3 am comes early, even for a morning person like myself. It comes really early for a not-morning person like my wife. On Saturday, March 11, I sprang from my bed within the first few beeps of the alarm clock to shower and then jostle my family awake. The day had arrived and our family was off to Korea for five days! At 4 am, we climbed into our car, drove down to the Manila International Airport, and barely arrived at the gate on time to board our 7 am flight. But...we made it.
The four-hour direct flight to Seoul, Jessica and the kids' first international trip since arriving in the Philippines a year ago, was exceptionally pleasant since it was our first in three years without facemasks. Upon exiting baggage claim, there stood my Army Chaplain brother looking taller and far more muscular than ever, with a huge grin and arms open to welcome us to Korea. A short jaunt in his car brought us to the enormous Camp Humphreys, “the Army’s Home in Korea.”
Although I had spent time on a navy base in Yokohama, Japan, when I was in fourth grade, I have no memory of it besides eating chili cheeseburgers and a trio of American sailors handing my sister a $20 bill since it was her birthday. (People were always giving Kendall free stuff. Now they do the same for our daughter, Sara.)
Army base (“post” is the correct term for the army, while the navy has “bases”) life is interesting since it is much like a small American town. We drove by schools, football fields, a library, the grocery store that reminded me of Wal-mart, and attended my brother’s church where he serves as one of the pastors. I had intriguing conversations with soldiers and contract workers and an Air Force engineer. One chaplain tried to recruit me and my brother, Conner, showed me his camo hat with “Armstrong” on the back and declared, “This could be yours one day!”
We enjoyed eating Korean street food in Seoul, walking along the old tower wall in Suwon, and climbing to the overlook of Seoul Tower (ok, maybe we didn’t enjoy the climbing part). But mostly it was just great to see Conner and his family thriving in the life God has called them to, a mobile but rewarding calling. I had a fun couple of hours with my nephews playing soccer in their yard. Our kids loved seeing their cousins again after a year and a half. I honestly don’t know long it will be until they see each other again.
After five days in South Korea, we flew back to Manila. Arriving at the beginning of rush hour, it was a few hours before we arrived home. Our Filipino house helpers met us at home to tell us the news that our house had been broken into during the wee hours that morning. Thankfully, the thief did not go upstairs to our bedrooms. But all the drawers and cabinets in our living room and office were open and had been rifled through. Clearly, the thief was looking for money and was dismayed that he did not find any. The thief did, however, take my MacBook and Jessica’s iPad (the IMB has since replaced the MacBook). Thankfully, they didn’t take Jessica’s old Asus laptop, which is a blessing, because she has a lot of pictures and files on it. It also seems they stole my bobblehead Charles Spurgeon that I bought at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is too bad because I believe those can only be purchased there. I hope the thief looks at my Spurgeon bobblehead and feels unbearably convicted of his sin!
But thanks be to God, we are ok. Our colleague helped us install video cameras, which we will take with us to our next house we will move to in June. The care and concern shown us by our friends has been outstanding. We know the robbery could have gone far worse, and for that we are thankful.
As always, thank you for keeping up with us and praying for us. We are confident that God, who never fails to bring hope and peace in times of trouble, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We celebrate that hope; that resurrection hope.
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