WEBVTT 00:00.009 --> 00:02.009 Hello . I'm chaplain . Jeff Simpson 00:02.009 --> 00:04.065 Wing chaplain at air base , Kuwait . 00:04.070 --> 00:06.949 Welcome to my fireside chat . There's a 00:06.960 --> 00:10.390 phrase or a quote that I found the 00:10.399 --> 00:12.510 other day and it says it's an unknown 00:12.510 --> 00:15.109 author and it says anything worth doing 00:15.119 --> 00:17.397 is worth doing it right the first time . 00:17.770 --> 00:20.469 But I would like to add that it's worth 00:20.479 --> 00:22.690 doing it right every time . And that 00:22.700 --> 00:24.750 adds to my whole point of finishing 00:24.760 --> 00:27.010 strong . There's a story of an elderly 00:27.020 --> 00:29.930 carpenter who wanted to retire and he 00:29.940 --> 00:32.639 told his employer I'd like to retire . 00:32.650 --> 00:35.069 You know , I've really enjoyed the work 00:35.080 --> 00:38.200 here , but I'm ready to give it quit . 00:38.590 --> 00:41.270 And so obviously the employer was 00:41.279 --> 00:43.459 disappointed he , this , this person 00:43.470 --> 00:45.470 had a very good reputation , was an 00:45.470 --> 00:48.080 excellent skilled craftsman . And so 00:48.090 --> 00:50.312 the employer said , would you do me one 00:50.312 --> 00:52.201 more favor ? Would you ? I've got 00:52.201 --> 00:54.257 another house on my list . I need to 00:54.257 --> 00:56.534 have done . You're the person to do it . 00:56.849 --> 00:58.793 Would you mind doing building that 00:58.793 --> 01:00.793 house for me ? And so the carpenter 01:00.793 --> 01:02.738 said , sure . So he's building the 01:02.738 --> 01:05.580 house and , but he's , he has short 01:05.589 --> 01:09.059 timers , he's ready to retire and he 01:09.069 --> 01:11.309 starts taking shortcuts , he starts 01:11.319 --> 01:13.375 doing shoddy work . He wants to just 01:13.375 --> 01:16.690 get it done so he can retire . He gets 01:16.699 --> 01:19.599 it done , it gets inspected . And the 01:19.610 --> 01:21.699 employer comes to the carpenter and 01:21.709 --> 01:24.510 said , you know , thank you for what 01:24.519 --> 01:26.463 you've done for me . All the years 01:26.463 --> 01:28.519 you've worked with me . Here are the 01:28.519 --> 01:31.080 keys to the house , my gift to you . 01:31.830 --> 01:33.997 Now , can you imagine putting yourself 01:33.997 --> 01:36.190 in that person's shoes ? Thinking if I 01:36.199 --> 01:38.550 only had known that I was building my 01:38.559 --> 01:40.615 own house , I would have done things 01:40.615 --> 01:42.281 different . I would have done 01:42.281 --> 01:44.550 everything right every time finishing 01:44.559 --> 01:46.559 all the way through . So think with 01:46.559 --> 01:48.559 that in mind , I don't want to walk 01:48.559 --> 01:50.726 away from this deployment . Regretting 01:50.726 --> 01:52.837 the last few weeks , I want to finish 01:52.837 --> 01:55.059 strong . It's easy for me to just coast 01:55.059 --> 01:57.059 through and this is not the time to 01:57.059 --> 01:59.170 coast , but just to coast through the 01:59.170 --> 02:01.392 last few weeks or a few days , whatever 02:01.392 --> 02:03.559 it is that you have here and then walk 02:03.559 --> 02:02.410 away and think , you know , I could 02:02.419 --> 02:04.586 have done that a little differently at 02:04.586 --> 02:06.808 the end there , I could have finished a 02:06.808 --> 02:08.975 little stronger . You continue to make 02:08.975 --> 02:11.149 an impact . Paul's valedictory address 02:11.729 --> 02:13.729 in the Bible in the New Testament . 02:13.729 --> 02:15.673 Second Timothy 47 . It says I have 02:15.673 --> 02:17.949 fought the good fight . I have finished 02:17.960 --> 02:21.309 the course . I have kept the faith . 02:22.580 --> 02:25.240 So let's finish strong one day at a 02:25.250 --> 02:27.306 time , one week at a time , whatever 02:27.306 --> 02:29.528 you have left and I wanna encourage you 02:29.528 --> 02:31.110 to stay strong , my friends .