All of men have been created for a purpose.  But if you ask, most of us will respond that we're only here to kill time.   Sarcastically, we say we were born, we'll live (and have babies), pay taxes and die.   But, oh, how the opposite is true.



 Design dictates desire and desire dictates purpose.



 For many of us our experiences in combat KILLED our desire to excel in life.  For others those experiences destroyed our dreams.  We were sent into a combat zone with the "purpose" of doing what the military taught us to do and for the most part, that was to destroy.  After all, whether marines, air force , navy or army, the military is the power arm of a government's decision to wage war.  We were to execution of the will of force of the American people. 

 Taught in basic training to dehumanize our enemy; to make Charlie less than human, to make him a gook, VC, a dink, a zip etc.  He was a target and nothing more.  Our job became just that...a job.  No matter how much pride, no matter how much effort was put into the work we did, no matter how much we tried to help the populace, at some point it would all be destroyed by those "Dinks", unappreciated by the firggin' "Gooks" and even worse, our commanders and American public didn't care either.



 That was the reality of home; the "World."  Many of our friends and even family members in the States gave us the impression they didn't even  realize we were gone, that we were in a war zone.  And if they did, they could have cared less.  They didn't miss us.  Their lives went on unabated and uninterrupted.  They were busy realizing their hopes and dreams while we had been shot at, blown up maimed and killed.  Once home, some of us were verbally attacked, and some of us physically.



 What were we to do?  How were we to respond?  How could we maintain a dream, a hope?  What was our purposenow?



 We didn't have one anymore.  We belived they were stolen.  Or our hopes and dreams were driven so deep within us, that we lost contact with them and our own life.  We were forced to become someone, even somthing else.  For example in Washington state and Hawaii, some of us abandoned our homes, even our families and moved into the "field" and became, "trip-wires."  Hermits.  Who lived out in the forrests or jungles and away from a society and culture that had rejected us and crushed our dreams.



 Men, we were NOT designed for that.  We were DESIGNED to LIVE AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL.



 We were designed to EXPLORE, BUILD and CONQUER.  Think about your boyhood.  Weren't you always finding something to explore?  Some new adventure?  And weren't we always building something out of scrap wood or taking "it" apart to see how "it" worked?  Weren't we always playing pirates, or cowboys and indians, or knights and dragons, even army?  We were conquering an enemy!  Just like young lion cubs...we were training for life.



 We are not born into a sitcom world.  It ain't "Home Improvement."  It is "Saving Private Ryan."  According to the Bible, in Genesis 1:26, God said, "Let us make man in our image...LET THEM RULE..."  and in verse : 28, God said, "...be FRUITFUL and INCREASE...FILL the earth and SUBDUE it..." or CONQUER! BUILD! and EXPLORE our world.



 Some of us fought in Vietnam.  Some in Kosavo or Somalia.  Still others were in Panama and even Grenada, while many of us were in Desert Storm.  A lot of you are just home on leave or just finally home from Iraq or Afghanistan.  It doesn't matter.  This still applies.

 Let me plant this thought...It is not, I say again...IT IS NOT...too late to retrieve your dream; your hope.

 It's on us and there is a way to get it back and get it done. Psalm 77:14 says, "But as for me, I will ALWAYS have hope; I will praise You more and more."  Perhaps it's not the original hope and dream...but the purpose God has for you is still there.  It is still the hope...the dream and THE DESIRE you were DESIGNED for.  It's a purpose only you can fulfill.                              

Blesings to all,

Frank