We went to visit our boy in Georgia and found a man in his place. This past week at Fort Benning marks a milestone in our family that merits pause and recognition, so may these paragraphs represent that for our posterity as well as encouragement to you that God is working good things in our up and coming generations. The teenager who left us in May is now a soldier for the United States Army, but the transition didn’t just happen in that time. There’s something far greater to thank for the growth we have seen in our son.
After a few weeks of basic training when the recruits were first allowed to use their phones to call home, we were eager to hear all about Jonah’s experience. He told us about the drill sergeants’ constant intimidation tactics. They yell, they wake you in the middle of the night, they yell, they get in your face, they yell, they make you run drills, and they yell. They hand down impossible tasks and demand perfection. I asked if it was all very upsetting, but he laughed and said, “No. I just keep thinking, they don’t know my mom.” (I choose to take that as a compliment.) He was actually enjoying himself and happy to report, “I get paid to work out all day!” Maybe his dad and I have inadvertently prepared him for this. It seems all the moving and adapting that have characterized his childhood on the mission field have given him the flexibility to adjust to the erratic schedule of boot camp and to even appreciate the challenge. We were happy to hear that our best efforts to raise him were paying off in unexpected ways.
Jonah was soon permitted to call each Sunday, and we looked forward to hearing his humorous recounting of the tactics being used to terrorize the recruits. He admitted it was extremely difficult but seemed to understand that they were breaking them down so they could build them back up into the soldiers they were all there to become. Then one Sunday we heard less excitement and a bit of melancholy. He was getting tired, and he missed home. He assured us that he was determined to finish strong, and we were proud of him. He was developing fortitude and endurance before our very eyes. We continued to pray daily for him, thanking God for the training and discipline he was receiving.
Finally the day came that Jonah would graduate from six months of Army training. He had made it through boot camp, passed all the physical, intellectual, and emotional challenges, and now was going to claim the title of soldier. John’s mom and niece and her three boys met us on the 182,000-acre heavily wooded military base to attend the ceremony. The graduates wore the traditional World War II service uniforms and marched onto a perfectly manicured field. Hundreds of husbands, sons, and brothers moved in unison with precision, making the families in the stands beam with pride, reminding us that we indeed have the finest and most awe inspiring military in the world.
It was a wonderful few days of reunion and celebration. Fort Benning feels like a city, with restaurants, a movie theater, a bowling alley, and an infantry museum that rivals a Smithsonian gallery. We tried the local eateries, the boys played video games, and we just sat around our hotel room talking and drinking coffee as if we were home. It was good. But the best part of all was that each night when we took Jonah back to his barracks, he requested that we pray together. In those prayers I experienced a wide range of emotions and had to accept that a major life change was happening. These recent months have been our own sort of boot camp here at home. We’re saying goodbye to our son’s childhood but welcoming a strong, funny, kind adult in his place. I was so thankful that he wanted to pray with us, because it was then that I sensed God’s peace, as if he were laying a hand on my shoulder saying, “I’ve got it from here.” and I know He does.
