Bonus Time

As you read through this Cop Story, the quoted scripture is from Psalm 34.

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
² I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

Glenn is a man of God. He served for 22 years as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces with multiple deployments to the Middle East working with communities to build up local police departments. In 2012, Glenn prepared to leave on his final deployment overseas and started to believe that he was not going to return home. His intuition told him that he would be killed on the battlefield. The feeling was so strong that he reached out to a good friend, a pastor, and asked him to officiate at his memorial service. There is nothing like a “the end is near” feeling to drive you to get right with God. He realized he had many worries in his life and after prayer and contemplation, he found himself at peace. He had to be. He was not going to return home.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.

Out on deployment, Glenn volunteered for the more dangerous jobs when his team went out on patrol. He knew he was going to be killed and he could keep other people safe by taking these positions. Glenn took point (first in line), walking in the open and ready to repel any attack. Bring it.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
    and he delivers them.

Glenn would walk down narrow streets that were known to be places where insurgent forces would set ambushes. He was, after all, going to die. It was better him than someone else. On one particular patrol, Glenn found himself on point, moving into an alley that he should have walked passed. Halfway down the narrow passage, Glenn took a step. As his foot fell, he looked down and saw a dirt-covered, metal plate. It was the trigger of an improvised explosive device.  In a split second he realized that he was about to step on and set off the bomb. He could not stop in mid step and recognized he was about to die in a fiery explosion. His fellow soldiers would be lucky if they found a shoelace after the dust settled. His foot depressed the trigger, he heard the “click” . . .  nothing happened. The five gallon container filled with homemade explosives designed to take out a truck did not go off.  He was not dead.

¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;
²⁰ he protects all his bones,
    not one of them will be broken.

After the adrenaline of not getting blown up wore off, Glenn found himself in a spiritual crisis. Like Jacob wrestling the angel, Glenn wrestled with two questions: “Why didn’t I die?” and “Why did God keep me around?”

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
    for those who fear him lack nothing.

Glenn’s answer, his life was all Bonus Time. God had other plans for him. Now to figure out what those plans were. Glenn made it safely through his final deployment and returned home. He was even more steadfast in this faith. He started going to church with consistency and recommitted his life to Christ being baptized in the process.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from telling lies.
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

Glenn’s next assignment was at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Cal. He was the leader of a research and education team supporting military and law enforcement professionals to map the networks of gangs, cartels and terrorist groups. He was not at the tip of the spear any longer, but assisting with the development of crime and terrorism reduction strategies. It was here that Glenn and I met. A retired Assistant Police Chief in his Bonus Time walking alongside a warrior who was nearing the end of his military career wondering, “What was next?” Glenn and I talked a lot about his future. What was clear was that Glenn was not content being in the rear with the gear. His Bonus Time was the call to continue to serve as a warrior; God was calling him to be a police officer. Glenn would retire from the military in 2015 and six months later would be sworn in as a police officer in Layton, Utah. His Bonus Time will be to keep the Layton community safe just as he had served our Nation to keep the world safe. Perhaps his feeling that, “the end is near” was more about worry. God would fix that in an alley, half-way around the world.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
¹⁶ but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to blot out their name from the earth.