After my post To My Single Friends on Friday I told someone "I had to wait, God had to move Les to California!" This of course is true, but the whole story is quite remarkable.
While Les was in college he decided that being a corporate pilot would be a cool career. Flying executives across the country and back sounded like pretty neat stuff. He was taking engineering classes and they would fit quite nicely for this future endeavor. The way he planned to get his pilot training was through the Air Force. He was going to enlist in the Air Force Officer Training School. This was a twelve week training course, followed by two years as an officer in flight school, followed by four years of service, then he'd be free to "fly".
Shortly before Les graduated from Tennessee Tech in 1987, budget cuts put a stop to his plans. There were several other avenues but each door closed. He spent the summer after he graduated from college sending out his resume and praying that something would happen. Something did happen - he was offered a job at Rockwell International in the Rocketdyne Division, working on the Space Shuttle main engine. This meant a move from Tennessee to California and the rest is history. (You can read our history here.)
But the unseen part of the story was Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the resulting Desert Storm, or the First Gulf War. This war took place during the time when Les would have been in active duty. Only God knows where Les would have ended up during that time. United States casualties were 293 (113 by enemy fire, 145 in accidents, 35 to friendly fire) and we lost 28 fixed wing planes and 5 helicopters.
I'm so glad "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." (Psalm 37:23)
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