The Purpose

I sometimes meet very interesting people in my job.  If you come to my office, it's because you're leaving the navy, either because it's time to retire, you're simply ready to move on or, most recently, because you're being released.  I may complain about what I do, about the quality of the work some of my co-workers do and about the lack of pay for the amount of work expected, but I always try to find some common ground with my customers, and I'm usually successful.  By the time they leave my office, even if they are grumpy when they arrive, the customer is more often than not much happier and at ease.

Today I had a young man who is being released from the navy, even though he was planning on making it a career.  He was reading a book which I asked about.  The book was entitled 'Circle Maker (a religious book).'  He was nervous about everything going on (a whirlwind of things to do and plans to make) since he only found out about being released 2 weeks ago.  As we were going over his DD214, I remebered that he had been awarded a very high medal.  It was the Navy/ Marine Corps Medal.  I asked him how he was awarded that.  Apparently, he saw a vehicle on fire on the freeway, stopped to see if he could help, and pulled a four year old child from the fire and almost certain death.  The father was already dead, but had sacrificed his own life to cover his child.  I don't know all the details, but the end result was a child was saved and the sailor was awarded a life saving medal- a very big deal.

Naturally, a couple of weeks ago, he was told that he was not being retained in the service.  My first reaction was, [in my best sarcastic voice] "of course, why would the navy want to keep sailors that put aside their own safety for the life of someone they don't even know?" The sailor told me he was thinking about going into the ministry, but he wasn't sure yet.  "Sounds like God is helping you make that decision,"  I told him, to which he thanked me for verifying what he was already thinking.

After this man left my office, I started thinking about why we meet certain people.  Why are specific people put on our path at specific times, seemingly when we need something, whether it be just a word of encouragement, or hope or just a pat on the back?  I'm convinced that we have a larger purpose on this earth and sometimes we may not realize it.  This morning I was riding the bus to work and thoughts of my father, who died in October, 1974, popped into my head.  I had to smile, as for a moment or two, I knew that he was somehow looking down on me.  It's not that I don't think of my father often, I do.  Everyday.  However, today it was almost as if he was speaking to me.  And then to have this young man come into my office and share his experience with me just tells me that there's a reason for everything in this short life. It's all very encouraging.