Today marked a unique day in my life. I have officially been an Active Duty Army Chaplain for 36 months. Of those 36 months, I also rolled over 20 months deployed. The military Chaplaincy offers a very different approach to ministry. Not only do you shepherd a very small flock most of the time, but you are also a counselor to staff and soldiers within your unit. Counseling sometimes is a formal 'appointment', while more often it tends to be a sitting down in a 'smoke shack' or close seat at chow time, or even a late night knock on the door of my CHU.
Therefore to say that I am a formally trained counselor is not really an accurate statement. I like to tell people to think of me as a 'first aid' center on the way to the surgeon, in the realm of counselors. But not to make my job too insignifigant, I have seen many unscheduled "Band Aids" do a great deal of healing. With this in mind, I am wanting to take some of the more common counseling appointments that I have and address them in the same manner I do, in my office.
The door to my office is open, you poke your head in...I am sitting there reading a book or Bible...coffee is brewing...you grab a seat, ...I barely move, but smile warmly over the top of the book while sipping the coffee in my World' Best Chaplain cup,..."So, what brings you to my office today?"
Email me a question. Let's get started.
Therefore to say that I am a formally trained counselor is not really an accurate statement. I like to tell people to think of me as a 'first aid' center on the way to the surgeon, in the realm of counselors. But not to make my job too insignifigant, I have seen many unscheduled "Band Aids" do a great deal of healing. With this in mind, I am wanting to take some of the more common counseling appointments that I have and address them in the same manner I do, in my office.
The door to my office is open, you poke your head in...I am sitting there reading a book or Bible...coffee is brewing...you grab a seat, ...I barely move, but smile warmly over the top of the book while sipping the coffee in my World' Best Chaplain cup,..."So, what brings you to my office today?"
Email me a question. Let's get started.
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