Delayed But Not Denied

Photos by Billy Rutledge

Carrying bedding through her barracks, Kendal Woods suddenly felt her heart racing, going from 80 to 200 beats a minute. Concerned, she immediately checked in to the medical clinic on the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) campus. She was stunned by her diagnosis: atrial flutter—an irregular, often rapid heart rate that causes poor blood flow. While not life threatening if treated, it disqualified her from the Academy. Kendal, shocked by the diagnosis and subsequent Academy disenrollment, found herself back home on Hatteras Island, NC, just weeks after beginning her journey on July 2, 2018, to become a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) officer.

Kendal Woods (center) participates in the pageantry and beautiful traditions one day prior to her United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) graduation.

Life on Hatteras Island

“Living on an isolated island helped strengthen my ability to trust others and value a sense of community. It helped me see the value in making connections,” Kendal stated. Her mom, Ann, began attending Calvary Chapel-affiliated Hatteras Island Christian Fellowship (HICF) when Kendal and her twin sister, Krystle, were 11 years old. At 14, Kendal made a commitment to Christ, later attributing her growth in Christ to her discipleship at HICF. She recalled, “They were instrumental in developing me into a mature, well-grounded, and confident Christian … seeking to truly and humbly serve God and share His love and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

Proud mother, Ann Woods (left), and Kendal’s twin sister Krystle eagerly replace Kendal’s Academy Cadet shoulder boards with USCG Ensign shoulder boards.

Eyeing the Coast Guard

The USCG has maintained a presence on Hatteras Island since 1882. Familiar with the USCG’s activity on the small island, Kendal was attracted to their mission: “To ensure our Nation’s maritime safety, security and stewardship.”

Interested, she attended the Academy Introduction Mission Program (AIM), a one-week summer program that introduces high schoolers to the USCGA. She decided to join. “I wanted to serve in the military or in some other service-oriented career. The mission of the Coast Guard, to steward and protect, confirmed to me that I was making the right choice,” she explained.

Tom Woods, proud father, displays the joy of Kendal’s monumental accomplishment. His island girl, now a Coast Guard officer, gazes happily at her father. 

Building Faith Through Disappointment

When Kendal returned home after her disenrollment from the Academy, she revealed, “People would ask if I was on break. It was embarrassing to have to say that I was no longer at the Academy.” Resolved against self-pity, she regularly met with her pastor for prayer and counseling. She also led her church’s youth on a ski retreat, and shared God’s Word on a mission trip to Zambia. “The trip to Zambia had a profound impact on my faith walk. It put me in a position where I had no other choice but to trust that the Lord would show up, and He did. When I was speaking with people or ministering to them, it almost felt miraculous that God gave me just the right Scriptures to share and just the right prayers to pray over them,” Kendal marveled.

A glimmer of hope came after Kendal found out that she could be eligible to return to USCGA if she underwent an atrial ablation procedure to treat her heart flutter. After praying and discussing it with her family, Kendal felt it was God’s will for her to attend the Academy and decided to proceed.

Kendal and other family members engage in the power of prayer with Krystle (second from left) as they pray for Kendal’s fiancé, now husband, Conner Ropp (center) and their new journey together. He also graduated in the Class of 2023.

Staying Afloat on Troubled Waters

Kendal returned to the Academy the summer of 2019, but not long after, she experienced another flutter episode. Discouragingly, she was issued a medical restriction. She pointed out, “These limitations were extremely irritating to me because it made me feel like I was a slacker for not being allowed to do the same demanding physical training and challenges as my shipmates.”

Then she suffered another blow. The summer between her first and second year at the Academy, Kendal was exposed to COVID-19. CDC rules prevented her from boarding the iconic barque USCGC Eagle, known as “America’s Tall Ship”, for Eagle Summer. A hands-on summer training deployment that sails across the Atlantic providing seamanship skills to future officers of the USCG, Eagle Summer is something every cadet longs to be a part of.

For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. Proverbs 24:16a

As a cadet, Kendal recalls being constantly exhausted from loss of sleep and growing responsibilities. “But every time I would meditate on Psalm 3:5, I remembered that I would only find true rest in the Lord and that He is the One who sustained me through each night, no matter how long or short it was. He is the reason I woke up every morning with a heartbeat and with breath in my lungs; that gave me assurance that God had work for me to do that day where He had placed me, and He had a plan for my life wherever He would lead me,” she shared.

Kendal engages with her close friend and mentor, Jen Barnes (right), whose husband, Lieutenant Commander Nate Barnes, was one of Kendal’s instructors and Connor’s mentor at the Academy.

Steadfast in the Faith

Through the disappointments, Kendal’s pursuit of Jesus and His will was stronger than ever. Helping her through this time was her involvement with Officers Christian Fellowship (OCF), an organization that unites Christians across all military branches in biblical fellowship and equips them to be ambassadors for Christ in their communities. “From the very beginning [at USCGA], I threw myself into that community [OCF] and have remained rooted in it ever since,” she said.

It was there that she met Cmdr. Carl Crabtree, USN (Ret.), who was leading the USCGA fellowship and clearly saw Kendal as a leader, even as a new cadet. “She drew in folks to participate in ministry activities that focused on discipling young cadets to embrace their identity in Christ. The Academy is filled with performers, and they are under pressure to do good works, so being able to embrace grace on a daily basis is foreign to cadets,” he observed.

Lead Chaplain Cmdr. Jamie Stall-Ryan, USN, credits Kendal with helping him “establish an amazing Holy Spirit-filled ministry” as they organized weekly meetings and services, regular retreats, and religious holiday events.

Immediately after graduation, with everyone in dress uniform, Kendal and Connor participate in the Arch of Swords ceremony, a military tradition typically performed at officers’ weddings.

Plans for a Future & Hope

While Kendal was growing in the Lord, God was also at work in a fellow cadet—a young man named Connor Ropp. Connor explained, “I was given the advice by a sponsor family dad to sprint as fast as I could towards Christ, then look to your right and left and see who is keeping up. I did this and saw Kendal in stride with me. This is what attracted me to her—her love, devotion, and commitment to Christ.” He and Kendal met in their freshman year at the Academy, where their friendship deepened into a Christ-centered relationship two years later. On May 18, 2023, the day after their USCGA graduation, the two newly installed officers became newlyweds, committing to serve Christ as a couple, primarily through OCF.

Kendal noted, “There are a lot of Scriptures that God has given me over the past four years that helped me hold on to hope and to my goals because, to be honest, the Academy experience as a whole really just felt like one enormous trial or dramatic battle.” The verse that played repeatedly in her mind, however, was Psalm 3:5: I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.

Kendal and Connor kiss after the graduation ceremony.

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