Jubal starts AIT

 This morning I got up dark and early to drive Jubal into the city to begin his AIT journey (Advanced Individual Training). Today, he's catching a plane somewhere, and eventually finding his way to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. I'm hoping the Army doesn't fly him across the country to get him to a location about a 5-6 hour drive from our house. He did Basic Training last summer, and one of the guys in his unit flew from Washington D.C. to (if I'm remembering correctly) Denver and a few more airports before making it Columbia, South Carolina (About two days hanging out in airports instead of a seven-hour drive? Doesn't make sense, but it's the Army.)

It's been a busy several months for him. Finishing high school plus an IT program in Stillwater, drilling once a month, on top of family and church obligations. Then this month graduating from both high school and from the IT program. helping me out in the Baccalaureate service, and now beginning this journey.

In some ways his life is on hold so he can complete this Army obligation, but he'll complete his MOS and continue his journey back to the Oklahoma National Guard. Then he'll find a job and go to college, which has yet to be fully organized. That's mainly because college and trade school classes begin about a month before his AIT is complete. I'm hoping he can find a construction job when he gets back, since that will be his MOS (I believe horizontal construction--I'm guessing floors, ceilings, flat roofs, anything else that's flat. MOS refers to his specific occupation; it's an acronym for something, but it's escaping me right now.)

Another thing we've yet to schedule is a time to go see him this summer. We're waiting for the his AIT graduation date before we can even think about it. The fort he's at is in central Missouri, about 2 hours from my parents. Seeing him will also include visiting them, so it's a must do. If we schedule to visit them on a weekend (which might be a must for Jubal's sake), it will be the first Sunday morning that I've been away from FBC Carney since beginning as their interim pastor in August 2023. Hopefully the members don't use the weekend to run us out of the church. That would be quite the shock!

"O, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right..." (Bob Carlisle)

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