Chaplains Corner: Facing your darkest hour Published April 30, 2009 By Chaplain (Lt.) Steve Mills Navy Chaplain TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- A few months ago, I experienced a very dark day. All my information (every sermon I have preached, article written, school papers, etc...) on my thumb drive went kaput. I lost it all. I had been working on a research paper and all of a sudden, the pop-up window says "Windows has encountered an error. Please save your information before closing the program." That's what it says. What it really means is, "You have just lost all of your information. You can hit save if you want to, it doesn't matter. It's gone!" I went through the stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, bargaining and acceptance (not sure I ever got to this one). I quit working, watched John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies and ate chips and salsa all weekend. It was a dark time. I had been working on my doctorate for two years and in the blink of an eye, it wasn't there. Many of you have gone through much darker times than losing information on a thumb drive. You have journeyed through the death of a loved one or the sickness of a relative. You have walked through the valley of the shadow of death. What do you do? How does one get through the darkness that tempts and snares at every turn? Realize, as David did, that the Lord is your shepherd. When you walk through the depression, the anger, the hurt, the betrayal accept that you are not walking alone. God is with you, His rod (protection) and staff (guidance) give you comfort. I told a friend about losing the information. He took my thumb drive and found all the data. Even though I couldn't see it, it was there the whole time. It took someone else, someone who knew more about computers than me to redeem the records. My dear friend, when you are surrounded and are unable to see a way out, the mighty God of Heaven sees the path you need to travel and will lead out of the valley.