard motors on which could do over 40 knots .. which was faster than we could go … but not faster than a Lynx helicopter!
We had come across one of these ‘go fasts’ and had been tracking it for a while, but it was just keeping itself out of range of the ship, so we could not stop and board. Our ‘Rules of Engagement’ at that time were very strict, and we were not allowed to engage it to force it to stop (later on we used to carry Royal Marine snipers who could put a bullet in the engines, then we could board, but that was a while away yet…). So there were a few of us sat in the operations room with the Captain having an informal chat about ways to stop this thing without shooting at it! The helicopter had been flying over it trying to get it to stop but they weren’t having any of it! So we decided that we needed to drop something on it … that wasn’t shooting was it? The first idea was drop a beer barrel on it from the helo and that would go straight through the boat and sink it … hmm (and anyway we didn’t want to waste a full barrel) . Then someone suggested dropping a cargo net (or scrambling net) in front of it in the hope that it would go over it and would snag its propellers thus forcing it to stop …. Did we go for it? Difficult decision for the Captain … there was this boat with visible bags of drugs (probably cocaine) and we were powerless .. we did actually drop a net, but it didn’t work and that go fast got away … thankfully the rules of engagement changed, and since then the RN has been part of many major drug busts in the area …
For me prayer is a major part of decision making … (before you ask, no I did not actually ask the Captain if we could ask God to help us stop the go fast … but i’m sure I sent up a quick personal prayer for him to help us all). And that’s the key, prayer is simply talking to God, thanking him for who is, what he has done for us (you can start with food / shelter / family / friends etc etc … whatever you are thankful for !!) and then asking for his help. In Church services we use written prayers, which help many people, but prayer is a conversation with God, involving him in your life on a daily basis. We all too often just give him a list of what we want, without listening to what he is actually saying to us – conversation is two way (my wife told me to say that …. ) (joke)! God gives us replies to our prayers in so many ways, normally it’s not through hearing an actual voice, it’s through circumstance, or its just blatantly obvious but its often via other people. People often say to folk in Church ‘speak to the big man for me’ .. that’s great and its brilliant to be able to pray for other people and ask God to help etc but he actually wants you and me to talk to him direct …
So at the start of this New Year, when you are facing difficult decisions why not ask someone at the mens group or church to pray, … but don’t forget you can talk to God yourself .. give it a go…..
Image Credit: Simon Paps

Christmas. Not long to go now, how are your preps going? It all seems to start earlier and earlier each year, doesn’t it?
Christmas is for many a time to spend with family, but for many folk it can be a very difficult period when that can’t happen for a whole lot of reasons. Whilst in the Navy I spent quite a few Christmasses away from home … the first one was way back and we were down in the Falkland Islands. We were at anchor and I remember it was freezing cold, and my mate had to go up the main mast on Christmas morning to fix a radar aerial. So, in the true caring spirit of Christmas, the entire mess (50 odd of us) wanted him to share in the celebrations, so we all came out onto the Flight Deck, pints in hand and raised our glasses to him working away … thankfully his response was carried away by the wind. Another memorable Christmas away we were alongside in Dubai, and most of us had taken our presents from family with us when we deployed in October. I opened mine in the morning then decided to go for a run (as you do when alongside in Dubai on Christmas day). In one box from my wife I had noticed a kit-kat … now, we hadn’t seen them on board for a while … so after my run I settled down to a nice cuppa and a kit -kat … took the wrapper off and it was made of rubber … (as Helen said, do you really think I would have sent you a chocolate bar when its so hot in the Gulf?).
But the most vivid memory of a Christmas away has to be Christmas at the end of 1994. The Bosnian crisis was at its height really, and we were deployed as part of the NATO forces, spending many hours sat 12 miles off the coast enforcing the no fly zones and looking out for small boats etc carrying arms and fighters. We spent a lot of time at Defence watches (heightened readiness) and went to action stations on several occasions. But we had 3 days standoff over Christmas. There was a simple choice, go to anchor in a safe area nearby for 72 hours or sail full speed up the Adriatic and go alongside in Trieste for 24 hours. We did the latter. The thought process being at least we can get into a bar, have a meal ashore and make the all important phone calls home (this was before mobiles and satellite phones!). So off we went.
When we arrived in Trieste it was shut. Completely. Not a bar or restaurant was open. Anywhere. And there were two public phone boxes in the dockyard. Great. So, there were huge queues for the phones, BUT everyone did manage to call home at some point during the visit. What it did do was make us all very aware that actually all we really wanted to do was be in touch with family and friends, and if that meant queuing with 280 other guys for ten minutes on the phone it was worth it! Of course we then had to make our own entertainment, had a carol service, a few beers on board etc etc. Some may have thought we would have been better off going to anchor and having more ‘down time’ … but those phone calls were a real morale boost at that time of year. (Although a pizza in a nice little bar would have been a lovely bonus).
What is important about Christmas to you? What are you looking forward to? Beer? Wine? Presents? Re runs of “It’s a wonderful life’? Or is it about those closest to you? For me, as a Christian, yes it is about family and friends (although this year most of our family will be elsewhere) (and the odd beer) but its also about the ‘traditional’ reason for Christmas … to remember the story of Jesus coming to earth for us. Now, don’t get me wrong I love the story of angels, sheep, donkeys, kings and shepherds but actually if we are not careful that can distract us from the central truth of Christmas, which is this … God sent his son to sort us out! As humankind we had moved so far away from Gods plan for us that there was only one option left … Jesus had to come and die in our place so that we could be made right with God. That process started at Christmas, and ended at Easter about 33 years later when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.
So this year in amongst everything else that is going on, maybe spend some time focussing on family and friends (even if it is just a 10 minute phone call or text to the family member you haven’t spoken to for years). Also why not have a think about how it all started in the first place … (Clues in the name … CHRIST mas). Have a look at what is going on in Church .. and maybe, just maybe pause and reflect on the bigger picture!
Image Credit: Annie Spratt

Ever feel like you are going round and round in circles? Re-inventing the wheel? (I know we always used to dread a new Captain joining the ship because very often we would have to go through the ‘lets try this new idea’ stage … something that we had tried and binned several times under the previous boss … but hey ho …). But it can be so frustrating when you just keep going round and round not making any progress …
We were alongside in Piraeus, the port for Athens of course, a great visit and a great run shore, with lots of ‘culture’ alongside the more traditional sailors haunts of course … (not that I would ever frequent those places) (too often). Anyway, we were alongside, so as usual at secure I went for a run … I had looked at the local tourist maps which had been dropped off in the mess, and sorted a rough route in my head. It wasn’t that hard really, as the Port is on a sort of spit of land on the outskirts of Athens itself. So, in theory, off the ship, out the dockyard, follow the main road, cut across inland, pick up the coast and follow it all the way back round to the port. What is difficult about that? I estimated it at about 6 miles … no problem, back in time for scran and ashore before the gangway closed for the Officers Cocktail party (CTP) … normal first day alongside routine for me!
So off I went. It was quite warm, but not too bad, so not taken any water, after all it was only 6 miles. After about half an hour I had not reached the coast, and beginning to think I had gone wrong. So I asked at a small café how to get back to the port via the coast road. What seemed like some fairly simple directions followed, so off I went. After about another half hour … still no coast … and …. yup, back at the same café. Ah. Not going well, this time someone else gave me directions, and off I went … honestly, 20 mins later .. same café. Much hilarity amongst the locals … while I was starting to feel A. Knackered, B. Embarrased and C. Annoyed. Try again … this time it slotted into place and I found the coast … when I eventually found the ship in the yard I had been out for well over 2 hours … and of course not used to that distance at that stage in the deployment! BUT to add to my misery the important guests were now arriving for the CTP and the gangway was closed … thankfully the 2nd in command saw me sitting alongside a container on the jetty waiting and felt sorry for me (out of character) and let me back on board …
Life can often seem like we are just going round the same thing, same daily routine, same drudgery at work, or at home, a bit like the film ‘Groundhog day’ really … even as a Christian life can seem like that. Church is the same every week, sing a few hymns, say a few prayers, listen to a boring talk that bears no relevance to anything at all and then drink lukewarm tea out of a green china mug whilst pretending you want to be there when actually you would rather be in the pub talking with your mates. But I don’t reckon life or Christianity is meant to be like that is it? In the Bible it records Jesus as saying this … ‘I came so you can have real and eternal life, more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed of’. Now that’s a pretty bold statement … but for me it’s been true … it doesn’t mean that God is going to give you loads of ‘stuff’, but that life will take on a new meaning, there will be a point to it, a new hope and purpose … you won’t spend quite so much time going round and round in circles asking for directions from the same café like some complete plonker much to the hilarity of the locals …
So if you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian and feel that you are just treading the same old path day in day out with no real purpose or motivation, never seem to be getting anywhere why not investigate the claims of Jesus for yourself? Have a chat with a Christian mate, or drop us an E mail at the CVM office. If you are a Christian and you feel that it’s just the same old thing day after day, there doesn’t seem to be any ‘joy’ in your relationship with God ie you are not experiencing ‘more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed of’ .. try spending a bit of time alone with God, praying and reading the Bible and ask him to show you where you are going wrong … why you end up back at the same café time aftertime after time … if you listen to the directions properly you will find the right route!!!
Image Credit: Bhavyesh Acharya

It was three days before one of my marathons … I was ‘tapering’ (ie reducing mileage and upping carb intake) .. two gentle miles … a mile from home and I pinged a muscle in my leg. No marathon. ahhhgghhh … all that training, all that prep, all those miles .. literally 3 days before. Disappointed doesn’t cover it! No more comments on this …
We all look forward to stuff, and sometimes we get disappointed when it doesn’t quite pan out as we planned, but I reckon we also have to look beyond our personal disappointments and see the bigger picture … I was serving on HMS Chatham as the Executive Warrant Officer (effectively the RSM on the ship). We were deployed to the Gulf, on a routine 6 month deployment looking out for UK shipping interests etc. We left Plymouth in Oct 2004, due back in March 2005. Our long-term programme had us at sea for Christmas, but alongside in Dubai for New Year. Not too bad (someone had to do it!). We headed through the Straits of Hormuz, looking forward to New Year … when news started to come in about the tsunami that hit the region on Boxing Day.
We were the nearest UK unit to the effected area, down at the other end of the Indian Ocean …. so we waited to be re-tasked. But no orders were forthcoming from the MoD. So we continued with our programme, heading to Dubai. The guys were ready for a bit of a stand-down, let off a bit of steam, so were all looking forward to the run ashore, and would have been very disappointed had it been cancelled. But as we began to see pictures coming in of the devastation we all began to look beyond our run ashore and thinking that we should be getting down there. We went into Dubai, but rather than have a run ashore we stored ship. Big style! Also taking on some extra stores that would be helpful in a disaster relief scenario (we regularly trained for these things). We sailed on New Years Eve, and headed out to sea and back into the Indian Ocean, and when the order to sail to Sri Lanka finally came from the MoD we were already very nearly there! (Gutsy call from the Captain, but it worked!).
On our high speed passage down we saw more and more images of the scale of the disaster. When within range our helo did a recce and the reports and films brought home to us the reality of what we were facing. Having overcome the disappointment of losing the run ashore, there was a growing sense of disappointment and frustration … actually what could we do? The scale was massive, we were one relatively small warship with limited stores and supplies. So in the best traditions of the RN in all these situations we held a Church service the night before we arrived on task off Sri Lanka! In times like these most military men will attend Church services, and the Flight Deck was full as our Chaplain Tommy led the service and prayed for us all … in his talk he said this:
‘I know many of you are wondering what we can do. There is so much that needs doing. Where do we start? I know that all of us will get stuck in, and we will do what we can, where we are, with what we have’.
And that’s exactly what we did, in a small Sri Lankan coastal community called Batticaloa. We cleaned the mud out of the hospital, and had our doctor holding a clinic for mums and kids as that was happening. We put a fence up around an orphanage, we pumped salt water out of wells and provided manpower to shift debris. We also patched up a couple of fishing boats and shifted them back into the water. Our Royal Marine detachment recovered bodies. We worked on electrical power supplies and we played football with the kids! We stayed there for two weeks until other agencies arrived and took over. 280 sailors made a difference.
An incredibly worthwhile and rewarding time, that came out of disappointment and frustration. But it was those words of the chaplains that stuck with me .. when you feel so overwhelmed looking around at the needs in the world or in our local community … all we are called to do is do ‘What we can, where we are, with what we have’ … that may end up in effecting massive global change or it may end up with you knocking on the door of your elderly neighbour to see if they are OK… but surely we should be doing something?
In the Bible we read that when Jesus was murdered, his mates (called the disciples) were confused, disappointed and scared. They had lost sight of the bigger picture that Jesus had spoken about (just as we did to start with on board – more worried about the run ashore!). But once they became aware that the story wasn’t finished, and as Christians believe, Jesus had risen from the dead, that disappointment and fear vanished and they got on with telling others about Jesus. And that continues today, the Church exists to tell this story.
Image Credit: Greg Rakozy

So, the good ideas club was in full swing in the Chief Petty Officers mess on HMS Beaver … it was just after Live Aid, back in the mid-80s, and someone decided they would follow it up with ‘Run the World’ … where everyone would be encouraged to run for charity. We were in the Persian gulf on Armilla patrol, and we thought that it would be a great idea to join in. Have guys running everywhere on the ship at the same time, all around the upperdeck, bridge wings, flight deck … film it and send it to the BBC. Then I stupidly said ‘Why not start with someone running at the top of the main mast?’ – up and down the 6ft diameter radar platform. Good idea … NOT. We would start filming from the helicopter, focused on this bloke running on the radar platform, then pan out to see the ships company running everywhere. So that’s what we did. The resultant film was a masterpiece, started off on me, we all had to run for about 30 mins to ensure they got enough footage. So I ran up and down this 6ft platform ducking under the radar aerial every two steps for half an hour – the cameraman focused on me for 10 seconds, then panned down and I was never seen again. But I kept running. Life can be like that, especially with the Christian faith. Things never get noticed, acts of kindness, things you do for others, prayers that you say that others don’t realise you are saying, but actually that’s what God wants us to be like … he doesn’t want us to stand around spouting off about how good we are or what we have done. Jesus said this ‘Here’s what I want you to do …. find a quiet secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God and you will sense His presence’. I thought that the camera would be on me, so I kept running. It wasn’t, but I kept going – to be honest if I had known I was not in shot I would have stopped running and admired the view from the top of the mast (and probably shouted abuse at the rest of the guys running around below me!). God wants us to keep going with our prayers, with doing good stuff, living a life style that he wants us to even though we KNOW that the camera is not on us.
Lets take an example that is very real to a lot of people these days … pornography. I know that loads of guys (and girls) watch it, but years ago when you had to go to a shop, or watch it on a video it was very difficult to keep it a secret … but now with the internet its so easy to watch hard core stuff on your own. In secret. No-one knows, and I know of loads of Christians who have a problem with watching porn. But no-one knows. The camera is not on them. The wife doesn’t know, the vicar doesn’t know, it can be completely secret. In those quiet places though, that’s where God is. In the secluded places, on our own. Lets put it a different way, a couple of years ago I bought a new car, well a new old one. A 1985 2.8 I Ford Capri. In white. Paid a good price for it. Runs well, looks good. Then I had to send it for its MOT. I took it to my mechanic who restores and race tunes old Escorts for some of the top rally drivers in the UK, so he knows his Fords. He rang me and said that it was a very good example, sound car. It was not like many he sees that look good, but underneath are all rust and filler. Rust buckets. I was chuffed with that. There is nothing secret about it, nothing rusting away under the paint job. That I think is what God wants from us … as a Christian I believe that God has taken all that stuff away and forgiven me for it, BUT and here’s the thing, I’m still a bloke, with all the challenges and temptations of life pulling me in every direction. My Capri is still made of metal and can rust unless I keep on top of it. Like when I was running on the stupidly small radar platform … I didn’t know the camera was off me – so I kept going, but if I’d known …. Have a think about what you do in secret … is it stuff that you are not proud of? Watch porn maybe? Visit Gambling sites? Secret drinking? Why not ask God to sort that out, He will forgive you and then you can start to have no hidden stuff except those times when you are talking with God …. And those times are just between you and God and much better than watching porn, gambling, drinking etc etc.
Which reminds me of when I was in a POs mess where porn always seemed to be on the video (yes, video .. before DVDs!) in the mess. I often had to be up in the middle of the night to fix stuff (I was the ‘command system maintainer’ and it was not THAT reliable) … they never realised that somehow their porn films ended up getting erased in the Video Cassette Recorder when I had been called out over night … what’s done in secret …. Cheers all!

Training going well for my next race. Legs good, breathing good, feeling good. I’ve been having a think back over some of my previous marathons, and was reflecting on the second time I ran the Snowdonia marathon with a mate. This is a tough race, lots of hills and quite a challenge … the second time I managed a time of 4hrs 19 and 54 secs … of course the 54 seconds are important, pushing the time under 4hr 20 makes it sound better. My mate came in er …behind me. But he did a brilliant time and he finished. In previous races they used to list ‘DNF” alongside some numbers. Did Not Finish. Bit depressing that really when you have done all the training and for whatever reason you end up with a DNF. Which reminds me that being a Christian is ultimately knowing that you are going to finish – more on that later. Looking back at myself at Mile 23 I wondered if that was going to happen or whether I was going to just sit at the side of the road, cry like a Royal Marine in a spelling test and give up. But one of the great things about some (not all) marathons is that they give a finishers medal to all who get injured along the way. I like that. If you drop out because you haven’t done enough training maybe you haven’t earnt the medal, but twist your ankle on a carelessly discarded drink cup at a water station … that’s not exactly your fault is it? Life’s like that, if you have any level of faith in God stuff will still come your way that you can’t control … injuries, illnesses etc … that may knock you out for a while … but God being God does not count that against you, in fact he is more interested in how you deal with it than the fact it happens. So even if you do the last few miles in the back of the mini-bus, that finisher’s medal is still waiting for you from God …
Anyway, jumping back to Snowdonia. My mate and I made the mistake of driving the course the night before. Well, I say mistake, it just brought back to me the horror of the course. I had clearly remembered something horrendous occurred at mile 23, but had obviously banished from my mind the long climb at about mile 10. That depressed me seeing it from the car. BUT the worst thing was when we got to the point where the course headed off the main road, I just said to my mate ‘that’s where it goes up that hill, then flattens off’ ‘Doesn’t look too bad ‘. So off we went for a good nights sleep, up early and drove to the start at Llanberis. Now, I know of some Christians who pray that God will give them a car parking space before they enter a busy car park. I must say that I am not one of those sort of Christians … however when we arrived at Llanberis it was evident that we were later than we should have been. No parking spaces to be found from about a mile away from the start. We still drove into the centre, cars everywhere but on the off chance went into a car park as close to the start as possible. Hidden behind a van was … a space. We were not praying about a space, more like dripping and moaning about it …. but God … Makes you think …
We did our warm ups and the gun went. Steady pace up the first climb, moaned like mad at the climb at mile ten, but overall the scenery was amazing and the camaraderie of running the race with so many others was brilliant … enjoyable even! Then came to mile 23. Turned the corner and up the hill, it flattened out just as I remembered, then .. I may have said a vaguely unchristian word as the track continued off road … up and up … ‘Oh Dearie me – I don’t remember this’ thought I. Eventually it did flatten off into the final descent to the finish and that finishers meal (or in fact a slate coaster). You know what? I was so glad that I did not know (or been reminded) quite how bad it was at mile 23. If I had known maybe I would have sacked off the whole thing, or just worried constantly about it and I would have not enjoyed the rest of the run (and I DID enjoy it ) … I am so glad that God doers not tell us what is coming in this life, yes we can make plans, yes we can look forward to stuff, but ultimately we do not know what’s gonna happen the next second, let alone in a years time! If I did I can think of times when I would have probably given up or scrubbed round something or other, knowing what was coming, but having faith in God is being sure that whatever hits us at mile 23 or even tomorrow, God will see us through to the finish line and we will get the finishers medal …. If you don’t have that peace and assurance speak to a Christian mate, drop me an e mail or speak to a friendly (!!??) vicar.

As you get nearer to a race you start ramping up the miles and getting into the longer runs …. . It’s always at this stage that I get worried about getting a slight niggle, or something that could get worse and stop me getting those all too important miles into the legs … I think I would rather actually break my leg at this point … then at least it’s clear-cut. Injuries definitely knock us out of the game, and when I got a sports injury on board ship generally I found my mess mates completely unsympathetic. There was one guy on one ship who smoked 80 ‘tabs’ a day … yup no typo …. eighty. Whenever we used to moan about him forever sloping off to have a tab, he would say that sport was bad for you, and that a sportsman spent more time off work with injuries than he did having a tab in the smoking area on board (affectionately known as the ‘Leper Colony’). Interesting point!
One of the worst injuries I had whilst running, was interestingly not as a direct result of the actual run (like tripping over a ‘ring bolt’ whilst running round the upper deck and twisting my ankle, having an upper deck door opened in my face and nearly breaking my nose or slipping on spilt diesel fuel after a Replenishment at Sea and taking all the skin off my leg falling on the deck – you can see my running track on the photo of HMS Chatham taken in South Georgia). I was running in the RN Cross Country Championships for HMS Collingwood. We were expected to be in the top 3 teams, and I was looking at being one of the top 6 Collingwood runners, thus counting in the overall team points. I suddenly got this massive pain in my chest. I had to stop immediately, sure I’d had a heart attack, but at the same time thinking that’s impossible … I’m really fit! I was sat propped up against a tree holding my chest and a marshal came over (young sailor) who suggested I stay there and not continue running for a bit. Helpful. Thanks for that shipmate. The rest of the field carried on running passed, with the Collingwood guys shouting helpful things like ‘stop loafing’ and ‘get a move on you lazy person of dubious parentage’. After a few minutes the worst of the pain had gone, but I (sensible for me) took a slow walk back up to the sick bay. The Doc did an ECG and made me lie still. He said there was nothing obvious on the ECG and told me to go to the sickbay the following day. I was getting ready to get back on the coach when he changed his mind and put me in an ambulance to hospital to get checked out. Good man because it turned out I had something called Woolf- Parkinson-White syndrome – to do with the electrical pathways in the heart – and totally curable. I’d had it since birth. Many people have it and go through life without it ever causing a problem. So a few weeks later I had a ‘procedure’ and it was all sorted.
Life is a bit like that … bimbling along quite happily and suddenly its all going pete tong – you are stopped in your tracks wondering what on earth has caused it …. could be any number of things, finances, relationships, health, career, addiction … for me thankfully the Doc had the courage of his convictions and got me the expert help I needed. If you are facing something that you can’t see any way through, why not get some help or advice? Like the rest of my team a lot of friends / acquaintances will tell you to ignore it, it’s not a problem, but its always best to speak to a close mate, the Doc, or even the Vicar (!!!) … or of course you can talk to God direct (its called prayer … and you don’t have to go to Church to do it … but it somehow helps to join with others to pray). Sometimes it’s not until you are knocked flat that you start to ask for help. As mates to other guys facing challenges though, can I suggest that we are more like the Doc than the marshal? If you are not sure how to help your mate, get some advice or encourage them to see an expert … don’t just tell them to sit by a tree and hope it all gets better. As a Christian I believe that all of us need to look at how we live our lives and that although following Jesus doesn’t take away all the challenges of life it opens up a comms link to God (who is the ultimate Subject Matter Expert on life) and also a network of support and encouragement through other people who follow Him too – (the people who wander through your area at some unearthly hour on a Sunday morning – not all wearing sandals with socks and singing kum by yah by the way …).
So, I have decided not to pray for a broken leg, but to keep ramping up the miles, watching the beer and crisp intake a bit and look out for other runners who I meet on the canal towpath and offer mutual encouragement … go safe and watch out for ring bolts …

Did anyone watch the Olympics ?? After seeing those guys run I am wondering if it’s about time to hang up my running spikes! However seeing they have about 30 years on me, and that they probably can’t put out a fire on a warship, I may keep going for a few more years! Anyway, I’ve got to keep going till the Autumn, coz I’ve got a race to run. In the last couple of years something has changed for me in my running training. Hills. When I open the front door, I now see hills everywhere. But that should help, because the next race I’ve entered is a 10k trail race in North Wales. And I entered this of my own free will! Plonker. But life is like that sometimes isn’t it? Everything’s going along nicely and all of a sudden circumstances change and you are sat at the bottom of a hill, wondering how you got there! As I said in my previous post I developed this passion for running whilst in the Royal Navy, and thinking about hills reminds me of one of the best, yet somehow worst, but certainly funniest, running ‘dits’ (or stories) … It was during the Balkans conflict, 6 months of joyous ‘defence watches’ (heightened state of readiness) and very few ‘runs ashore’. On the way back to the UK we stopped off at Naples for a few days to give the lads a chance to sink a few tins and maybe enjoy the culture of Pompeii (note the spelling is ‘eii’ NOT ‘ey’ .. but then again I did say culture … culture and Pompey (Portsmouth ..) … hmmm). Three of us decided that we wanted to run up Mount Vesuvius, so we agreed that we would go for it as soon as ‘secure’ was piped on the first day in (in fact it was 1200 … a hard life but someone had to do it!). So we worked out how to get the few miles from the dockyard down to Mount Vesuvius using public transport. However a young Petty Officer had just joined, and had spent 2 years drafted to Naples. He said that he would get hold of the ships transport and drop us off at the base and collect us afterwards and bring us back to the ship. Great stuff! No need to worry about buses or trains.
So we were dropped off and began to run up the hill. He had told us that it was an easy route, straight up the road. After about 20 minutes the road became a track and when it became a pathway we knew we had gone wrong. So we started to retrace our steps. We were nearly back down at the bottom, when we saw some locals sat on a wall. In his best pigeon Italian one of the other guys (in fact he was my boss) said ‘How do you get to the top?’ ‘Que?’ ‘Top – how do we get to the top of Mount Vesuvius?’ ‘Mount Vesuvius???’ ‘Yes’ at which point the local man pointed at another mountain in the middle distance ….. our PO had dropped us off at the base of the wrong hill ….
How did we miss a volcano I hear you ask? Well, we trusted someone we didn’t know well, who had no known track record and in fact made a cock-up (and boy did we let him know he had made a cock-up when we got back on board, having run the few miles back, as we had no money for a bus or even water!!!!)! And that is a great life lesson isn’t it? Who do we trust to lead us … to give us advice on this journey of life? I trusted God with my life over 30 years ago, and can honestly say that He has never dropped me off at the base of the wrong hill! I have had loads of hills to climb but they have always been for a purpose, never the wrong hill! So if you are facing a hill at the moment spend a few minutes asking God if its one he wants you to climb, or whether you have been dropped off at the wrong hill by someone else who thinks they know best. If you are facing the wrong hill its not too late to change direction, and if you sense you are half way up the wrong one then ask a trusted friend for some help and guidance. It may involve retracing your steps and taking a different path – one where God is leading you.

Last time (for those repeat offenders) I talked a bit about my time in the Royal Navy, this time I want to tell you a bit about how that linked in with my being a Christian … Some people who call themselves Christians can remember the date or moment they decided to ‘follow Jesus’, but for some it’s been a gradual journey of discovery.  I was looking through some boxes of papers when we moved up to Chesterfield a few years back, and found loads of stuff including my joining and leaving forms for HMS Fisgard back in 1979, my first pay chit from HMS Collingwood (£124 for a month), my original ‘pay book’, my first Divisional Officers report and loads of other stuff, anyway in amongst this stuff was this:

Hopefully you can read it … its a form I signed when I ‘became a Christian’ whilst at HMS Fisgard … I had no idea of the date, I remember the event, but if I’m honest it was not like St Pauls experience in the Bible, where everything changed instantly on the ‘Damascus Road’… it has been a gradual process ever since then, with ups and downs, challenges and times when I’ve really let God down, but since that moment I have known that God is real, he loves me just as I am, and as a result of that I want to live my life to tell others about him … this whole journey thing was brought into sharp focus by something else I found.

This is a genuine Deputy Sheriffs badge from a bloke I hooked up with when HMS Southampton was alongside in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1984 on our way back from a Falkland Islands patrol. The few days were quite amazing … for example, we were in his unmarked police car, when he said to us ‘anything you guys would like to do?’ … my mate said ‘yeah, I’ve always wanted to get pulled over by the Highway Patrol’ … OK says Pat, and off he went accelerating to over 100 on the highway, we were soon being chased by a couple of motorcycle cops, who pulled us over. Patrick flashed this badge and said ‘these are two Brit sailors who just wanted to be pulled over’ … of course we had a chat, invited the two motorbike cops on board for a beer and that was that. As we arrived with Pat at the gangway one day, we pointed out that he should not bring his gun down the mess … so he opened the boot and casually tossed it in … with the shotgun, rifle, and box of what appeared to be stun grenades. We also were looking to get into a club late one night, but the place was full, and there was a queue … Pat just waltzed us straight to the front of the queue and we were in …. and I have to confess a few beers were consumed during that 5 day period … a classic run ashore, which resulted in me swapping a pair of ‘pussers’ (RN) overalls for his genuine ‘Starsky and Hutch’ style magnetic blue cop light the sort that you stick on the car roof (had an interesting few moments explaining it to a MOD Copper who searched the car one day at the dockyard gate …) … I still have all the memories … but I had completely forgotten about the badge … it brought it all back  …
But its that little card that has served to not only bring back memories of a particular moment back in 1979, but it has highlighted a difference … that badge was great at the time, but I had completely forgotten about it. The physical card too I had forgotten about, but the decision I made that day changed my life ….  although like the badge, I put the card away with other stuff, I could not put Jesus in the box as well … he has journeyed with me all the time .. are you journeying with God every day, or have you put Him in a box of memories up on a shelf somewhere? If so its never too late to take him off the shelf and make him part of your life today …. Don’t hesitate if you want to find out more … contact me at the CVM office or your mate who wears sandals with socks and sings kum ba yah …

Picture the scene; RN warship returning from a 6 month deployment. Ships crew lining the decks, looking looking looking to make that eye contact with loved ones on the jetty. Then I saw her … my wife Helen with our 7 month old son Ben. As I looked I thought ‘blimey .. she’s gone grey since I’ve been away’ so I lifted my cap and pulled at my hair … thinking ‘you’ve gone grey since I’ve been away’ …. Now her entire focus was on Ben, who I had not seen for 6 months except in photos (pre skype). She thought ‘oh that’s nice, he has noticed that Bens hair colour is the same as his’ so she started waving a seven month baby above her head, on the jetty, as the ship came back, shouting ‘It’s yours ! It’s yours!’ meaning the hair colour ….. you can imagine the reaction on the jetty and the ship …
Separation and homecomings are a huge part of service life … and of course I had a fair few during my 28 years in the RN (like the time it was raining heavily when we came back, I had both of our boys in my arms, walked into the ship, slipped and dropped both lads … nice to see you too Dad!). Anyway, why am I telling you all this? I have now moved on from working directly with the military, and sometimes after a change direction in life it’s a good time to reflect back … for most of my time in the Navy I was what saliors call a ‘Bible basher’ ‘God squad’ you know the sort of thing … I learnt that you can’t take yourself too seriously and need to maintain a sense of humour … because as soon as you do something that is perceived to be not very Christian, your messmates are all over you! Like having one beer too many …..
We were alongside in Rhodes doing a handover for the Bosnia patrol during the 90s. My mate was on the ship that we were taking over from, so we agreed to go ashore for a meal. We had a beer in my mess, then walked down the jetty to his mess, while he went to get changed. Well, we never got ashore. Sat in his mess till about 2 in the morning. I then spent about 40 minutes snaking back up the jetty. By the time I reached our gangway the entire duty watch, most of my mess, the second in charge of the ship and numerous others were on the Flight Deck to watch the lesser spotted ‘Church Chief’ (as I was known) come back on board rather the worse for wear .. never before been seen. I was the talk of the ship the following day. But as a Christian we do get things wrong, we slip up, we make mistakes, we have bad days and shout and even on occasion swear … but do you know what? In my time in the Navy, God never once let me down! I never felt him saying to me ‘you are a failure’ … he did say stuff like ‘could do better’ ‘try harder’ and ‘I understand the challenges you face’ (like many of my reports over the years) … but actually he said ‘I like you a lot … in fact I love you just as you are …’
Being ‘God squad’ on board also had its funny moments, mainly revolving around meeting up with Christians and other churches ashore in some foreign port … once when in Barbados we went to a massive Church, about 4000 in the congregation. The guy on the platform welcomed us ‘the guys from the British warship’, which was great. But he then asked one of us to come and ‘bring greetings’ … as I was ‘the leader’ I was stitched up to go and talk. Now anyone who has been to the Caribbean will know, they all dress up in Sunday best for Church. We didn’t. So there was I, making my way to the platform, in shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops (trying desperately to at least get my shorts to cover my knees), when the pastor said ‘here he comes, it’s a shame he didn’t dress for the occasion …’ but the thing I remember about all these occasions is the friendship, welcome and hospitality of Churches and other Christians all around the world. I know it’s a cliché, but I really did have family everywhere I went (not to mention free food and tours around the local area … but that’s not why I met up with these guys honest!!!!).
Apart from visiting other Churches around the world, one of the other things that the RN enabled me to do was run. Lots. In loads of amazing places. But this brought with it some challenges. Over the next few months I will be writing about some of these experiences, and how they relate to life … but for now a couple of short examples. The ship was in La Guira (the port for Caracas). Me and the shipwright (or ‘chippy’) went out for a ten mile run, and as usual the port was in the decidedly dodgy area of town. We came off the ship, out of the port gate and turned right. Looked fine. We were about a mile away from the ship, when chippy said ‘is that gunfire?’. We ran on … then we realised it was getting louder, and as we ran between two apartment blocks it was actually above us … they were shooting at each other across the road … then there was the time we ran up the wrong mountain thinking it was Mount Vesuvius, or getting picked up by the police in Spain while running up a motorway … the list continues. Being a Christian did not make me immune to these things, (in fact most of them were probably my fault … ), and always served to remind me that God does not control me like a robot. He gave me a mind and ‘freewill’ to do stuff my way if I chose, it’s just that sometimes I thought my way was better, and didn’t really think about the consequences …. if you think you are not good enough to be a Christian, or think its all a load of mumbo jumbo … think again, God wants to get to know you just as you are … right now! Give it a go.