Jane Cook - Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

Akin passed down a principle found in Ephesians 2:10 to his six children. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

“What most people know intuitively is that God made us unique. That’s a very common thought. But the other part of this verse says ‘from the beginning of time, before the ages, God had a job that every single one of us are called and prepared to do for him,’” Akin explained.

That desire to find a purpose in life begins early. Adults often ask children what they want to do when they grow up. Children may answer “be a fireman” or “be a doctor” but they often aren’t sure. What children do know is this: they want to do something.

“Most people don’t really know what they want to do at an early age but there’s something inside that’s guiding and pulling them in certain directions, so they try this or that. My belief is that every one of us has a sort of a destiny something we were created to do for the Lord.”

Akin witnessed this guiding and pulling in his son. As a boy, Perry started a Marine club with his brothers and friends. They bought used uniforms and little wooden rifles from an army surplus store to use in their club.

“They stood at attention in line. They raised the American flag on the flag pole. They tied pieces of clothes line to the top of trees. They took big steel pulleys and slid down the line, crashing into the ground. But they were tough and didn’t cry because the Marines don’t cry,” he reflected with a laugh.

It was no surprise to Akin when Perry entered the Naval Academy. Perry’s decision to become a Marine was the workmanship of God, manifested in childhood.

“And so it takes courage, a great deal of courage to chase the dream that God puts in your heart. Yet you can do it because you know the Lord is with you. And so that’s something that I taught to my children,” Akin explained.

It’s never too late to seek God’s purpose for your life. It simply takes faith to ask God for direction and courage to follow where he leads.

Lord, give me the courage to pursue the dreams you have put in my heart.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

While at the Naval Academy, Perry Akin followed the dreams God placed in his heart. His senior year and subsequent training brought a few news-worthy moments to his dad, Congressman Todd Akin.

“Father I would like to have permission to enter into courtship with your scheduler,” Perry requested. The young scheduler was Amanda, a member of Akin’s staff.

“Not my scheduler?” the stunned congressman replied. “She’s seven years older than you are.”

“Well, Dad, she’s a godly woman, and she’d make a really good wife even though she’s seven years older,” Perry responded.

Congressman Akin agreed. His scheduler eventually became his daughter-in-law. After finishing the Naval Academy, Perry entered the United States Marine Corps.

“He went through basic training, contracted mononucleosis somehow, was sicker than a dog, and finished his training in spite of it. He was still recovering from mono when he went to Camp Lejeune. Even being under the weather, Perry succeeded in passing the Marine life-saving training. (Because this experience is so hard, a small percentage of people ever pass the test.) He’s very self-disciplined,” Akin described with fatherly pride.

As the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Congressman Akin was well-briefed on Iraq. “Then in January 2005 came the biggest news of all: Perry was being shipped to Fallujah. His mother and I were concerned because we kept reading in the newspaper about Marines who had died while there.”

Perry’s maturity was evident as he reassured his parents of his faith in God and reminded them to acknowledge the Lord in all circumstances. “You know, my days on this earth are exactly as long as the Lord allows them to be. Nothing I can do can make them grow shorter or longer. It is all in the Lord’s hands.”

“So we put our trust in God. Perry reminded his mother and me of the Lord’s direction as he went to serve,” Akin said of his resolution to trust God while his son was in Iraq.

From the choices we make to the uncontrollable conditions we face, God reminds us to trust in him and not in our own understanding.

Thank you for reminding me to turn to you in trust and faith, especially when life brings surprising news.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)

Lt. Perry Akin’s first great challenge came within days of arriving in Fallujah in January 2005. One responsibility was looking for IEDs. Perry just about found one in a puddle on a road in the rainy season, but he looked at it and concluded that it wasn’t an IED. A short time later, a Humvee drove over the road, and to the dismay of Perry, there was an IED in that puddle. It destroyed the Humvee, but fortunately, did not kill the driver.

“It was a place where an enemy was sitting with a detonator; he could have easily pushed the button when he saw Perry standing and looking at that puddle,” Akin noted of the close call.

The next great challenge came a few months later when Perry was promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant. About this time Congressman Akin was part of a Congressional delegation to Baghdad. Akin received permission to meet with Perry while in Fallujah, his gunny sergeant, the major and lieutenant colonel in charge.

Less than twenty hours later, Akin was on a plane returning to the United States. About the same time, Perry and his men were constructing a roadside guard station. Suddenly mortar rounds started coming in; numerous troops were struck with shrapnel. Perry ran for cover with his gunny when a 120mm mortar round landed ten feet from them. That mortar was the size of a cantaloupe, Akin said, using his hands to illustrate the size by making a circle.

“If it had gone off, I would have been in tiny little pieces, but the round was a dud,” Perry said. Perry’s own words “that his days on earth were exactly as long as the Lord allows them to be” brought comfort. They allowed Congressman Akin to make sense of the miracle.

“It wasn’t God’s time to take Perry. My son had a sense that God had a purpose and a time for all things,” Akin said, reflecting on Ephesians 2:10.

Survival is a mystery. Why do some die while others survive? It’s the question and mystery of the ages. Yet God reminds the living that he has work for them yet to do.

I praise you for those miracles, the blessings of the battlefield. May they remind me of my own purpose, the one you have given especially to me.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)

When Congressman Akin visited his son, Lt. Perry Akin, in Fallujah in March 2005, he asked many questions about the leadership in Iraq. One answer shocked him.