The life and times of the Christian Soldier

[Christian Soldier]

It all started in 1984, when I was born. I knew even then that it was a bad idea, but all the other kids were doing it and here I am. Throughout middle school and high school I was home schooled. If you've never done that, let me tell you that it is a true blessing and a great education.

In 2002, the year I graduated, the Lord called me into the military. At the time, I was a chubby-fat kid with no muscle whatsoever. I weighed over 200 lbs, all fat, when I tried to join. Yes, tried...and failed because I was overweight and over-fat. Not to be put off by such a little thing as my body being in the wrong proportions, I went on a diet and exercise program for the first time of my life and lost 11 lbs. That October, I shipped out for Basic Training at Fort Sill. Six long months later, I was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft hood weighing 145lbs at 6 feet even. It was all muscle and skin.

As of this posting, that was five years ago. Since then I've been promoted to Specialist and deployed twice(The second time while I am writing this), both times to Iraq. God has truly blessed my life, both with my safety and by bringing myself and my Fiancé together.

Jamie and I are due to be married on the 23rd of February, 2008. By then, I will be on terminal leave from the military. My God further blessed me with word of my future: I am to serve Him in the ministry. Now I have two things to be hyped about. I get to marry the love of my life and work for God direct. Oh! Happy days and jubilation!

As far as hobbies go, I love to write, post here(even if I have nothing to say), draw, and play computer games. I also love to spend time with my God and my family.

That's me in a nutshell. I look forward to getting to know you better and pray for your well being and happiness.

God Bless! -- CS

[fairieswriter]

I'm new...going through the bios page. It is so great to meet another soldier. (I'm a former Army SGT.) How wonderful that you are getting married soon and are called to the ministry! ;D

Where do you plan to attend? My husband went to Manhattan Christian College in Kansas and loved it.

I'll be praying for your safe return. God bless you and your mates!

[pixydust]

Great intro, man! Nice!

[Divides the Waters]

I always feel a little less like a man when in the presence of a soldier. Don't get me wrong; I'm pretty honest with myself about my capabilities and limitations. But I'm perpetually in awe when I think about someone being willing to lay down his or her life in the service of their country. Your efforts and sacrifices are much appreciated.

[Christian Soldier]

Thanks for the outpouring of love and support, guys! I'm going to need it more than ever here shortly. The following is an e-mail I mailed out on my mailing list just seconds ago that will bring you all up to date on my life.

* To get on that list, just go to gglynshull.com and use the "Contact Me" page ... or send me an e-mail *

---

Dearest Friends, Family, Supporters, Neighbors, Brothers, and Sisters,

A lot has happened since my last letter, for which I apologize. There's no excuse for not keeping in touch. My only excuse is that I have been focusing on other things. This will become clear in a moment.

The first news is somewhat old, but I have been very bad about getting this info out. My reasons are many fold and involve both my paranoia, lack of any semblance to sanity, and my poor memory. Right... the news. On January 7th, 2008, Jamie and I were married! We eloped, or more properly got the Judge to do it. There are two reasons why we did it so early: 1) We needed to get Jamie on my health insurance as soon as possible, and 2) We just couldn't wait anymore.

We are still having the ceremony on the 23rd of February, which we will count as our anniversary date. Also, the location has moved to my sister-in-law's, Erin's, house. The address for that is 1101 Boulder Run, Harker Heights, Tx. It would mean a great deal to me if you could be there to celebrate the beginning of this stage of my life.

Now that I'm married, I have to think and plan for two, and more some day, so I did some research. Civilian health care is ... erm ... bad. Most Insurance companies don't even cover pregnancies. They don't cover much anything else either, so I decided, with the support of my wife and family, to stay in the military. I still plan to go to school, just I'll do it online and space it out.

In addition to the benefits, we also have job security and pay. The Army loves to give us money for staying in and doing jobs no one else will do. Not as much as KBR... but then you are back to the benefits.

Hopefully, everyone remembers about my two short stories that have been published. If you would like a copy of that book, just click my logo on the bottom of this e-mail and use the button on my page. With shipping it is $18, and I will get the book out to you within a week. You can consider it an investment, since when I've hit the big time, these books will be worth millions. Okay... maybe not, but they're still great books.

Last, but definitely not the least, we have my house. . . or what I hope will soon be my house. We have found the perfect house for us and look forward to living there. If all goes well, that is. Please pray for that. Our offer was accepted and we have 21 days to get the loan paperwork done, get the house inspected and repaired, and to go through all the paperwork necessary for buying a house.

And there you go! You're up to date. May God grant you all his favor in the month ahead. -- Glyn

---

This doesn't cover how busy I've been by half. My time on the internet is isolated to a thirty minute slot in the mornings. That slot was taken up doing research so that I could be successful when I get out... which is why I'm not getting out. The good news here is that I think a number of you are here in Tx and a few in La(And one in Ok if I remember rightly), and maybe someday we can meet.

I'm going to get back into the habit of coming here first thing again, so those of you who came after I disappeared, get used to me.

I love you all and thank you again for your support. You would be surprised how much it means to me.

God bless -- CS

[Jeff Gerke]

Wow, Glyn. Yikes.

Well...congratulations! How awesome for you!

You're completely forgiven for concentrating on things like getting married and making major career decisions and changes of residence. Wow. Don't feel the slightest guilt about not being here. Put your attention on the things that take highest priority.

We're very excited to hear your update and that you're doing well.

Now...go pay attention to that young wife. You get only one honeymoon period, my friend. Don't waste it on us.

Jeff

[rwley]

Congratulations on the marriage, the house and the reinlistment. I completely sympathize with all the angst that can accompany all those decisions and to be making them all at the same time. . . well, I feel for you. But, your heart is right and seeking God's will in all of it, you can't go wrong. God's blessings to you both. Would love to share coffee next time I'm down Austin way.

[Teskas]

You must be a master of the plot twist, CS! Can't say I saw that coming.

Many congratulations on your marriage, and best wishes for your future.

God bless.

Teskas

[Kristen]

Congratulations, Glyn and Jamie! May God's blessings be on you both!

And -- yikes -- thanks for giving me a new appreciation for my company's benefit plan, which did cover my little one. OK, he's taller than me now, but, contrary to what one might expect, our plan has actually gotten better over the years. Maybe youse job-seekers should be looking at bizjournals.com.

[Christian Soldier]

My new site is up! I don't have the domain, yet, but I will around the first. Until then, you can check it out using this super cool link! Please give me some feedback on it!

[Jeff Gerke]

"Site cannot be displayed"

[Christian Soldier]

That's odd... Hmm... Okay, it should be up now. I think my server changed IP's on me on my home network, but I fixed it. Same link as before

[Jeff Gerke]

Still not working.

[Christian Soldier]

Hmm... good thing I decided to test it out prior to going live. I'm trying it from a different computer and coming back with some odd stuff. Ah... troubleshooting! It's the stuff of life!

[CastleLyons]

Troubleshooting? Is that what you do when you're in Iraq?