Day 45: Teachability

It has been a busy week as we have had multiple "range days" where we would essentially spend all day (and night) shooting at plastic targets in the middle of an open field. Looking back at the past week, I can't believe that I have intimately acquainted myself with pistols, rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and night vision technology (to the point of ad nauseum!!) which have now taken the place of my stethoscope, reflex hammer, tongue blades, pens, and pocket pharmacopoeia. Being a Christian physician has made these educational endeavors especially difficult since I am around people who seem to enjoy shooting at things and blowing things up.

In hopes of finding a life lesson from a week of seemingly meaningless target practice... I would have to say that I have learned about the invaluable virtue of being teachable. Out of all the military members in my group I am the least experienced when it comes to deployments & weapons familiarization. In other words, much of the military stuff that I have been learning has been way over my head. This has been extremely humbling considering that I'm used to being the mentor rather than the mentee. But, in allowing myself to remain teachable I have been reminded of several things:

(1) being teachable starts with being humble
(2) being teachable means respecting the knowledge and background of those who are teaching
(3) being teachable means realizing there is no shame in saying " I don't know"
(4) being teachable is an exercise in listening
(5) being teachable is an exercise in being patient
(6) being teachable opens yourself up for unparalleled opportunity and growth...remember Jesus' use of a seemingly random mix of disciples who ended up changing the world?

Hitting plastic tanks with a grenade launcher (mounted on the HUMVEE).
Try to spot the tanks off in the distance.

Check out the night vision goggles...FYI, don't look into the sun with them on...

Learning how to assemble and disassemble the "50 cal" machine gun with
Petty Officer Hemcher

"Make your ear attentive to wisdom. Incline your heart to understanding."
Proverbs 2:2 NASB