To Serve a Nation: A Veteran’s Take on Second

As a Navy SEAL, Remi Adeleke recalled “living in a foreign country where you know people want to kill you; you kind of live on edge; you always have to be attentive.”

Jessica, his wife, remembered longing for a time when she wouldn’t need to worry “about the constant threat of somebody harming [Remi] whether sleeping or awake; for him to experience the luxury of a hot shower and a comfortable bed.  And of course to just have him in my arms again!”

But they also knew that living Second in a me-first world was another very real battle they must fight. Fighting to be Second in a world of first is hard.  The battle can be gruesome and exhausting at times.  But we fight, because there is a battle to be won.  There is a victory.

“Being a Navy SEAL strengthened my faith exponentially,” Remi said. “Every day I knew that I could die at any moment. My career as a Navy SEAL helped me to not just read the afterlife promises of God, but to believe them and trust them wholeheartedly.”

As a Navy SEAL, he was trained to fight.  “I had to engage in warfare through many different methods,” he said. “My career in the physical as a warrior has helped me to prepare for my job in the spiritual, as a spiritual warrior.  I had to put on my breastplate, utility belt, helmet, shoes, and bring my weapons on every mission.  If I didn’t I would be combat ineffective.”

Military families face battles on two fronts, overseas and at home. “I really do have a new understanding and appreciation for what many military families go through,” Jessica said. “I took each day one at a time and put complete trust in God.  As long as I did not think my own thoughts, but instead, meditated on the faithfulness of God, I was ok.”

Because of their dedication to the fight for a life of Second Remi and Jessica were able to say, after the deployment the first month back home was pretty “normal”.  Jessica says Remi, “has such a mental toughness and most importantly, a complete trust in God, and I believe these attributes allowed his seamless adjustment back home.  He also spent the majority of his free time on deployment studying God’s word and I could see how that helped him greatly while away and on coming home.”