Ideas for New Recruits

[Brenda Sue]

I understand that a lot of kids NEED those letters every day while in boot camp. In the rush of life, it is sometimes hard to find something to send them everyday (besides the sports and weather reports). I wanted to start a discussion where we could post things that we have sent out sailors.

[Brenda Sue]

This is something that a mom wrote and sent her son in boot camp. Thanks, Beverly Stanton for sharing. It sent chills down my spine and I have sent it to several different sailors that I have had a chance to write.

I bet it was odd thinking you could be standing, at times, in the exact same spot another young man who'd been ordered to choose between the Navy and prison might have stood & gotten yelled at before he went off to make his home on a ship under constant attack. I could not imagine eating at a table where young men had eaten before. Young men who'd been drafted into Navy service during wartime, against their free will, which’d been sent to a place in a jungle where they might not have eaten for days.
It must be hard to learn to trust someone you've just met to guard your backside, whether at boot camp or on deployment. It must be stressful to learn in such a short amount of time so many new things those Chiefs told you that you would need to know if something went wrong in a dangerous situation.
I just could not fathom sleeping in a bed, in a dorm; so old, where so many young men had slept before him, knowing some had even cried there before falling asleep, missing their moms' and dads', full of their own homesickness. Some only to live only a short while after leaving that place.
I would imagine it was beyond strange to be looking out over those grounds and buildings where so many, just like you, had gone before, that at times I would imagine you could almost feel them standing there, beside you.
I'm sure you must be awestruck thinking on the sheer number of young men who upon leaving that place found the wisdom, the strength and the courage to do more than the jobs they were assigned. I bet it made you proud to go where so many heroes had been before. And that I am sure, beyond doubt, that if you should ever be called yourself, to find that same wisdom and strength, your own courage would not fail you. Because you too, now stand where many will come after you.
Because you too,are now a hero!!

I hope you enjoy this!!

[Brenda Sue]

This is from Lynn Meeks - thanks, Lynn - (I changed it a little to send to a kid in boot camp)

The Tea Cup....
There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that."
"I don't like it!" "Let me alone," but He only smiled, and gently said; "Not yet!"
Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!", I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, quietly; 'Not yet.'
He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then He put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, 'Not yet'.
When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on he shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please, Stop it, Stop, I cried. He only shook his head and said. 'Not yet!'.
Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and He took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering "What's he going to do to me next?"
An hour later he handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!!!
Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you."
The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will.
So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", remember you are going to come out solid, firm and with a colorful future. You are a US Navy Sailor!!!

[terri]

I love this idea Robin! I just copied it and pasted it on a document, but it's for my son so I had to change it a bit _lol

[Kim - Josh's Mom]

I love this idea. I am making one up right now. I've called mine the Mommy Test.
He will get a kick out of it. I also get a lot of funnies from friends via email that i'm printing out and sending. (clean of course) That way he can share with others and have a laugh to lighten the day.

[April , PNM of Tyler]

One of Tyler's letters while in BC, we wrote on toilet paper. He said that he got a huge kick out of it and it made him laugh. Fold it up with the beginning of the letter facing out, then fold a piece of paper like you would when writing a letter and put it around the TP

[Donna]

Great idea about the toilet paper!! Somewhere on here I read about putting pictures of family and friends on address label stickers (they're small and can be stuck on letters or in cards). I made some for my son and they turned out great... stick a couple in every card. That way they have pics but don't have all the extra paper stuff. (again not my idea, but it is a good one) Also, my son is crazy about golf... I send him little jokes and snipets about golf.

[dusty's mom]

The dog wrote a letter. Actually I helped her. It had her picture on it and she told him how much she misses him. She told him she couldn't go to graduation, cause she didn't want to fly. It had a clip art paw print at the end.
 

[Robin (Ali's Mom)]

Love this one dusty's mom...going to do the same!!! Thanks

[Beth B. Smith]

Collin said the Sunday comics were a HUGE hit with everyone.

[Nancy Norton]

Hi..Just an idea...everytime I go somewhere..i pick up post cards from where we are from...Boston...Cape Cod...Plymouth..and every few days I send him one and keep him updated with the scores of the Red Sox..he is a big fan. This way he always has a little piece of home with him.

[Navy for Moms Admin]

I wanted to add this link- this has been talked about a few times (But I always love reading the new ideas!)
Letters and Cards... Click Here!