Personal Narrative: Growing Up As A Military Child

Loving and worshiping God began to be more and more part of my daily thinking, motives, actions, and decisions.

After that day the star changed, gentler deep inside. A caring and loving nature came out and has never left. He then saw me as another human being who in this case needed love and affection more than most. He was like a guardian over me, ensuring that when I was awake, I was only happy and safe. In his eyes, crying was prohibitive. Only joy is strictly allowed in his care.

Ways I see the world by being a military brat has definitely forever change how I view the world. Being able to travel to different countries as a family has made me the person I am. I am able to easily sympathize with foreigners. I’m more open to learning different cultures. I see a world full of unique people with a different experience. I understand how it feels to live in a different country and not understood the languages and have to obey their laws.

I began to understand God’s significance bit by bit but continued to struggle with understanding people’s passion for a distant figurehead. For the next seven months I sporadically attended numerous talks, prayer groups, and events in order to figure out what a faith life meant. I slowly began a prayer relationship with God, started reading my Bible, and attempted to open my mind to a higher meaning. At this point I believed. I saw His love and power work in so many new friends, I learned so much about myself and what I was meant to become, and I understood why His Church had continued for so

However, circumstances changed. A big move, a new community, and I didn’t know how to handle moving to a place where I felt uncomfortable talking to God in anywhere but my own home. (I wasn’t comfortable with the church my family was attending at that time.) By the age of fifteen, I

During this time, I continued to look for God within the Christian tradition and came across a very intelligent Christian professor. Because I thought the Church of God was missing intelligence I thought that I had found what I was looking for within this professor, finally somebody who could provide me the truth. Within my mindset I thought that I would find the perfect truth if I only kept searching and in this man, who always was very wise and seemed to understand the deeper things of life, I thought that I had found it, finally the gold I was digging for. This man’s view of God was so much deeper than that of the Church of God and relieved my pain of feeling that the Christian God was angry at me because I could not keep his commandments perfectly. God all of a sudden

As a child of an enlisted marine soldier, I was able to endure certain things that would not be considered normal for a civilian kid.

I have always been interested in the military. Ever since my dad showed me pictures of him in the Army, I’ve had a curiosity about it. I soon discovered war movies, and I loved them. These had a huge impact on me. My friends and I would pretend we were in the military as a game. It was pretty much the only game we played, and the only game I was interested in playing.

The journey to becoming who I am today began with The Iraq war. We used to live close to a preschool and one day the place got hit by bombers. The blast was immense, and all I could hear was the yelling of my mother to get my newborn brother to a safe corner in the house as she went for my sister. Blasted materials were flying everywhere, right over our heads. There is nothing as frightening and painful as seeing people you lived with every day being blown to pieces and some squirming in indescribable pain. My family fled from war-torn Iraq to Lebanon, only to be uprooted again just eight years later when more fighting broke out. With a heavy heart, my mother decided to move to the United States for a fresh start. However, the promise of a safe home and a bright future was interrupted when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As the

get away from the family member that was hurting me disregarded all my cries as if

“My military experience required me to grow up quickly. I learned a lot of leadership skills I now use being a small business owner. It has made me realize that freedom isn’t free and I now care about the country even more. I have learned to cherish life and appreciate all the other men I was with. Everyone who was there volunteered to be there… it wasn’t a draft. This helped me realize how important our freedom in this country really

Then, the preacher held an altar call. Moved by the Holy Spirit, my hand shot into the air. It was so very sudden, but inside, all I felt was a peace and love like nothing before. Since this moment, I have never been the same. It took something radical to completely change my heart, and since then, I have never looked back.

It was in the fall of 2012 when my Great Uncle Larry was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors said he had cancer in his brain, lungs, and liver. My parents left to inform my grandparents about Larry, and left me home alone. Feeling a new kind of pain, I did not know how to cope with my feelings. I responded by crumbling to the floor screaming in tears of why life was so cruel to innocent and strong people. The crying did not stop until my neighbor knocked on the door. Wiping the tears, I pretended as if nothing was wrong. I found myself not wanting to express my pain to others; however, my neighbor knew of the situation and wrapped me in a hug where I could no longer hold the sorrow inside any longer. I realized that in order to be okay, I had to relieve all the pain inside until there was none left, and engage in the world, seeing the brightness and life that was still all around. In similar circumstances, people do

There were so many other things that went on, and other way I had grown throughout the week. THis one growth, however, stuck out to me the most. With trusting God, I and so many others will be able to do amazing things we never thought we could do. And with trusting God, after a little bit, can come some

Even though I changed things for the better, there was still a cloud over my head and it was difficult to find peace. At the Y.M.C.A. where I had been working out was an attendant who always had a Bible opened. I had always been curious about the Bible, even though I didn’t doubt it was authentic, it was boring to me and read like a history book. I lacked the Spirit to lead, guide, and direct me through the Scriptures. He invited me to his church, and prior to the service we went into the prayer room where many were praying and I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. All bondage was immediately removed and the peace of God was in my life from that specific moment on. It’s a wonderful experience because I can always draw strength from that moment of transformation to cast out any doubt of Jesus being the Messiah.