Ed’sStory

Written by cycleguy on June 12th, 2012

My guest post this week is from Ed Christian, one of the newer visitors to my blog.  Ed blogs here.  Make sure you check out his blog when you are done commenting.  It is not too late to be a part of this series of telling your story.  Contact me at pastor@ovcf.org for some guidelines.  Now…here’s Ed’sStory.

My name is Ed Christian and I will be 69 this December. I was raised on an Indian Reservation, mostly by my Grandfather. He taught me to read the bible for at least an hour a day. I let Jesus into my heart when I was twelve years old. It truly was the greatest day of my life! As I read the Bible I found I was intrigued from what I was learning and found myself reading more than the required one hour a day. I think I got to know God’s plan for me, as I learned He had a real personality.  As I think back I was awed that God is so knowable. In Psalms I found He is creative for us. He wants us to be aware of his power and to rely on Him.

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limits” (Psalms 147:5)

            I found God is always right and that His wisdom is unlimited. I found He understands my situations and knows all the events related to them. He can be trusted to lead you in the right direction all the time.

“No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame….” (Psalms 2:3)

I found I could go to God with anything, He is approachable. He welcomes us to come to Him and engage in conversation on any subject.

The Lord is near to all who calls on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” (Psalms 145:18)

Then I remembered that God is so forgiving. He has forgiven me of my sins and wiped them away, from the minute I first formed a relationship with Him.

“We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in the same way, no matter who we are or what we have done… We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His life for us.” (Romans 3:22, 25)

When I remember how I felt when Jesus first came into my heart, the joy of having my life given back to me as a child of God.

I also remember after I returned from Vietnam, He helped me recover from the horrors of war. Being a marine sniper during the Vietnam war did a number on me, left me completely broken, half dead and mostly out of my mind. On my last mission, in Cambodia, unknown to us, we were being targeted by four Chinese snipers. There were rumors China was helping the North Vietnamese but we had no proof. At any rate we found our target and rendered it harmless. On our return to base we were targeted and my spotter was killed taking a bullet that was meant for me. I completely lost it. After making sure he was well covered in brush, I took out after the Chinese. It took three days but I was able to find them and rendered them all harmless. I was shot in the leg in the process. I cleaned and wrapped my leg and made it back to where I hid my spotter. After redressing my wound, I managed to carry my spotter and myself back to base. Shortly after that I was returned stateside with my unit. At that time the country hated us marines and all military in Vietnam and we were spit on, had rocks and garbage thrown on us and worse of all the VA refused to give us the necessary treatment to heal our wounds and mental disorders.

Thanks to my family, friends and a very nice angel of a missionary, I was able to return to somewhat normal life after nine years or so. I must add I turned away from God during this time figuring He would never forgive for what I did over there. The missionary prayed with me and told me God never left me and he was always there for me. Now if I can just forgive myself.

It has been 41 years since I came home from Vietnam and I still have nightmares. They are getting better and I have come to the point where I forgave myself for what I did there. That God forgave me and blessed me with a wonderful family and friends has helped bring me around. My first wife left me when the nightmares were the worst, but God has blessed me with a wonderful woman, Ann my second wife who is my best friend and companion. We are very active in our church and are blessed daily with continuing good health. I do have two brain tumors that are inoperable, but can be managed with medicine. I get three shots in the back of my head every three months to help with the pain and have pain medicine to help me sleep at night.

To wake up every morning with a song in my heart and a blessing of another beautiful day. God is great and He is continuously blessing us with His grace.

Thank you for reading my story.

Efchristi2@yahoo.com

What would you like to tell Ed?  Feel free to comment and he will be able to answer.

 

24 Comments so far ↓

  1. Ed has neen a good friend over at my blog. I appreciate his encouragement and count him a brother.

  2. Daniel says:

    My pastor has been speaking recently about negativity and how pervasive it can be in our lives and in our personalities. What I see in your story is someone who has seen all the negativity that one can in life but has still chosen to look past it and focus on something beautiful. I call that victory.

  3. Tom says:

    Ed, thank you for your service and your story. You have a courageous story and a heart for God that shines. Praying for your health, your dreams and for your story to bless many.

  4. Susan says:

    Thank you, Ed. Your story is encouraging to me. I love to read about how my Father works in people’s lives.

  5. floyd says:

    Thank you Sir for your service to our country and reminding me that we still have bonafide heroes walking among us.

    God calls the truly strong people for His purpose… You Sir are the strong. Thank you for sharing from your heart. I can only think that the foundation of your reading God’s word as a youth is how God made you strong, mentally and physically.

    I’m praying for you. God bless.

    • cycleguy says:

      Too bad there was not more like you back when the boys came home from Nam. They were mistreated big time. I agree that his foundation held him up.

    • Thank you Floyd for your nice comment. I am not a hero, those who died serving our country are the real heros!

      God has truely blessed me over the years, I just pray I can earn all His blessings through helping others live through Him.

      Walk daily with God at your side!

      Ed

  6. tcavey says:

    Thank you Ed for sharing. There is healing in sharing. My father was a marine and in Vietnam during 1968-69. He died in 2008 from brain cancer- the VA still won’t fully acknowledge his exposure to Agent Orange and the role it played in his death. So often those who are set up to help (VA in this case) fail.
    It is hard to forgive- it is only through Christ that I have been able to forgive those who didn’t help my father.
    God bless you for your service to your country- I thank you for that. You will be in my prayers.

    • cycleguy says:

      Didn’t know that about your dad TC. Hooray for cover up (said sarcastically and w/ tongue-in-cheek)

    • TC, I am so sorry to hear about your father, a fellow Marine. The VA did not help us, in fact they all but destroyed the lives of thousands of Vietnam vets. It is a sore point with quite a few of us still today. After the fire in Saint Louis that burned all the service records of Vietnam service members it even got harder. Did you know there are still 10000 homeless Vietnam Vets in the US? I pray for them everyday and offer my support when I cross paths with one. It was and is unfortunate but it was a very unpopular war.
      God has never forgotten us though and His love is carrying many of us through. He has blessed me way beyond expectations and I share my blessings with all I can.

      Thank you so much for your comment! I will keep you and your family in my prayers.

      Walk daily with God at your side!

      Semper Fi!

      Ed

  7. Jan says:

    Ed, I am so sorry for the horrors you experienced in Vietnam and then to come home to even more misery, thank you for serving our country and for being strong during the most awful time of your life. I can just feel your love & complete devotion to God in your story. God has given you strength & peace. I will be praying for you Ed. Thank you for sharing such a powerful testimony.

    • cycleguy says:

      As I stated in an earlier comment, Jan, I cannot believe how our Nam vets were treated when they came home. They deserved so much more for fighting in a war that really had no purpose.

    • Jan, thank you so much for your nice comment. God is the center of my life and provides all that I am.
      Walk daily with God at your side!

      Ed

  8. Tammy says:

    Ed, Thank you for your service to our country. I’m sorry you suffered such atrocities in your time of service, when you came home, and still today. I guess it’s expected in war. But that you and others are still experiencing such neglect in our “civilized” society is just plain wrong…
    Thank you for sharing your story and giving God the glory in the midst of everything. You are an inspiration.

  9. Tammy, thank you for your kind words. Vietnam was not a popular war and people took it out on us who were sent there to do our job. Life is not always fair and has it’s ups and downs, that was a new low for our country.
    The bright side is that God is always there to answer your call 24/7 and He never complains. How lucky we are!

    Walk daily with God at your side!

    Ed

  10. Bill, thank you for the opportunity to share my story on your site. God has been so good to me and I felt it would be good to share it.
    Thank you again,

    Ed