I don't know about most people, but I want something great for my life. I know that there are people out there who are content to find a job that pays their bills and helps support the family and they will work through their adult life until time to retire and then settle down in a house in the suburbs and that's that. And that is okay. For them. I just know that I want something more. I don't want a job that just pays the bills. I want a life that molds me into the kind of person I'm seeking to be. I want a job that will give me opportunities and life-changing experiences, not just a paycheck.
I want to seek out challenges that most people will never face and see myself conquer things that I had once told myself could never be done. I want something different. I have no intention of taking my life down a easy or popular path. I want to be out in the woods hacking away the brush to get where I'm going. I might be crazy. That's okay. I know what I want though. I can't settle for a cookie-cutter lifestyle.
Like I said, I want something different. My heart has a wild side. Battle calls out to me. Struggle entices me. I am not fond of the conventional paths Give me a narrow dirt pathway over a paved asphalt road any day. I love to explore, to learn, to grow, and to challenge myself to be stronger, faster, better.
All of that to say: the next season of my life has begun. I do not belong in Pensacola any more. My time here is rapidly coming to a close. It has been a long 4 years with high ups and depressing downs. I have changed dramatically as a person through my time here. Had I had not come here, I am not sure that my heart would have ever chosen what it has chosen. But now I have my eyes set on a new path. And I have committed to it.
This is not news to some of you. Over the past months, my intentions have leaked out and spread to a few of you. And I have addressed them as I've been made aware of them. But right now I want to, for the first time, publicly announce my intention to become a United States Marine. This is a decision I have wrestled with and thought about for around a year now. Every time I pushed it away to consider something else, this kept popping back up. I have worked with a few Marines, and Marines have recently started appearing at my church. Up to this point, I had made the decision to not approach them about my choice. They did not put the idea in my head. Far from it.
The Marine Corps is not a cake walk. It has the toughest physical standards of all the military branches and getting in is far from assured. For that reason, I have waited to announce this until I was far enough into the process to know that I'm going to make it. I am well underway in the recruiting process. I have already been to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) and have sworn into the DEP (Delayed Entry Program). Technically, I'm in the Reserves right now until I ship out to Basic Training. From now until Boot Camp, I will be preparing for what most people say is the most difficult (and rewarding) thing they have ever done in their life.
I am taking this time of preparation seriously. Physically, I need to be in better shape. Mentally, I need to push myself harder and have basic Marine Corps knowledge memorized. Spiritually, I have to yield to some things and get rid of some other things.
I need the support of my friends and family in this. And equally, I need your understanding. You may see some changes in the coming months. My body is going to get stronger. I'm already beginning to push it harder than I ever did as a teenager when I was a black belt and actively doing martial arts every day. You may see changes in my behavior. I have always worn my heart on my sleeve. That will be changing also among other things.
The more I become the kind of man I need to be before Basic Training, the easier it will be once I'm there. My diet will be changing, some of my priorities will be changing, my social circles will be changing. My life is changing. And it is for the pursuit of this thing. I want to see God work in my life as a Marine.
If you're reading this, you probably know me. You're probably my friend. And I need you. I need your encouragement. I have waited a very long time to share any of this publicly because I wanted to be sure that this is my path. That this is the thing God has led me to. I am sure.
If you need proof, look no further than my name. My initials are J.A.R. I am destined to be a Jarhead.
Thank you in advance for your prayers and your support as I go in this new direction.
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