The Navy recruiter was out to lunch
Nancy Kennedy
The Navy recruiter was out to lunch.
I was 19 years old, a year out of high school. I’d been attending early childhood development classes at the local junior college, even though I wasn’t interested in kids.
Also, a boyfriend had just broken up with me.
Probably because she was tired of me moping around the house, my mom suggested I join the Navy like my brother had just done.
I didn’t have anything better to do, so I went to see the recruiter.
He was out to lunch. But the Air Force recruiter next door was at his desk.
So, I joined the Air Force.
I had dreams of traveling the globe. I ended up at an Air Force base in Northern Maine, in the middle of potato fields.
A year earlier, a boy from New York enlisted in the Air Force.
In basic training he had pneumonia. That set him back from graduating by 10 days, which affected where he would eventually be stationed.
He ended up at the same place as me.
I had wanted an Air Force job in either weather or communications. He wanted one in civil engineering.
We both ended up in base supply working in the same building.
We met and got married, and three years later Jesus found me.
Many years later, Jesus found Barry.
In between we had two daughters. They both “asked Jesus into their hearts” when they were little.
We moved a few times and settled in Florida in 1993.
When our oldest daughter, Alison, was in high school, she worked at McDonald’s.
That’s where she met her husband, Craig.
He had been in the Army and made a mess of his finances. He moved back home to live with his mom and needed a job close to the house.
McDonald’s was hiring.
Not only did Alison help him straighten out his finances, but his interest in Christ was sparked because of her faith.
Jesus found him, too.
I often think about all these random stories that brought people to Jesus — a break up, a bout of pneumonia, a soldier running up his credit cards. I marvel at how they all fit together, perfectly sequenced.
“God never does only one thing,” theologian John Piper said. “In everything He does He is doing thousands of things. Of these, we know perhaps half a dozen.”
I love the wonder of that.
We make choices all the time. Things happen to us.
And God works them all together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
Years ago, my youngest daughter, Laura, lived in Charlotte. A Georgia plumber was sent to Charlotte to work on the new Amazon building that was being constructed.
One day DJ was driving his work truck down a street and saw my daughter standing on the sidewalk with a group of people.
He stopped to talk to her and they became friends.
A year or so later, they came to Florida for a visit before moving to Ohio. While here, they met with a pastor friend of the family who prayed with them.
About four years later, Jesus found DJ, too.
He’s now my son-in-law.
All because a Navy recruiter was out to lunch.
Contact Nancy Kennedy at 352-564-2927 (leave a message) or email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com.