“PLACES REVISITED”

When I was inducted in the Army, I spent a couple of weeks processing at Fort Ord, California.  I, along with four friends had volunteered for the draft.  We went to Houston thinking for induction and thought we would probably return home before being called.  That was a wrong assumption.  We were loaded on a train and sent to California with just the clothes we were wearing.  We arrived at Fort Ord about 3 AM one morning.  It was in August but Northern California can get pretty cool at night.  They issued us GI clothing immediately and we were happy to have some heavier clothing.  We took tests and received shots.  After the processing was over, they let us pick up paper and trash in and around the post.  Then we were flown to Fort Knox, Kentucky.  The plane left from the Monterrey Airport.

Almost 40 years later ( to the day) I found myself landing at the Monterrey Airport.  This visit was quite a bit different.  Instead of staying in barracks like in the picture above, I was staying at The Inn at Spanish Bay.

I was attending a five-day banking conference.  While there, I was able to play the golf course at Pebble Beach and also the Bay Links at the Inn.  The big differences in this visit were lodgings, food, and recreation.  There was no comparison.  Playing golf is very similiar to walking down the road of life.  The golf course is designed to played a certain way and an errant shot will get you in the dangers along the way.  The safe way is to play as the course dictates.  Most courses will offer you a short-cut or alternative but the penalties may be severe.  In other words, risks and rewards.

This was especially true on the Bay Links course.  There were many dog-legs that gave you an option to hit over the rough back to the fairway.  Because of the environmental laws governing this course, the rough was divided in to categories.  If the rough had one color sign, you could go and hit your ball.  Another color and you could retrieve your ball but not hit from the rough.  Another color and you could retrieve your ball if you could reach it without going past the marker.  Then there was another color that you could only stand in the fairway and look at your ball. 

When I sit and think about the original visit and then the revisit, I have many experience and memories between the two trips.  Some of those experiences I would like to revisit and others probably not.  I know that during that time I met the love of my life (Pam) and we have a daughter (Lyndsey) that we are very proud of.  I have gone from serving my country in the military to serving my God in living the good life.

When I think of those 40 years, I remember the 40 years Israel spent traveling in circles on the way to the Promised Land.  Rather than being obedient to the commandments God gave them, they tried to take short-cuts and gamble on the risks and rewards involved.  Walking in God’s will is a lot easier than taking detours and traveling in circles.

When I look back over my lifetime, I know how good, faithful, and powerful God is.  Without Him, I don’t know where I would be today.  And to that I say:  “‘AMEN!”