Let me say this as clearly as I can today, Jesus is alive and it has changed everything!
Early on this day, years and years ago, Mary was on her way to the tomb where Jesus had been laid, lifeless. She had with her spices and the things she needed to prepare Jesus’ body for burial and say her final goodbyes.
When she got there she found the stone had been rolled away and only the grave clothes remained in the tomb.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Luke 24v1-2

What struck me about this, and to be honest made me think about how I live my Christian life, is that Mary expected nothing different, just what she knew, what she could see and what she had experienced.
This is normal and totally understandable, but it isn’t how God works. He does the impossible; he works in the unimaginable and he reveals the limits of our understanding.
It wasn’t just Mary who couldn’t see this at first, the disciples struggled with it too. These men who had followed Jesus were downcast, feeling utterly miserable and grieving for him. They couldn’t see, couldn’t even hope that what Jesus had told them would happen had actually taken place.
What’s this got to do with you and me today? Well, I’ve seen the unexpected, I’ve seen God rebuild destroyed families. I’ve seen the most beaten lives born again. I’ve seen grace and love poured out in valleys of despair and chaos. I’ve also been in those valleys myself and I’ve seen and experienced the impossible, the hope and unity through brokenness that only Jesus can bring.
Jesus is alive and he has changed everything! We can be made new men and women free from sin, guilt and shame. In short, we can be restored. Peace and hope are available to us.
Approach Jesus today and expect the unexpected, be ready for the impossible, believe that this is what he does. Let me leave you with this from the Apostle Paul, his life was a perfect example that in God, nothing is impossible!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
Ephesians 3:20-21

Image Credit: Ashim D’Silva

Well it’s the Easter season already, that annual celebration of chocolate and bunny rabbits … reminds me of once when the ship was deployed over Easter, so I decided to show the film ‘The Passion of The Christ’ (Mel Gibsons epic film, which was quite graphic in its portrayal of Jesus suffering). I thought I’d show it on Good Friday whilst we were at sea, seemed appropriate to me. Anyway I put some posters up around the ship, to let the lads know it was happening. One lad saw me in the passageway and said ‘Chief, why are you showing a horrible film like that on Good Friday ?” …. I was about to explain when another older Leading Hand who was with the lad cuffed him round the ear and said’ Don’t you worry Chief, I will sort him’ …
The ship had been taking part in a NATO operation called ‘Autumn Train’ where we exercised a major resupply of Norway, during the Cold War (this was in the mid 1980s). This entailed bringing a huge convoy over from America. In amongst all the troop carriers, merchant ships, frigates and destroyers etc was one of the American massive old second war battle ships, USS Iowa … we were all in line astern, with us directly behind Iowa when she fired a broadside … it was an amazing sight with her 16 inch guns firing together, and the ship actually travelled sideways through the water such was the power of the guns. We then fired our single 4.5 inch gun … not quite the same effect . Anyway after we had conducted all the landings in Norway we went alongside in Bergen, there was ice in the harbour … someone had a great idea to do a sponsored swim for Ships Charities. So we all mustered on the upperdeck in our speedos (it was the 1980s after all), the scrambling net was over the side and the ships boats in the water ready to get everyone out of the icy sea. No one wanted to be first. I had this flash of inspiration that if I jumped in first then the boat would get me out of the water very quickly. So in I went, and virtually straight into the boat … then everyone else followed and had a longer wait in the water before being pulled out.
Back to that Good Friday film … many folk don’t really know what Easter is all about, they seriously think its about bunnies and chocolate, but it’s the culmination of Gods plan to sort us out, through Jesus death for us … taking our place for all the bad stuff we have done and giving us opportunity to sort out our relationship with God. If that still makes you none the wiser, why not come along to Church this Easter and find out? I recounted the story of jumping into the sea at Bergen because someone had to go first. If you are worried that if you go to Church your mates and your family might think you are a bit weird, sometimes we just have to go for it. If you are curious, wondering what its all about, then there is only really one way to find out and that’s jump in and give it a go, ask all those awkward questions … so why not get along to Church, google the real meaning of Easter (or something) on line, chat to your local vicar or anyone who goes to Church or drop us an e mail … Try and find out what Easter is really about … bunnies and chocolate are good … but that is NOT why its called GOOD Friday … it’s because as terrible as that day was, and Jesus really went through it, it had to happen for us to receive the joy of Easter.

Image Credit: Aaron Burden

This time last year, my wife and I were adjusting to life as new parents. We had gone on the epic journey that is adoption and we were discovering what it felt like to be the proud parents of a 2 year old boy.
Now one year on, I have been reflecting on this journey and what that means to us as a family, specifically to myself as a dad but also in my relationship as a son of God. I would like to share some of these reflections with you.
My wife and I had wanted a family for many years, but for reasons we still do not fully understand it had not happened for us. We had no medical issues, we had taken all the tests, yet nothing we tried seemed to make any difference. We just couldn’t crack the code.
As a man, I take my responsibilities very seriously, and when I seemed unable to give my wife what she most wanted, a child, I felt an utter failure. It affected my faith, my work and my self esteem.
We tried to spiritualise our struggle by saying it was obviously not ‘God’s will’ for us to have a child, but that just made us angry and anyway why was our desire for a family still so strong? One Sunday morning we arrived at church, and saw a leaflet about adoption. There was literally one leaflet there, and we have never seen another one in the church since that day. That one leaflet was enough for us to know that we needed to fight for our family, and fight we did.
As the journey progressed, my wife and I travelled to another part of the country and we found the son God had chosen for us, we adopted him, brought him home and he became a part of our family. It was not that simple, but you get the point.
For me as a dad, I have to say my understanding of spiritual adoption is now very profound. In Ephesians 1:5 we read “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” When we chose to adopt our son he had to do nothing other than to be with us. Our little boy has never had to earn our love, or our approval, or even our acceptance. He is just loved, because he is loved. It’s his reality, and he naturally embraces it every day without any doubt or over-analysis.
Our Father God, has adopted us simply because it is His pleasure and will to do so. There is nothing that we need to do to earn His love, or His approval, or even His acceptance. We just need to wake up every morning to the reality that we are chosen, loved and eternally adopted into His family through the full work of Jesus Christ.
Every Christian dad that I know always says that they understood the love of the Father more when they themselves first became dads. I am very sure that this is true, it is certainly true for me. But what has also happened to me is this; whereas I once understood the theology of God’s adoption, I now know the deep intimate reality of it in a very personal way. Adoption is my reality, I don’t doubt it, I no longer over-analyse it. I just entirely accept it without reservation.
God loved you and me so much that he came to find us and that was not just by travelling to another part of the country. He did this so that we would become His very own adopted sons.

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15

Image Credit: Tim Mossholder

So … what are you like at saying ‘sorry’? Most blokes are not very good really, we just tend to get all introspective and mull it over and over and over and then maybe give a garbled ‘Sorry’ and then add ‘But … ‘ and go into some pathetically feeble reason why it was not really our fault at all. Well, I do anyway.
When I was maintainer of the operations Room Command System on HMS Beaver (a type 22 Frigate) back in the late 1980s I had a bit of a run in with another Chief who was the guy who was in charge of the team who operated the kit that I maintained. He just kept winding me up …. he was just trying to provoke a reaction from ‘the Christian’ .. been there? When you just know someone is trying to get you to flash … well I held it together for quite a while and didn’t bite. But then one day he was right in my face saying that the kit was not working properly and how could he do his job when the kit was badly maintained etc etc. I lost it.
Stood in the middle of the Operations with the Captain sat in his chair, about 12 other operators working there and I just let rip at this guy. Was not good. As I shouted at him (without swearing I must say in my defence) I could see this wry little smile appear across his face … he was happy he had made me crack. I stormed off out of the Operations Room down the ladder into the computer room and just sat there seething. As I started to calm down a bit I started feeling a bit embarrassed and not sure what to do … when I felt this little voice saying ‘Go and apologise and ask him to forgive you’ … my instant reaction ? You’re having a laugh. But this thought would not go away … so that’s what I did. Back up to the Ops Rom, and in front of everyone apologised. I apologised for my reaction .. NOT for what I said because I had not said anything that I regretted, simply how I said (or shouted!) it all. This broke this other fella, he just did not know how to react .. he mumbled ‘OK’ or something and went and sat down. The Captain gave me a little nod of the head as I walked off .. he never said anything about it but that nod said it all to me – I had done the right thing and cleared the air.
Saying sorry is not always easy, asking for forgiveness is taking that a step further … it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as my scenario, but we all do stuff that is wrong and upsets those nearest and dearest to us. It is so important that we do not just stew on it and then it all comes out later, try and deal with it straight away and clear the air.
As a Christian, forgiveness is at the very centre of my faith. Forgiveness from God for going my own way against the way He wants me to live. That is called sin … and it’s only God who can forgive that sin. Just like I needed the Chief in the Ops Room to forgive me to clear the air, I need God to forgive me for when I get stuff wrong. And the only reason that can happen is because Jesus took all my ‘sins’ (bad stuff etc) when he had done nothing wrong. (That’s what we remember specifically next month at Easter) BUT even though he did that, I still have to recognise I foul up, say sorry and ask for forgiveness. Then and only then do I know that sense of peace that comes from God … just like I knew the Captain had seen and appreciated what had happened.
If you are reading this and not quite sure about it all and want to find out a bit more about what forgiveness, why not plan in a visit to a Church over Easter … hear the story of Jesus death and resurrection again and maybe even consider the place of Jesus and God in your life … what’s to lose?

Image Credit: Jan Erik Waider

I was enjoying a weeks ‘station leave’ whilst the ship was alongside in Mombasa in Kenya during a stand down from a busy ‘Armilla’ patrol in the Arabian Gulf during the Iran / Iraq war in the 1980s. We had spent a few months escorting tankers in convoys through the Straits of Hormuz. The SOH are a ‘chokepoint’ at the entrance to the Gulf from the Indian Ocean. All shipping has to transit the SOH and at that time had to pass within range of the Iranian ‘Silk Worm’ missile batteries on shore. There was an international operation in place to escort ships along this dangerous route. At this stage I was the maintainer for the ships’ (a type 22 frigate) main command system computer, which was the system that drove the Operations room and integrated weapons systems, so without it we were essentially not able to fulfil our role.
So, we were all very much ready for this down time in Mombasa, we had spent much of the previous three months in ‘Defence Watches’ – 6 hours on 6 hours off. There were two of us responsible for the Command System, and we each had a week off whilst in Mombasa – there was a lot of deep maintenance to be done that we could only conduct alongside.
So, I had the first week off, stayed ashore in a hotel, swam, chilled and headed back on board on the Friday evening ready for a weeks work before heading back up to the Gulf. I was met with a very stressed out opposite number, and an even more stressed out boss! The system had been fully working when I left … now it was completely dead. Nothing. It wouldn’t even power up let alone process data for the displays up in the Operations room! There were spares strewn everywhere in the computer room and as far as I could see no real logic as to what was being done, the problem had just grown too big, and without the basic things in place my opposite number had lost any real logical thinking.
Life can get like that can’t it? Problems seem massive and we lose all sense of proportion and don’t think straight, and it all just gets worse and worse and seems insurmountable. I sent my mate off on his weeks leave, put the system back together (it didn’t work!) and then started from scratch, looking for the root cause and chasing it through logically. After several long days and about 60 defective units I got it all up and running again (well most of it, some spares had to be flown out from the UK). But I had to go back to the very root problem (it was a series of fuses that had gone during a main power failure and blown numerous power supplies and printed circuits).
When life all closes in and you can’t see the root cause sometimes its best to step away for a bit and start with fresh eyes, the symptoms often mask the root problem! In this case my mate had to let someone else in to help … and that was yours truly. As a Christian I believe that the root cause of our challenges in life is down to the fact that we are not following Gods ways for us … we need to sort that out to get a fighting chance at life! And the person we have to bring in to help is Jesus. Of course it doesn’t mean that all the issues are suddenly sorted out. When I found the fuse problem I could then get power back up and start to look at all the other snags that had been caused as well, but my mate had tried to fix all those other snags before identifying the main cause.
If you are facing challenges in life, relationships, family, secret addictions, work, money etc etc, it may help to shift target away from the difficulty itself and look at your relationship with God. If you are a Christian, how is that relationship? Are you spending any time with Him? Are you meeting up with other Christians? Reading the Bible etc? If you are not a Christian, it would be worth investigating the claims of Christianity a bit more. From my experience once you get back to the root and sort that relationship with God out then you will be in a better place to begin to work through the symptoms … As for my fault-finding I still had some long days and head scratching in front of me after I had sorted those fuses … and had to get some bits flown out, so it was not an instant cure, but we got it sorted and were back up and operational by the time we got back to sea. Phew.

Image Credit: User avatar
Marta Pawlik

“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6

I was at a social event recently with Carl, the President of CVM. We had a good time chatting over a tandoori chicken samosa and Carl mentioned something to me about 10 seconds of courage.
A colonel in the British Army had said to him that what they have seen in battle situations is that just ‘10 seconds of courage’ will initiate a persons ability to enter combat, I was fascinated with this.
Have you ever been in that situation where you want to speak about Jesus to someone but you’re stuck for words? Have you been with a friend and after they have finished talking about some difficulty they are facing think ‘oh I could offer to pray’ but you’re stuck for words? I am sure there are countless scenarios and situations that are common with us fellas here but I want to suggest that this idea of ‘10 seconds of courage’ may help.
A mate of mine was chatting to me after we had been playing darts, about life, health and the struggles he was going through. I felt the need to offer to pray. I had offered before but he had declined, so I was anxious. I thought about this ‘10 seconds of courage’ and went for it …. he declined, again. Not how you thought this was going to end was it!
The point is this was never about success being measured in whether or not he let me pray, or if God healed him or did some sort of other miracle in that moment, it was about me being obedient and asking anyway. So it was a success.
Thankfully that story doesn’t end there and subsequently we shared some really deep stuff together about our lives and how we both felt God saw us. It was a really powerful moment and just 10 seconds of courage had initiated it.
As you embrace this ‘10 seconds of courage’, it might not end or go how you think it will, it may be a mess and you’ve stepped out to share Jesus and feel like a clown. Be encouraged, you stepped out! Measure success from that place not the expectation that you’ve just converted the next Billy Graham.
10 Seconds of courage will get you into the fight, into the battle.

Image Credit: Patrick Hendry

Protecting our children from ‘stranger danger’ in 2017

I recently attended an ‘E-Safety’ presentation at my children’s junior school. As someone who spends a lot of time online, I wasn’t expecting to learn much, but I found the evening to be a real eye-opener.
When we were children, being aware of ‘stranger danger’ was looking out for older men in raincoats offering us sweets, or enticing us to go and see their cute puppy. Well things have moved on, a long way, but many younger children have gained a perception from us that the main danger is still the dodgy-looking man outside school.
While there are still odd occurrences of white vans seen lurking around outside schools, by far the bigger dangers today are the strangers our children can encounter online through innocent looking games and apps. This means the risks are much greater, rather than being on the look out for one or two suspect individuals in the local area, they are being specifically targeted by multitudes of paedophiles from around the world.
This may not be the case where you are, but in the area where we live, it would seem that about 80-90% of 7-11 year olds have regular access to a smartphone or tablet. I’m still coming to terms with secondary school children having their own phone, so was quite surprised to discover how many of my children’s friends have their own smartphone.

I was quite surprised to discover how many of my children’s friends have their own smartphone

Despite being aimed at teenagers, three of the most popular apps amongst under 11s at the moment are:
musical.ly – (rated 12+) this allows you film yourself lip-syncing to a song from the charts, that you upload for others to see, in the hope that you might become the next Olly Murs or Miley Cyrus.
live.ly – (rated 12+) owned by musical.ly, this app takes it a stage further by allowing you to live stream your performance and gain instant messages of approval from those who are watching you in real-time.
ROBLOX – (rated 12+) this is a collection of blocky ‘Minecraft’ type mini games. You can write your own and join multiplayer games with other users. It encourages you to connect with others and chat to them, although it has a reputation for lots of bad language.

Other popular apps include Snapchat, Twitch, Movie Star Planet (MSP), Whisper and Pokemon GO.
The worrying thing about all of these is that they are known to be targeted by today’s version of the old men in raincoats, who are now tech-savvy 18-24 year olds with an unhealthy obsession for collecting images and grooming children.
If your children use this kind of app with a public profile (most do apparently), they can be sent messages and ‘gifts’ (as in-app purchases) to win their trust. They can be offered virtual coins in exchange for daring photos. Some can clone a child’s account to gain access to the child’s friends, so they think they’re only connected to people the know and can trust. Many of today’s ‘strangers’ derive great pleasure from amassing huge collections of videos and ‘selfies’ of school children that can easily be harvested from social media. Some will manage to get intimate photos sent to them that can be used to blackmail them for more.
We were told the worst thing we could do was to delete these apps from our child’s devices, or ban the use of devices altogether, as the children will often find ways of continuing in secret. The last thing we need is to encourage our children to be secretive about what they’re doing online. It’s important to let them know about the dangers and be willing to tell you if something is wrong. We can then help them make it safer. They should avoid making their profile public, if possible, and only engage in conversations with people they know – and avoid giving any personal details.
Many parents use blocking software on our computers to protect our children from porn etc., but we were told that porn is not the big issue amongst children that the government suggests (I’m not sure about that) and blocking software doesn’t tackle the real issues facing our kids today – openness and education is the best way. Having said that, I will continue to use parental controls on our family computer, but I won’t assume that having them in place means my kids are ‘safe’.
Our children do not have their own devices yet and are monitored and time-restricted when they do use one. (The ‘Guided Access’ feature on an iPhone/iPad will enable you to lock your device into a single app, so you have more idea of what your child is doing) However, we have already discovered that my son has been messaging someone while using an educational coding app and my daughter performed in a duet on musical.ly while at a friend’s house. Although these exchanges can be completely innocent, it goes to show how easily our children can be exposed to danger, while in the ‘safety’ of our own homes.

Our children can be exposed to danger while in the ‘safety’ of our own homes

Selfies (that give away your exact location through data attached to the photo) and Sexting (sending intimate pictures to a ‘trusted’ friend, that can then be made public) are growing issues amongst younger children, so they need to be aware of the dangers. There is a current trend for selfies to be ‘dangerous’, taken while hanging off a bridge etc.
These are very real issues that used to be just for teenagers, but now face many primary school pupils. Children are still being lured by sweets (“complete this dare and I’ll give you some app coins”) and puppies (“I can show you where to find a rare Pokemon”) but it’s in a different world to the one we grew up in. We have to experience it alongside our children and educate them to look out for the dangers as they navigate the narrow path through the enchanted forest of life.
 
Thanks to ‘The 2 Johns’ of EST E-Safety Training (Essex) for the enlightening presentation. Find out more at: esafetytraining.org
 

Here at CVM, we believe informing parents is very important, and we partner with Naked Truth & Romance Academy who both offer parent workshops, as well as lots of other fantastic help and information on healthy relationships, as well as education and recovery programmes to tackle the huge issue of pornography.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the iconic ‘Desert Island Discs’ programme. Now a favourite on Radio 4, it was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on the 29th January 1942. Each week a guest, called a ‘castaway’, is asked to choose eight musical recordings, a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island. At the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly.
In an age and culture where our lives can be so full of ‘stuff’ I’ve often pondered how liberating it might be to be a castaway; richness in simplicity, space to appreciate and value a few basic things, more time spent looking outwards and less time looking in. In addition to the ‘Complete Works of Shakespeare’ and the Bible, which castaways are given automatically, I’d probably opt for something like ‘The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy’ and a solar powered coffee machine, in the hope I found myself on an island rammed with coffee trees! My eight recordings would be tough, and maybe the subject of a future blog, for now I’m interested in charity; what we do with what we have.
In Luke’s gospel we have the story of Jesus’ encounter with a rich man. At the end of their conversation Jesus tells the man to sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor (18:18-30). Earlier we read about the man who builds bigger barns and hoards stuff in it for his future, only to lose his life the next day. (12:15-21).
What he did sounds familiar, I think immediately of my shed and my loft! This man didn’t choose to give his stuff to the poor or even sell it, instead he decided he simply needed more room, to keep more of his grain, for himself. All so that he didn’t have to worry about working in the future.
Let’s be honest, there is only so much ‘stuff’ we genuinely need and the only treasures we should really be storing up are those in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). Nevertheless we hold onto things because we believe they give us security. We keep them because we may just need them one day. Lives full of ‘stuff’ leave little space for properly connecting with people and their needs; worse still, they become lives distracted from growing closer to God.
The idea of selling or giving away everything we own is quite scary. But it’s not, in the majority of cases, what I believe God calls us to do. Rather we are to be responsible for caring for the needs of our families and ourselves. What he does ask though is that we get rid of those things that have become more important than him (Exodus 20:3), that we turn our whole hearts and lives over to God. Our lives should be characterised by the sharing of our time, wisdom, money, and possessions with others.
With a fairly eclectic taste in music I’d be without some much loved recordings on my desert island, but the one I’d definitely take is “Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd”. Track 10, “Money”, is about greed and hypocrisy – a guy hoarding all the money and possessions he can. The songwriter ends by reflecting on how we are often keen to see that these things are shared with people less fortunate than ourselves, as long as it’s not our ‘stash’. “Share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie” the song says.
How about us?

Image Credit: Vitaly

So if I’m honest, I’m not the most romantic bloke in the world. It’s not outside of my skillset but it just doesn’t happen naturally at times, so Valentines’ day can be a bit stressful.
I had a look at the history of Valentines’ day, and was surprised to see that Valentine was a Christian martyr paying the ultimate price for love. It is suggested that Bishop Valentine in around 250 AD was secretly conducting marriages even though Emperor Claudius II had told the Bishops not to during wartime. For obvious reasons Claudius was unhappy and had Valentine imprisoned and executed. Even though Valentines name is still remembered his act of self-sacrifice has been long forgotten.
Why am I writing this short and concise history lesson? Well I think that celebrating love is so important and whilst we can lose ourselves trying to pick a card for Valentines’ day, what we are trying to do is celebrate love.
The bible has an incredible section in it where Jesus is talking to his mates about love and he says this: ‘Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down ones life for his friends.’ John 15:12-13
Now, by including this sort of verse here we have basically removed all the romanticised, chocolate bunnies and heart shaped cards – sorry about that. But this is important because Bishop Valentines’ love wasn’t about chocolate bunnies and cards it was about loving, serving and caring for people. This love cost him his life.
What I want to suggest is that if you have a ‘valentine’ and share your heart shaped card with them, also consider the day and the history behind it and the on-going way you want to share your love. You might think I’ve taken this too far, but let me ask you a question: is it OK to say we love one person but hate another? Is it OK to show love in our actions to one person but actively destroy and criticise someone else? Is it OK to send chocolates and heart shaped cards to the one we love but join the ridicule and cutting banter of someone in the work place?
Valentines’ day is a day to show love, but it is just a day, one day. I believe the love Jesus calls us to show is a lifestyle, a rhythm of love that influences your actions and reactions everyday. As men who love profoundly, we are called to let that love impact the core of who we are as followers of Jesus.
So as you celebrate love, yeah, eat the chocolates like no ones watching – go for it, but also remember Bishop Valentine and his act of love. Then top that by considering the act of love shown to us by Jesus, you are no longer called servants but friends says Jesus, love has changed everything!

Image Credit: Mayur Gala

The world seems to be getting more and more unsettled, so much conflict and distress right across the world. I don’t know about you but often I find myself thinking that it’s all spiralling out of control and that actually there is nothing I can do, and that puts me way out of my comfort zone. Most of us have experiences that take us out of our comfort zone, things that we just do not know how to handle or stuff that we have to do in life that we just do not feel comfortable with but has to be done … like flying in helicopters ….
For two years during my time in the Navy I was a member of the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) staff based in Plymouth. The closest I can think of in civilian terms would be OFSTED for ships! Ships would come to FOST for 4 to 6 weeks to get trained up in all basic aspects of running a warship, including fire fighting, damage control and of course all the various aspects of a ships operational tasking. So there were Air Defence exercises, anti submarine work, replenishment at sea, man overboard exercises, basically anything that a ship could ever be asked to do we were trained in and then of course inspected! I was a Weapons Engineer so used to look at the ships equipment and see that it was working properly and well maintained etc. We would join the ships normally in Plymouth Sound by a boat transfer, but quite often we would have to fly out to join the ship further out at sea. Now this is where I rapidly came out of my comfort zone.
We had to undergo the ‘Dunker’ training. This was basically a simulator where we had to learn and practice escape drills in case of an aircraft ditch at sea. The final run was in the dark and the simulator turned upside down as it entered the water. I did not enjoy this at all. Then came the routine flying. Mostly we would take off from a helo pad at Plymouth airport and land on the flight deck of whichever ship we were working on. Every time I got in the aircraft I did not feel comfortable, thinking back to my training I just felt that if we did crash it was the end – not a hope of getting out in my opinion! Now, occasionally we would require to be winched down to the ship.
We were working with a Norwegian ship, me and my mate had to go onboard overnight to cover an anti submarine exercise. This ship was basically a flat bottomed patrol craft designed for operating in the Norwegian fjords, not the choppy waters of the English channel; in any kind of swell she rolled like a pig and had no flight deck. As we approached I was first on the winch wire and sat on the edge of the open door waiting to be winched down. The air crewman who was supervising tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down at the ship … where I saw one of the guys waiting to be winched up being violently sea sick over the side … I really did not want to go, was way out of my comfort zone… the air-crewman smiled and started to winch me down. Lets just say it was not a pleasant night.
Life very often takes us out of our comfort zone… the Bible talks about God being there for us at all times, he doesn’t say that everything will be great and we will always feel comfortable. What he does say is that he will be there with us when we are dangling on the end of the winch wire, or whatever it may be that takes us into that uncomfortable or unknown place. Thing is God doesn’t want us to feel uncomfortable… the Bible tells the story of a guy called Joshua who God called to lead the people of Israel, but he really did not feel up to the task, felt totally inadequate… and questioned God… but God said this to him …
Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”
And he went on to lead his nation in amazing ways … so although he still had to continue in the task that he felt was beyond him, he trusted that God would be with him and give him the strength he needed for what lay ahead… give it a go … ask God to be with you in your journey… the well known Psalm 23 (which begins ‘The Lords my shepherd’) also says this…
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Until next time… Cheers and blessings

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