I am a retired 24 year Army veteran having served on active duty for most of my adult life. I can assure you that I thought I had it all figured out…until I didn’t.

I commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant straight out of college and I wish I could say I never looked back but at that age, we all look back despite our best efforts of looking ahead.

I deployed to combat three times in my mid-twenties and came back emotionally and mentally broken. Despite the structure the Army provided, I was lost.

Then suddenly, by the grace of God, I found myself in a situation unable to deploy and could no longer run from life. I was forced to slow down and figure it out.

After I married my bride, the deployments still came and went but with Christ at the center of our lives, we made it through them unscathed. I had finally found my direction. I was on the the right azimuth.

We now have four kids who were born in three different states - a point of pride for each of them. Our oldest are in 8th grade and they’re in their fifth school. But none of us would trade it for anything.

After over a dozen moves, half a dozen deployments, and an untold number of sleepless nights, we continue to grow in our faith in each other and our faith in Him. One thing is for sure, we know where we’re heading and we have no plans of looking back.