What A Military Wife Is....

Each one may look different and each is wonderfully unique, but this they have in common:

(some are even men)

Lots of moving...
Moving...
Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house;
Moving curtains that won't fit;
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home,
For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;
Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet;
Bury the family pet...

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes;
Sell a house;
Buy a car;
Or set up a move...
......all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS;
Locates a house in the desert,
The Arctic,
Or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...
They leap into:
Decorating,
Leadership,
Volunteering,
Career alternatives,
Churches,
And friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after
them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is
unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign
TDY
PCS
OPR
SOS
ACC
BDU
ACU
BAR
CIB
TAD
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds 
them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture,
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has lost her heart .
It was stolen from her by a man,
Who puts duty first,
Who longs to deploy,
Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military
Husband,
She will remain his military wife.
And would have it no other way.

Author Unkown

Got this from a friend on facebook and it made my day. Here's to all my favorite military spouses! I couldn't make it without you!

Update on Erin

I just wanted to let you know of the amazing progress Erin has made. She finally arrived at Balboa Medical Center in San Diego after a long and painful medivac trip. She had two surgeries. One to fuse her spine and one to put some hardware in her pelvis. In just one day after the surgeries she was up and taking baby steps. Over the course of the last few days she has been getting faster and stronger. She is now being moved to a Rehab facility where I'm certain God and her are going to amaze the staff. Todd and the kids finally arrived to San Diego last Saturday after a long and somewhat eventful trip. They are together. Jeff was able to see them over the weekend and told me that Erin made him laugh when she said "God was looking out for me because not one of my tattoos got messed up". Jeff agreed that was divine providence. She's a funny lady! 

Please continue to pray for Erin's  continued recovery and for the family to get settled into their new home. This is the first move either of their kids will remember and while they will adjust quickly it's hard on a mom when your kids are sad. Taryn will start second grade soon. She's a sweet girl and I'm sure will make friends quickly. Pray for the perfect teacher and friends to make her new school a good experience. I'm not sure if they have found a preschool for Ian but you could pray for that too. Thank you for lifting our friends up to Jesus. He is good and is answering all of our prayers.

Flat Daddy

Inspired by taking Flat Stanley on our China trip for my nephew, Luke, I decided to make us a Flat Daddy. He arrived in the mail Thursday. The kids were excited to see their dad and thought it was a fun idea. Already Flat Daddy has been bowling with us and he is currently watching cartoons with the kids. I know it is a silly idea but I thought it might make our time without Jeff a little more fun. Now lets hope Flat Daddy doesn't get left behind anywhere or I might be in trouble. 

Prayer Request

Miss Erin and Alison at O's Christmas Program

My friend, Erin, was hit by a car riding her bike to swim practice last Thursday morning. She is currently in the ICU at Naval Hospital Okinawa, but will be transferred to Balboa in San Diego this Thursday. She is a triathlete, devoted mama, and marine wife. This has been a very tragic and unexpected event for her and the family. Please pray for her healing and for peace as they begin a new journey. The whole family will be moving to San Diego in  a matter of weeks. Todd her husband has received permanent change of station orders to Miramar. He and their children, Taryn 6, and Ian 3, will leave the first week of August or so. Please keep the family in your prayers. They are doing well considering the circumstances. Clinging to Jesus. Please pray that they continue to do so as they work through all of the details and emotions. And pray that the kids and I can be blessing to them as they prepare to leave. 

Death is not Dying

Jeff and I watched this video this morning. I found the link on a blog I read regularly. This is incredibly powerful and I strongly encourage you to take the time to watch. It is well worth the 55 minutes. Definitely puts things in to perspective. I pray that I too will know God, know myself, know the gospel, and know my purpose.

P.S. We're down to less than 24 hours. Pray for our time to be well spent and our words to be kind and for God's peace to fill us from head to toe. :)

Summer Update

Just a quick post to update our summer adventures. We arrived in Virginia on June 13th and have had almost a month of fun. I think the kids are on permanent vacation mode. I am ready for some routine back in our days, but that will be a few more weeks in coming. We spent 10 days in Richmond with my family. We also took the kids on a mystery trip to Williamsburg and went to Busch Gardens and The Great Wolf Lodge. We have been with Jeff's family since the 25th. We celebrated the twins' first birthday with every member of the Singley clan. It was great to see Nana with all of her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. We arrived in OCNJ last Tuesday and have had a pretty lazy week at the shore. Lots of beach time and even more boardwalk time. Owen is on a quest to play every mini golf course on the island. We had a great end to our time at the beach at the Phillies game last night. What an awesome game. Beautiful weather, cheesesteaks, yuengling, big foam fingers, the Phanatic, and a Phillies win 22 to 1. God Bless America!

We head back to Virginia in a couple of hours. We'll be back in Richmond by the end of the week for a certain little girl's 3rd Birthday. Can you even believe that beautiful girl is going to be 3? I can't. Jeff heads out a week from today. Right now I'm just telling myself he's going to California for work. Because he is for at least a month. I'll deal with the rest of it later. Please continue to pray for us. I have a feeling next Tuesday is going to be pretty tough on two little kids who love their dad. Gotta get packed up, again.

The Big D

I've been avoiding this post. I'm not sure if it is because writing it down makes it more real or if it reminds me of all that I have to get done in 12 days. About 2 weeks ago we got the news that Jeff is Deploying for 9 months in July. I'd be lying if I said there weren't signs along the way that God was preparing me for this. Many things that have occurred in the last several months I now understand. Things I have read recently that have struck a chord in me, I now know why grabbed my attention. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. It's been 5 years. I'm rusty. But my adrenaline is kicking in and there is no time for tears. Not yet anyway. We need to get things in order. Cars need maintenance. Bills need paid. Passwords exchanged. Packing, oh lots of packing. Every family outing feels pressured to make an incredible memory.  Time together seems much more precious and somehow much shorter. Everyday I am aware that "the day" is coming. Every day we are one step closer to that goodbye. To tackling every chore, tantrum, meal, tub, birthday party, holiday, homework assignment, and milestone by ourselves as a family of 3. And everyday while all that is in my head I am attempting to pretend it is not there. Attempting to focus on now. Attempting to be positive and strong for the kids, for Jeff. Attempting to remember where my strength comes from. Attempting to enjoy what we have. Because really deployment or no deployment we are never guaranteed another day. I should live each day fully. So I write this to ask for your prayers. Both for Jeff and for me and the kids. We absolutely believe that this is God's will for our family. Nothing happens to us that hasn't gone through Him first. We can trust Him with this. He has blessed us with an incredible church family and friends here in Okinawa. Owen's school is also a tremendous blessing. I was so touched that my sweet boy's first thought was to ask his teachers and class to pray for his dad. I can only imagine how sweet and sad it sounded as he told his class "my dad is going away for 277 days". I think he told me his friend Jack said "oh man, that is a lot of days". You gotta love 6 year olds. So, it is a lot of days. But we will take them one at a time. Some will be hard. Some will be fun. But we'll make it with the prayers and support of friends and family like you. Thank you for loving us! 

P.S. we are VERY excited to see many of you in 2 weeks!