Preston Mitchell's Blog

Veterans Day 2010

    As the son of a veteran of WW2, I never really gave Veterans Day much thought.  It wasn't until I attended my Dad's 42nd Rainbow Division reunion that I got what it meant to be a veteran.  As I listened to their stories of being young men in battle, I was amazed at the humor, love and pride in  their stories.  There was no bitterness or hate.  I saw a special bond between veterans that none of us outsiders could ever experience. 

    In 1961, my uncle and his team were secretly serving as a Green Beret adviser to the RLA (Royal Laotian Army) in Laos.  On April 22nd, they were surrounded by the Pathet-Lao communist forces.  Two men were killed during the attack and my uncle and another man was captured.  Here is his story:

REMARKS: KIA N ESCAPE UG 0944 - J

SYNOPSIS: The early 1960's marked a period of civil war and military coups
in the country of Laos which resulted in major objectives being taken by
Kong Le-Pathet Lao communist forces. Kong Le had himself been a graduate of
the CIA-sponsored Philippine scout and ranger school and had announced that
he was fighting the corrupt royal government headed by Prince Souvanna
Phouma. Kong Le found support from the Soviets, who assisted him in
defeating Gen. Phoumi Nosavan's countercoup forces at the capitol city of
Vientiane in December 1960. Pathet Lao troops were airlifted by the Soviets
to take the Plaine des Jarres region in March 1961.

Although Gen. Nosavan and Groupement 12 of the new Forces Armees de Laos
continued to give chase to Kong Le and his troops, they were not successful
in regaining the Plain of Jars. In early March two Pathet Lao battalions
drove Groupement 12 back toward Vang Vieng. Capt. Walter Moon's four-man
Field Training Team FTT-59, MAAG, of the 7th Special Forces Group was
attached to the 6th Bataillon d'infanterie (Lao) at Ban Pha Home, about
thirty miles north of Vang Vieng. On April 22, 1961, the battalion was
subjected to a heavy and accurate artillery barrage and was rapidly flanked
at Phou Tesao.

Shortly after the battalion commander announced that they were cut off, the
perimeter collapsed and the Pathet Lao quickly overran the battalion
positions. The team's commander, Capt. Walter Moon, was captured in the
initial attack.

SFC John M. Bischoff (the medic), Sgt. Gerald M. Biber (the radio operator),
and some Laotian soldiers jumped aboard an armored car, heading south on
Route 13,  in a breakout effort. According to Lao survivors, they crouched
behind the turret, but the car came under heavy grenade attack. Sgt.
Bischoff fired a machine gun from the vehicle until he was shot through the
neck and killed. Sgt. Biber had already been wounded and was apparently
killed by stick grenades thrown against the armored car. The vehicle was
halted and its crew captured.

Sgt. Orville R. Ballinger, demolitions sergeant, escaped through the jungle
and linked up with some Lao soldiers. They found a boat and were going
downriver when they were surprised and captured by the Pathet Lao seven days
later. Sgt. Ballenger were eventually released in August 1962.

Capt. Moon tried to escape twice during his confinement, and on the last
attempt was wounded in the chest and head. According to Ballinger, Moon's
head injury caused him to be come mentally unbalanced, and after several
months of persecution, he was executed in his prison quarters at Lat Theoung
by a Meo guard and a Pathet Lao officer on July 22, 1961. The Pathet Lao
have consistently denied knowledge of Moon, Biber or Bischoff.

In 1984, James "Bo" Gritz, a highly decorated former Special Forces colonel,
brought documents and a photograph pertaining to Moon from Laos and gave
them to the U.S. Government. Moon's wife positively identified the
photograph and Moon's signature. The Government stated that the photograph
was made May 6, 1961, two weeks after Moon's capture. (Moon was normally
clean-shaven but had, according to USG, grown a full beard in 2 weeks!)

Though the documents were taken from a large collection of 250-300 similar
documents held by the Lao People's Army in Laos, the U.S. refused to demand
the information from the Lao. The Defense Intelligence Agency, according to
Congressman Stephen Solarz, has full knowledge of this collection.

Whether Biber and Bischoff survived the ambush on April 22, 1961 is unknown.
They and Moon are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos and did
not return.

 My uncle was tortured, tied up, starved, shot, stoned and driven out of his mind during his imprisionment as a POW.  All for the price of freedom.  He died a young man.  His children never really knew him.  His wife was denied the happiness and love of marriage.  I was only around Uncle Walt (or Bill Jack) once or twice as a small kid.  But he has always been my hero.  He was awarded the Silver Star by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

Today, we honor veterans like Captain Walter H. Moon.  Veterans Day is personal to me.  I pray that today, we all pray for our military veterans and their families.  This should be the most special day of the year.

 

 

True Love

These past few days have been special for our family. Our son-in-law David came home for R&R from Iraq. Mallory hasn't seen him in about 7 months. Saturday, he returns to Iraq to complete his duty. Hopefully, he will be back in March and they will live together for several months as he completes Captain's School at Ft. Sill, OK. After that, who knows?

I can't imagine how joyful Mallory was when David walked off the plane. Mallory has the drama gene in her, so when she gets excited, everyone will know it. What a courageous demonstration of love and commitment to marriage. We can talk about it all we want, but is supernatural love and commitment real in your marriage and relationships?

Their reunion was a snapshot of what to expect when we enter into eternity. When we see Jesus for the first time, I imagine I will run to him and throw myself in His arms like Mallory did to David. I can't wait for that reunion in the future.

We have moved recently.  Our new address is 7800 Fairwest Ct., North Ricland Hills, 76182.  God has been working in incredible ways around our family.  We are so blessed and loved by the Author of Love.  We don't understand the reasons, but we will gratefully accept and follow God's plan for our lives.

Hanging with the Aging

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to visit my Mom.  Just me.  No wife, kids or other family.  It was her and me. It's the first time my Mom and I have been together like that since high school.  We were between moving out and moving in to our new home.  Dedo had planned to be out of town a few days, so I decided to visit her while I had a few days to spare.

The highlight of my time with her was escorting her and the Sr. Adults 6 Sunday School class from First Baptist Church, Van Buren, Ark. About 50 people rode a bus from Van Buren, Ark. to Little Rock to see a dinner theater.  With the success of dinner theater in Bransom, there seem to be more of them popping up around NW Arkansas.  I don't know of any in Texas, so it may be an Arkansas thing.  So there I was, the youngest person on the bus.  Talk about strange.  It's been a long time since I have been the youngest at anything I've attended.  The guy closest to my age was probable about 12 years older than me.  My Mom, who is 81 was one of the oldest.  Most of them were in their 70's.  

We had about a two hour drive to Little Rock.  We stopped at the mall in Little Rock for a little shopping, then on to our dinner theater event.  The buffet was okay and the show was good - if you like southern mountain gospel and Baptist jokes.  It was a hoot.  The actors and singers played every stringed instrument you can imagine, plus a washboard, jars, bells and all kinds of sound making devices not used in today's music scene.  Imagine Hee Haw with the Gaither Family and you'll have some idea of the show.  The biggest laugh of the show was the girl who made up sign language for every word in every song.  Let your creative minds run loose with that challenge. 

As I sat with my big city pride hoping that no one recognized me, I glanced over at my Mom.  Her face was shining with joy.  She laughed at all the jokes so hard, she was crying,  She clapped with the music and had  the time of her life. I felt like an idiot at that point. I realized that this whole thing was about her, not me.  If she was having a great time, than I was happy.  When I got happy, I laughed at a few of the jokes, clapped my hands and sang along with the songs. Me and Mom.  Together.

On the way home while I was trying to sleep, these elderly people were talking, laughing, playing cards, telling jokes and causing general mayhem on the bus. At 1 am in the morning!  It was like riding back from camp with a bunch of high school students. I wondered what was going on with some of the singles on the bus who were sitting next to each other. I concluded that growing older is not going to be as bad as I thought.  As long as we are with people we love and enjoy life to the fullest and stay connected to the church, age doesn't matter.  I know a lot of teenagers who don't have as much joy for life as these elderly people. Aging isn't as scary as it used to be after I jumped off the bus with my Mom. 

I can't say that I am looking forward to aging, but as I do, I'll be a lot happier about it! 

Father

Being a father is one of the greatest joys of my life.  I am not the best father by far, but to this point the kids have turned out great, thanks to my wife.  Looking back to the birth of Whitney in 1984, neither one of us had a clue about parenting.  We didn't even know how to change a diaper, so we were starting from scratch.

There were some great days and some horrible days.  But most of my days parenting consisted of praying, using a lot of common sense and always  believing that God has a purpose for these children he had blessed us with.  Now that they are all gone, I am surprised by the fact that I am still parenting.  The only difference is they listen now!  I am a survivor.  Here are some of the things I learned about being a parent:

1.    You can never afford children.  When you have them, God supernaturally expands the budget to allow you to somehow make it.  When they become teens, you turn into a ATM machine shooting out $20's at an unbelievable pace.

2.    Teaching them to value authority is vital.  One of the biggest problems I see in preschoolers to teenagers today is lack of respect for authority.  Most of them have never been told no, and so they feel that anything they do is their business.  Once they get their first real job, they will discover that's not the way the world works.  We fall under someone's authority at almost every point of our life.  And we are all under the authority of our heavenly Father!  I see way to much permissive parenting around and parents are asking for trouble down the road.

3.    Leading them to Christ is our responsibility Dads.  It's not the pastor, your wive, neighbors or anyone else.  I believe that God intended the spiritual leader of the family to lead children to Christ.  When you understand that, it really makes you think about how you live your life around preschoolers.  They watch, listen and learn from you.  How will you lead them to Christ if you aren't following Christ yourself.

4.    The way we treat our wives is the most influential part of parenting.  We model Christ's love to our children and in most cases, they are going to model the love you taught them as a husband and wife.

5.    We are responsible for the legacy we pass to our kids.  We will all pass down a legacy, the question is what will it be?  A legacy of love, joy and integrity, or a legacy of bitterness, selfishness and addiction.  The Bible is clear about generational curses being passed from one generation to another.  You may be the generation to break the curse! 

6.    The church is the most important extra curricular activity for the family. We decided at the beginning that we would center our lives around the church.  Even before I became a pastor, we did that.  God has blessed our family with great kids because of our commitment to His church.

I could add other things on, but I'll let you do that if you want.  I am so privileged to have Whitney, Mallory and Cameron and Dedo, the greatest wife in the world.  My daughters have married two strong Christ-followers who love them as Christ loved the church!   I am sure Cameron will find a godly wife as he gets older.

As I celebrate Father's Day, I just thank God for taking my hand and leading me down the path of fatherhood!

Anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of my kidney transplant.  It's hard to believe that it's been a year.  This is a strategic anniversary because I now have a much better chance of keeping the kidney longer after surviving for a year. 

As I think back to one year ago today, it was Easter Sunday.  As we celebrated the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, I was experiencing resurrection from near death on that day.  I grieve for the young boy who died so that I could live.  I thank God for the team of nurses and doctors who made the miracle happen.  I thank all my friends who visited, brought food, sent cards and prayed for me.  I thank God for the family of staff at Fellowship Church who supported our family through some difficult times.  Most of all, I thank God for His healing power in my life. My kidney is working well and I am considered normal (by most people).  I also thank God for Dedo, who not only had to care for me, but plan two weddings last summer.  She was my rock and I could not have done it without her.

Someone asked me last night if I ever felt angry at God for allowing kidney failure to happen to me.  I can honestly say that I never was angry at God.  I asked a lot of questions, I had doubts and disappointments, but God never let me down.  Through everything, He was present with me at all times.

How long will this kidney last?  I don't know.  I just know that I am going to enjoy all the days I have left to follow after my Savior.

Crisis of Ageing

I think I have officially entered a middle-aged crisis. It's taken me a long time to get to this point.  The key is to find my way out of the crisis while still growing older.  Age is more of a mental state than a physical state.  When the mid-life crises strike, we can't let our minds grow old.  It is easy to do.  I find myself more aware of the changes in my body, the aches and pains,  feeling out of place in a room full of younger people, worrying about retirement and whether I have done a good job of preparing my family financially.  Am I relevant and do I replinish the people I hang around with or do I just drain the life out of them?  I find that today more than ever, I have to challenge myself to stay mentally young.  Working as a student pastor is a good way to do that.  Trying to keep up with the challenges that face our teens keeps me young at heart.  But if you aren't a student pastor, here are some of the things you can do to keep your mind young:

*    Dress as young as I can without looking like an idiot.   There is a fine line.  What you wear determines how you feel.  Best way to tell is to ask one of your children.  They will tell you the truth.

*    Hang around younger people.  It's more exciting to be with younger people.  When I am around people my age (for the most part) I feel old.  

*    Keep up with technology like Facebook and Twitter.  You can go overboard with them, but like it or not, that's what younger people are using today to build community.  I don't have a Kindle yet, but who knows?

*   Read books and newspapers and go to movies.  Keping up with the culture is important to staying relevant to our culture. 

*    Remember that we are a vital resource to our community.  I can help younger men who may be struggling in marriage or jobs or whatever.  I can look back and say that I have just about experienced it all.  

*    Change taste in music.  I will always love the Beatles, but now I enjoy John Mayer, Cold Play and Sara Barriles among others.  Sorry, I can't do the rap thing.  Having a 19-year old musician in the house will make me listen to all kinds of music.

*   Serving at a church with an exciting future.  I pray to God that I stay in the mainstream of life so that I can make a difference for Him.  I love Fellowship Church and what God is doing today and what He will do in the future. I can't miss it.

If you are like me, keep it young. 

Real Life Marriage

The fight is on at the Mitchell house.  Do we or do we not move to a smaller home?  Maybe even a town home.  Dedo and I have been debating this decision for several months.  Most of our kids have left the house and the last one is getting close to leaving.   As I get older, the less I want to do around the house.  I am tired of paying money for a pool we never use, for a huge lawn and landscaping costs, electric and gas bills that are out the roof....you get the picture.  Dedo, on the other hand, wants to have a house large enough to sleep 12 - that is if our kids and their familes want to stay with us.  It looks like all of them are going to live around here, so do we really need that big of a house?  She wants a home that is large enought to have 50 people over for dinner.  I don't even know 50 people. She wants square footage, I want less footage . I want to travel.  She wants to host events.   Seems like a train wreck about to happen.

This is the age old question - who decides the deal?  According to Scripture, I am the head of the household.  When a decision cannot be reached by mutual consent, I have the final say.  Sounds good until you are faced with that decision.  But after 28 years of marriage, I would not make a decision unless Dedo agrees with me.  I trust her judgement more than I trust my own.  She is right more times than I am. God gifts women with a discernment that men don't have.  Any man who thinks they know more than their wife is kidding himself.  

So I have decided to put a halt on moving.  The economy is so wacky and there are so many unanswered questions in my life that this is not a good time to make a major decision.  Dedo and I have mutually agreed that later this spring, we will revisit our decision and see where we think God is directing.  I've decided to look at refinancing and working on things around the house that need fixing. 

We feel great about that decision - and we made it as a team.  God knows best how to wire a marriage together.  And when we do it His way, it always works for the good.  

Off the Payroll

January 5^th was a special day.  My last child has finally left the family payroll.  For parents, that is a huge deal.  Cameron graduated from high school and decided he wanted to work at Fellowship.  There is no doubt he is where God has gifted him to be.  After sending two kids to college, I don’t have to pay tuition, books and room and board again. Marrying off two daughters this summer has significantly lowered our expenses. They give money to us now halleluiah!  Cameron is paying for his car payment, gas, food, clothes, dates and all other expenses.  We let him live at home, but that’s it.  When he gets married, I am not financially responsible! This may be a tough ecomomic year for the US, but I am llooking forward to it. 

 

For all you parents with little kids, there is hope.  Enjoy the time and money you spend with your children because it is well worth it.  Live within your income and bring the tithe to the House and God will bless you.  But when the kids leave, celebrate good times, come on!  We love our kids, but Dedo and I can do just about anything we want to now.  I will be ready for grandkids in about 5 years, but I am enjoying right where I am in my life. 

If you see me with a big grin, now you know why!