Each of us who has served or is serving had to go through boot camp. My first-hand experience of going from civilian to military life happened in the summer of 1985 during a 6-week boot camp experience the U.S. Naval Academy called “Plebe Summer.” It wasn’t fun, but I learned valuable life-lessons through it.

Lesson 1: Sometimes you just have to push through the physical pain.

One of the more visible transformations of this was to be handed a stack of unflattering clothing and then being told to swap into everything, including the “granny panties.” This clothing transformation was quickly trumped by an explosion of painful blisters, thanks to newly-acquired footgear designed by the lowest bidder.

Recently, I was reminded of that first boot camp lesson of “pushing through.” As I floated the Comal River near Randolph AFB, TX with my good friend Laurine, my inner tube quickly sprung a leak. I spent the next 2 hours in the water rather than on it.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the consequences of having damp, soft feet when I later joined Laurine in walking her dogs for several miles. Big fat blisters showed up on both feet.

The next morning, Laurine suggested I rest my feet instead of walking the dogs after seeing my pile of band-aid wrappers. No way! Spending time with my friend meant choosing to “embrace the suck” of exercising with blistered feet.

Lesson 2: Sometimes you have to face emotional pain together.

Another lesson I learned during the boot camp experience was to “never bilge a [shipmate]” – or “working together as a unit is required” – and sometimes this meant embracing emotional pain.

During my initial summer training, I was assigned two roommates. We weren’t allowed to leave our room unless we did so together. When screaming squad leaders filled the passageways, we had to collectively gather our wits and our courage and head out into “the scary”…together.

One night, as we were learning to march in formation, a squad leader told one roommate to “brace up” and make her face expressionless. According to him, she “looked like her mother just died.” Actually, her mom had taken her own life about a year prior. On that same day, another squad leader yelled at my other roommate for not knowing what her father’s rank looked like on his uniform. Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall seeing her dad wear his uniform because he never returned from the Vietnam War.

I don’t remember being of any help that awful boot camp day. However, I do remember being present – being together – during a time of emotional pain.

Military friendships can last for decades! (Kristin with one of her upperclass roommates, Lynn.)

Just recently, God clearly prompted me to address the damage I had done in a long-past relationship. Finding the necessary courage to head into that scary place happened because I was able to do so after watching Karen, a dear classmate from those long-ago days at the Naval Academy, head into “the scary” herself.

Lesson 3: Sometimes facing spiritual pain can turn into a never-boring life of walking with Jesus.

Falling asleep at the end of each training day proved to be a challenge as I worried about every failure and feared the pain that the next day would bring.

I finally resorted to reading a thin paperback book titled, Devotions for Winners. The single paragraph explanation of a single verse from the Bible was enough to rest my soul. I also began to go to Sunday School for the donuts and the air conditioning.

By the end of my summer training, I craved more than donuts and dry skin. I longed for a deeper, permanent relationship with God after many “Help! Now!” prayers.

For over 30 years now, my faith journey, with its twisting, messy detours, has been intertwined with my place within the military community. From recruit to graduation, from initial assignments to follow-on schools, to receiving my DD214 and being issued an active-duty dependent ID card, and to now having a retiree dependent ID card, I’m thankful for the lessons learned at boot camp.

Lesson 1: Sometimes you just have to push through the physical pain.

Lesson 2: Sometimes you have to face emotional pain together.

Lesson 3: Sometimes facing spiritual pain can turn into a never-boring life of walking with Jesus.

Photo and Graphics by Christie Esterline. Christie and Kristin served together in women’s ministry at Ft. Riley, KS.

July 2, 1985 after being sworn-in to the Navy as MIDN 4/C Reynolds