From the very beginning of my memory I only wanted to be a SEAL. Nothing else mattered to me as I grew up. I was baptized as a Christian while a baby and always was active in Church.
While in college I began talking to recruiters and was nearing my dream of having my shot at BUDS. Suddenly I began feeling very sick and a doctor’s visit confirmed I had endocarditis and a damaged aortic heart valve. The valve needed to be replaced and I was to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. My dream was instantly shattered and I was a disqual.
I became very bitter and lived for the next twenty years bouncing from job to job with no satisfaction, living my life in constant regret.
There was no magic moment of change, but I now have found peace in the Lord. I have a wonderful wife and two beautiful 15 year old twin boys who now share my dream and want to enter the Spec Ops world.
I am an Officer in the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps and have found my calling being able to work with outstanding teens whom we train for a future in the military. My own boys shine in our Division and I see God’s perfect plan in them. Rather than me, I believe that the Navy will now have two outstanding warriors.
God only closes doors to open better ones. I no longer question his will and realize that had my dream come true so long ago my life would have been forever different and I would not have my family.
I am very fortunate to have stayed close to the military and serve our nation in my capacity at USNSCC. I now dedicate myself to serving God and look forward to his plan for me each morning.
Trust, do not question God and never quit!
E.S.