FReeper Canteen ~ Road Trip: MacDill Air Force Base, Florida ~ 07 JAN 2025

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

THANK YOU
for your service!

Howdy, lauren! *HUGZ*

All recovered from your trip to see the family? I hope you had a great time.

Evening radu!

*HUGS*

Had a fantastic time with family, glad to be home, and caught a virus somewhere. YUCK!

Gonna call it an early night and get some sleep, LOL!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Glad you had a great time with them.
Sorry you caught some sort of bug. That seems to be happening to a lot of people these days. Hope you feel better soon!

Evening Lauren!

I separated out there 80-81.

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

Feel Better, FRiend!

I separated out there 80-81.

Was stationed in Guam in 79-81 with a fellow SP that had come there from MacDill. To him, it was the greatest assignment on earth and never stopped talking about it. "Well, we wouldn't have done it this way at MacDill..."

Good evening, lauren, and thank you for today's Road Trip: MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

When I was there the Joint Commands were the U.S. Readiness Command (REDCOM) and Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RD/JTF). I was in the Tech Control Facility downstairs in the back of the REDCOM headquarters building. The GTE mainframe office door was about four feet from our door.

One night shift the Crypto CREEP was the only one on duty and needed a witness for resets, so I got to go upstairs to see USMC Lieutenant General Paul X. Kelley's office. Hollywood set designers could not have done a better job putting those rooms better.

Later on the General got another star and became the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.

If you want to know the acronym CREEP, it stands for Crypto Peeps (short talk for people). The creeps didn't much care for the name.

Thanks for a great visit to McDill AFB!

January 06, 2025

Today's Scripture

Job 42:1-6

Bible in a Year

Genesis 18-19; Matthew 6:1-18

Today's Insights

Job’s friends insisted that his suffering was caused by his sins (Job 3-37). Job relentlessly defended his innocence and sought his vindication from God (23:1-7). Instead of answering his questions, however, God asked Job a series of questions pertaining to His creation (chs. 38-41). Instead of providing an explanation as to why He permitted evil and suffering in this world, God revealed His character.

Job didn’t need to fully understand God’s ways, for no man can (Isaiah 55:8-9). He only needed to humble himself, seek to know God deeply, and trust Him wholeheartedly. His suffering taught him to run to God as the only sure place of refuge—the safest place to go for comfort, sustenance, and strength (Job 42:2-6). Job wasn’t given a reason for suffering, but he discovered that when life comes out short, God is enough (see Psalm 23:1, 4).

Find out more about why we believe in a God who allows suffering.

Today's Devotional

Kenny stood before the congregation he’d left years before after he’d lost faith in God. He shared that his belief had been restored. How? God had touched his heart through the beauty and design he saw in creation. Kenny was in awe of Him once more through the witness of God’s general revelation seen in the natural world, and he now embraced the wisdom found in the special revelation of Scripture. After sharing his story, Kenny stepped into the tank of water at the front of the sanctuary. His father, tears of joy in his eyes, baptized him based on his faith in Jesus.

After he’d lost much in life, Job’s faith had also been shaken. He said, “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look” (Job 30:20 nlt). God “spoke to Job out of the storm” (38:1), declaring that it wasn’t about Him not seeing Job but that Job’s vision needed to be expanded as he considered God’s amazing, intricate creation. The “earth’s foundation” and the “morning stars” (vv. 4, 7) and all the creatures, plants, and waters found between (vv. 8-41), pointed to the one whom Job could trust—the God of amazing love and power. Job responded by saying, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (42:5).

When doubts threaten your faith in Christ, consider the magnificence of God’s creation. He reveals Himself in it if we only have eyes to see.

Reflect & Pray

How has God revealed Himself in creation? How are awe of God and faith in Him linked?

Creator God, thank You for helping me see You in creation.

Dive into the backstory of Jesus by reading Origin Story: Following Jesus Back to the Beginning.

Howdy, luvie.

How many times have you had to refresh the kitties’ water today? You got colder overnight than I did. BRRRRRR
It was down to 40 when I went to bed and was 28 when I woke up this afternoon. Stayed there all day and will stay close to that overnight due to clouds. Sunshine tomorrow and Wed. will bump us up to around freezing but the lack of clouds will make it really cold both nights.
I. Do. Not. Like. Winter.

Hey there, radu!

I think it got up to about 36...which it still is, so the warm up I did with their water first thing this morning lasted all day. I’ll fill them up again in a bit and hope for the best. It’s “only” supposed to get down to 31 tonight, so it shouldn’t freeze. But I’ll add warm water when I fill it tonight, to keep it to the point where it’s not uncomfortable to drink it.

Sounds like we’re having similar weather with yours, of course because you’re farther north, a bit chillier. I don’t hate winter...I dislike unusually frigid weather. Around freezing is about my limit. LOL!

Well, I don't like eating a peanut butter sandwich that scratches the enamel off of my teeth. I helped a guy move into his house overseas who had PSC'ed from Florida and their must have been a gallon of sand in one of his rugs. It was not my greatest assignment.

Then again after Lackland, I went to Biloxi, Sacramento, the Azores Islands, and Tampa. So you see I had pretty good duty for the whole six years.

I didn't want to reenlist because every Staff Sergeant in the Tech Control going back several years got an unaccompanied remote to Diyarbakır Air Station, Turkey (emissions spying on the Soviets). I wanted to stay married.

I can't blame you for that!

That was warm enough to keep their water from freezing and give you a break. If I still let some of the cats go out, I’d have been out several times to deal with their water today.

We’re both colder than Kathy. They’re having a warm spell at Anchorage while we’re freezing. LOL She had freezing rain for a while today and I had itty bitty snowflakes for a while this afternoon.

I do hate winter. Can’t stand being cold and it’s just ugly outside. Green is much prettier than brown.

A very pleasant good Tuesday morning and ((HUGS)) to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country and thanks Lauren for this morning's thread.

Yesterday at Comanche Lake:

How's everyone doing this morning?