Air Force – Page 7 – Grits with Grace

life, Military memories, Scripture, Southern born

I Said, “Sing”

Posted on June 1, 2020June 7, 2023 by Dewayne Taylor

“My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27

Bummer. I knew I should have listened. I have always liked music and I have always loved to sing. From the time my mother forced my oldest sister to allow me to sing at her wedding…I’ve been hooked. Not only do I like music I generally like almost all kinds of music. To me music is the melody of life. It often expresses emotions and feelings that otherwise might go unexpressed. So I sing…loud and all the time.

You know, some people says, “I saw you at the store the other day.” Not me. People will say, “I heard you at the store the other day.” Regardless of where I am there is usually a song somewhere close by. And the funny part is you never know what you will get. It might be “Amazing Grace” or Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” That’s really not an issue except for the fact I work at a church. It can be kinda strange.

I also have a hard time getting the words right. I know some of the words to hundreds of songs but unfortunately know all the words to very few. People used to correct me when I would get the words wrong. Most finally gave up. Now they just smile. I should have listened a long time ago when someone would try and correct me. Especially since that time in basic training.

Basic training in the Air Force is that time when they teach you the ways of being an airman. That includes knowledge and action. Clearly it involves learning to follow orders. I was raised in the South so saying, “Yes, sir” or “Yes, ma’am” came real easy for me. I was even a pretty compliant person. But one day, well, I just missed it.

For some reason I was in the barracks by myself and I was letting it go. It was an old hymn, maybe “Amazing Grace.” From somewhere a voice boomed, “Shut-up.” Well, I thought it was one of the guys jerking my chain so I kept right on singing at the top of my lungs. From somewhere the booming voice boomed again, “I said shut-up.” It was just about then that I vaguely remembered hearing that voice before. “Oh, that’s right,” I said, “that’s the voice of my drill instructor, Sergeant Catchings.” Oops. Game, set, match.

So he comes from somewhere and is madder than a hornet. “Taylor” he said, “didn’t I tell you to shut-up?” he boomed in his drill sergeant voice. I knew there was no use trying to explain that I didn’t know it was him so I just muttered a weak, “Yes, sir.” So he walks over to the mop closet, opens the door and invites me to step inside. Gulp. I step inside and as he shuts the door he said just one word, “Sing!”

So, with all its odors and in the dark, I start belting out “Amazing Grace.” After a few verses, he opens the door and says, “Do you know, “Rock of Ages?” “Yes, sir” I said. Once again came the one word command, “Sing.” The door closes and I sing. After a few verses, the door opens and he said, “Do you know…” and he named another hymn long forgotten now. “Yes sir” I said. You know what he said, “Sing.” Well, after a few verses the door opens and he says, “Get out.” I wasn’t sure if he meant out of the closet or out of the Air Force and I didn’t stick around to find out. I got out.

Well, I learned something that day. It is important that I learn to recognize and obey the voices around me…especially those that might be in charge. I never missed the voice of Sergeant Catchings again. When I heard that booming voice…I listened. No more mop closets. Listen to your sergeant. Oh, and even more importantly, listen to God.

You see, one day Jesus was describing His followers to a bunch of religious bad guys. He said, “My sheep (code for followers) know My voice. I know them and they follow Me.” That verse, in English, has 12 very important words. First, he said, “My sheep know my voice.” Check. We need to recognize Jesus’ voice. Amid all the noise of the world we have got to hear Him. Second, He said, “I know them.” Wait, what? He knows us. I like that. It means that He has a relationship with me. He is looking out for me. It also means He knows my quirky habits like singing too loud in the middle of WalMart…and loves me anyway. Last, “They follow me.” What He is saying is that followers follow. Plain and simple. Follow Him and you might avoid the “mop closets” of life. Trust me…I’ve been there and done that. It’s not the kind of place you want to visit or sing in. I’m sure Sergeant Catchings had my best interest in mind. He was there to teach me discipline and he did. Looking back, I’m sure he thought it was all pretty humorous. So do I…now. But that day, well, I just wish I had listened a little closer. Its’ important that you…. Wait, do you hear something? What’s that? Is it Jesus saying something? Oh, He’s whispering. “Rest in Me. I’ve got this.” “Yes, sir” I whisper. I believe you do.

Family, Grace, life, Military memories, travel

Three Days and a Wake Up

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Dewayne Taylor

“When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.” Psalm 126:1-2a

We were coming home. From August 1977 to August 1980 we lived in Germany while serving in the United States Air Force. Our time there was incredible. We saw windmills in Holland, the alps of Switzerland, the famous horse-fountain in Salzburg, and ate real pizza in Italy. Where we lived was much like living in the middle of the Shawnee Forest—large rolling hills and lush green forest. We loved it.

Some hard times happened while we were there too. Those were the days of no internet, no cell phone and no overnight delivery from Amazon prime. Landline phone calls were rare and expensive and snail mail was all there was. I remember Judy receiving a letter that opened, “I guess you heard about your dad’s heart attack.” Turns out right after we left for Germany he had a massive heart attack and almost died. One night about midnight or so, a knock came at our apartment door. It was an officer from my squadron. He said I needed to call the Red Cross immediately. My mother was dying. They connected me to my sister-in-law in Florida. Her words were simple and direct, “If you want to see Mom alive you have to come now.” We made it home the day before she died.

So, our time in Germany was divine but difficult. The bottom line at the end of three years we were more than ready to come home. As the time neared and preparations were underway for our leaving and returning we started counting down. Everyone did. We would say, “25 days and a wake up. 13 days and a wake up. Three days and a wake up.” Finally, we woke up, got on a plane and came home. There was no place like home. There is no place like home.

I can remember picking our VW van at the airport (we had shipped it home) and driving. It was marvelous. We could read the signs and we could understand the people. Instead of four dollars for a gallon of gas it was 69 cents. I stopped at a market and got a fried apple pie. I can almost still taste it. For lunch we stopped at McDonald’s. No big deal right? Not at all unless you had spent the last three years explaining a cheeseburger and fries to someone who didn’t speak English. And, instead of a few dollars you paid almost twenty. As I ordered at the counter, speaking English and being understood…I wept. I apologized to the young lady and explained we had been away for three years. And I explained…there is no place like home.

Well, after too many weeks away, church families in Illinois will have the opportunity to come home. Sunday we will be gathering as a corporate body to sing, pray and preach. Now whether you are reading this in real time or months later it doesn’t matter. There is no place like home. My time in Germany taught me several things and one of them is you appreciate the simple things. A fried apple pie and a McDonald’s cheeseburger never tasted so good. My family never looked so good. Driving the roads of America never felt so good. Reading the billboards never seemed so interesting. By the way, did they ever find out who shot J.R.? Smile. Somethings were different but it was still…home.

So coming back to church is like coming home and I am almost giddy. When the Israelites realized they were coming home after 70 years in Babylon they were just a little more than giddy. Here’s what one of their songwriters wrote, “When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.” In those words you can almost feel their excitement. Things were going to be different when they got there but that didn’t matter. They were going home.

So this weekend, and every weekend after, when you walk into your place of worship and things are just a little different, remember how it felt to come home and the different things won’t matter as much. When “Bob” irritates you at church after you’ve been back a while, just pause and remember how good it was him the first week. When the sermon seems too long, and the music too loud and the room too warm…yup…just remember how good it was…how good it is to be home. And, in a few weeks, when something fearful pops up or something rubs you wrong…just remember the time He brought you home, when you rested in Him, when you realized He’s got this. And dream. And sing. Be like the ones who knew the Lord turned our captivity. Because He has.

Family, life, Military memories, Scripture, travel

Memorial Day Rememberings

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Dewayne Taylor

Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him.” (Colossians 1:21-22)

It was a moment I will probably never forget. My wife and I love adventures. We look for ways to do things on a limited budget and we’ve actually gotten pretty good at it. A few years back we discovered we could take a train from Carbondale to Chicago, stay downtown at a nice hotel for a couple of nights and enjoy whatever was happening around us.. all on a shoestring budget. We would usually go around Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. It was pretty awesome.

Last year we went the week of the 4th. We grabbed a very nice hotel room and managed to snag a room that literally faced the fireworks display. It was awesome. At Millennium Park they have these incredible free outdoor concerts. Thousands of people from all walks of life gather on the large lawn to listen. Because it is the 4th, the music centers on America. They usually have a section where they honor the veterans by asking them to stand when the theme for their branch of the service is played.

I am a veteran. I served in the United States Air Force for 12 years and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. And that’s the problem. You see, because it was so rewarding I always felt awkward standing to be honored because I felt like I received so much more than I gave. So that night, I knew that part of the concert was coming and I was dreading it. I knew that Judy would urge me to stand, I would say no and she would give me the look. Again. But that night, for some reason, something changed.

It was time. The stirring songs from each branch of the service began playing. Soon, the Air Force theme was playing. I looked at Judy and said, “I’m going to stand just for you.” As I stood something happened. First, I saw others standing that had served in the Air Force and I felt community…I stopped feeling apart and instead felt a part—a part of the family. But what happened next was amazing.

There was a mother with a couple of young boys sitting about eight or ten feet from me. The younger of her sons, probably seven or eight, looked at me and said this, “Mom, is he a hero?” And I watched and listened as she said, “Yes. He served our country so that we can be free.” Then she turned to me and mouthed the words, “Thank you for serving.” Well that was the highlight of the trip for me and it was the day an unexplainable wall fell.

I am certain that I do not deserve the title hero. The men and women with crosses over their graves in all the national cemeteries deserve that. The warriors who came back from the various wars and conflicts bearing the physical and emotional scars of war deserve that. But the one thing that I realized that night was we should be thankful for our freedom. We can and should honor each person who served for their willingness and sacrifice.

So I’m still shy about standing at Veteran’s Day events. I still feel awkward at concerts when veterans are asked to stand. But it’s not because I’m ashamed to say I served. No, it is because I received more than I could ever give back. I was privileged to wear the uniform of my country. And that is pretty awesome. But wait. There’s more.

As I write this story another one is stirring in my heart. It flashed in my mind that this isn’t the only time, the only circumstance, that makes me feel this way. It is also my faith in God. That day when I followed Christ I also received more than I could ever give back. That day I was welcomed into the family of a God who loved me enough to give His Son to a Roman cross. Paul in the Bible tells us that we went from being alienated and hostile toward God to being able to call Him Father. Jesus caused my billion failures to disappear so He could present me faultless and blameless to His Father. We all need heroes. This Memorial Day would you take the time to remember those who bled and died that we could be free? Would you take your kids to the cemetery for your community’s Memorial Day service? I hope that you will. But I also hope you will pause and thank the Hero of Heaven for sacrificing His life so that people like you and me can be truly free. And finally, next time you have the opportunity to stand not as a hero but because of the One, stand proudly and thank Him. Thank Him that you can rest in Him. Thank you because He’s got this.