Well, the process has begun. A new Golfing to Greatness Discipleship group has covenanted to God & each other to walk together for a minimum of 15 weeks to see what it means to be a Man After G0d's Own Heart.

One of the challenges and benefits of being in the Service is the potential for travel and living in other countries throughout the world.

Our time in the Service brought us to Frankfurt, Germany, Seoul, Korea, Tegucigalpa, Honduras and, even, San Francisco, California. In 1986 we received orders for an assignment in Athens, Greece.

This assignment was incredible as it assigned me to the Joint US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) in Athens as a liaison to the Greek Army for Aviation acquisitions. I was required to attend the Language School at Presidio, Monterey for 10 months to take Demotic Greek language (spoken Greek). I was also to receive a transition from rotary wing or helicopter aviation into fixed wing aviation and qualification into the C12 or Super King Air airplane. This was all pretty challenging and a blessing!!

During the Greek language training we were oriented into the history and culture of the Greeks and if you've ever seen the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it perfectly depicts the culture and family life of the Greek people. The only difference in Greece is that they speak Greek, duh!! It is a  very, very tough language to learn, even if you have a propensity to learn other languages. It was arduous with six hours a day of Greek language immersion and up to four hours per night of homework..

Learning about the culture was extremely interesting as, I'm sure most of you know, it is one of the oldest cultures in existence with a rich history, and, oh, by the way, the New Testament was written in GREEK!!! So, the 10 months of language training and 4 months of transition training seemed like an eternity, but, in January of 1988 the five of us; Anne, Sharra, Garren, Taylor and I boarded the commercial flight to Frankfurt, Germany and a C141 flight out of Germany into Athens, Greece. Yup, a C141 flight from Germany because it was a security risk for military on orders to fly commercially into Athens due to the Achille Lauro highjacking in 1985 and the killing of an American sailor on a TWA airliner.  Additionally, there was alot of nationalistic antipathy against Americans from a terrorist group called November 17 targeting American military personell.  In fact, we had a Navy Captain killed by November 17 while we were in country. It was a pretty tough psychological time for the family, but, thankfully, it was also an amazing place to live and travel.

Ok, so, "To Pascha", what does that mean? Well, the second most important or celebrated holidays in the USA is Easter and we know that Easter is the celebration of the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ just as the number one celebrated holiday is Christmas, the birth of Christ. Greek culture is a Christian based culture and it is said that if you're Greek you're Othodox Christian and if you're Orthodox Christian, you're most likely from Greece.  Well, living in Athens Greece, "To Pascha" is the number one holiday in the country. To Pascha is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ in Greece. So, Easter is the most celebrated time in Greece. The traditional greeting in Greece during Easter is; "Christos Anesti or Christ IS Risen and the response is "Aleithos Anesthie" or He is Risen, Indeed.  What a cool statement, huh?  I loved that!! I used to confound some of the Greeks while during the year, I would address them with that greeting. It  used to be pretty humorous as they didn't quite know how to respond since it wasn't "To Pascha". But, isn't that the truth of EVERY DAY of the year; "Christ IS Risen!!" "He IS Risen, Indeed!!"  

Our time in Greece was wonderful, yet, very challenging.  We had our third daughter, McKenzie, while in Greece which is an incredibly amazing story on it's own.  I was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel while in Greece and, as I've shared earlier received a message from the Lord for our future in ministry through golf. One of the greatest things that resulted from that experience was knowledge of the Greek language and how it has helped me understand the word of God in a deeper way.

Thank you, Father.

Christ is Risen!! He is Risen, Indeed!!

I don't know if it's the will of God or not, but, it seems that the more men I engage with deeply as Believers, the wheels began to come off of their lives in High School or College.

I fell off of the rails in my Junior year of High School.
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How can there be such a stark difference in a life Before Redemption (BR) and After Redemption (AR)?

2 Corinthians 5:16-21
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; (C) the old has gone, the new has come! (D) 18 All this is from God, (E) who reconciled us to himself through Christ (F) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (G) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, (H) as though God were making his appeal through us. (I) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (J) 21 God made him who had no sin (K) to be sin [a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

That explains it, right there!

The stark difference in these two lives will become very evident to you as the stories are revealed and matched against each other, Lord willing.

This is a story about a young man born into a regular American family in the early 1950’s and growing up in that tumultuous time in American history. The times were good from a worldly perspective (more on that later); the country still recovering from World War II, the end of the Korean War was at hand, the country was fairing very well, economically and politically as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that great American war hero, was in charge. I knew nothing of that, of course. I was just the first, but, second oldest child, in the family (more on that later as well); the apple of my father’s eye, I guess you might say. Boy, would that apple go quite sour over the ensuing years, yet, to be reclaimed over a time. Praise Him!

I wish I had a better sense of that time, but, I was just an infant. I do know that my family was the result of Norman H. Poirier, a French-Canadian born, first generation American the first son of Henry and Eva Poirier, both, originally from Shediack, New Brunswick, Canada. Henry was a carpenter, Eva, I believe, a stay-at-home Mom. My Dad lived most of his life in the “South” side of Waltham, Massachusetts where he attended South Junior High and later, Waltham Vocational School, “The Voke”, where he studied auto mechanics, I believe. He quit school sometime around the end of his time in The Voke to work as a mechanic and, later, to join the US Army. He had two brothers; Paul and Roger, who lived in Massachusetts as well.

My mother was Joan D. Higgins, daughter of William and Elizabeth Higgins of Belmont, later, Waltham, Massachusetts. I believe William was English, owned a pharmacy in the Waverly Square area of Belmont. He was ‘handicapped’ to some degree, as my Mom related to me. He was born with his legs up and under him, say, hyper extended, but, permanently, as far as I understand. This resulted in the physical manipulation of his legs to walk properly and he would have braces and have to suffer from pain all of his life. My grandmother, Grammie, on my Mom’s side was from English routes by way of Vermont. Her last name was Barnaby and we would visit Vermont infrequently. They called Grammie the Matriarch of the Family. What I know, mainly, was there were a lot of sisters in that family, eight, total, I believe and they lived in various parts of Massachusetts.

We had myself as the middle child, my sister, Paula, who was 4 years my senior and my brother, Chip (Norman) who was 2 years my junior. Tumultuous was how I might describe our childhood times. Lots of stories there. Might have to expand on those in the next book. Lol.

My recollections of these family times were a bit mixed. My grandfather on my Dad’s side seemed to always be grouchy, almost mean most of the time. My grandmother was a sweetheart, always hugging on us and giving us treats. It did feel uncomfortable when visiting their home though. There always seemed to be some type of tension. On my mother’s side, there was a bit more joy and comfort; always lots and lots of people at family gatherings. And great food, don’t let me forget that. Funny how those early times seem like the only thing in the world until the time lingers on, families change, grow, disperse and, now, seemingly are non-existent. Sad, eh. But, a sign of the times, I believe. Praise Him.

So, I was pretty happy and comfortable throughout the early years. I can remember moving from our Marguerite Avenue location in my sixth-year of school. We went from a fairly small home to a larger home in a new subdivision of Waltham. It was an incredible place. What I remember mostly about those times after the move was how much Mom worked every day of the week and how Dad worked at least 6 days a week. We, pretty much, prepared ourselves for each day with Paula being the supervisor of our activities and when we got home from school, it was the same, but, it didn’t matter that much. It’s just the way it was.
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Up until late Junior High School at North Junior, things were quite well under control and solid, but, some things were beginning to boil up inside and were beginning to change inside of me and around me as well.

Next story soon.