Some things are Worth Waiting For!

Finally, after thirty years of watching characters in movies, seeing commercials on TV and hearing other people talk about the magical place of Disney World, I am there! It's funny how we think we outgrow our favorite childhood friends when we become adults. Just last Christmas I went through some old jewelry of mine that my mom had kept at her house and I came across Mickey Mouse earrings. I didn't think twice about leaving them there because I couldn't see myself wearing a child's character on my ears. Today, walking through Magic Kingdom, I wished that I was wearing them!
I am not sad that I didn't go to Disney World as a kid. Instead, I am happier that I didn't because now I can truly appreciate how great it is and know that childlike excitement is still embedded in my heart. Plus, now I get to share it with my own kids and watch their excitement and awe as they get to meet the special friends they watch on TV. We were expecting to take this trip sometime last year before we knew Randall was going to deploy. It took a little longer to get here, but we are here now and it was totally worth waiting for.

About this Blog

As military wives, we have been given an amazing and unique opportunity to grow in ways that are beyond comprehension to some people.  We have married into a life that forces us to be flexible and take on more tasks than we ever thought we'd have to carry.  At some point or another, we are all faced with many of the same trials as our husbands deploy, relocate, and take on demanding positions that lend them little family time.  But we keep going, we keep dealing with the difficult times because we know that just as our nation needs its soldiers, our soldiers need their spouses.  In order for them to stay strong, we need to stay strong.  I imagine that all military wives gain a little more strength each and every day. 

It is easy to become frustrated with living the military live.  The amount of play it has on our emotions can seem almost cruel sometimes, but despite the difficulties, there are so many great aspects of military life which we need to embrace as much as possible.  Throughout the three deployments my husband and I have survived thus far, I have learned that being a military wife is a gift that has been handed to me by something greater than I can comprehend.  For me, that something greater is God.  He chose this life for me for reasons that I may not yet be able to see, but I do know that it is a gift that is continually forming me into the person I am meant to be.  I believe this is true for all military wives.  We were placed in this position because God knows we can handle it.  He knows we have the strength to do it, even if we don't always think so.  One of my favorite verses is James 1:2-3: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverence."  As a military wife, our faith is tested constantly.  Our faith in the military, our faith in our circumstances, our faith in what is unknown, and our faith in God.  But somehow we stay strong, we hold on when we are at the end of our ropes, and we get through the tough times.  We have been given a gift that enables us to develop the inner workings of our souls.  We have been given a gift that allows us a chance to bloom.

Is this a Dream?

Does anyone else ever feel like you are living in a dream?  Have you ever felt like your life is a blur and you aren’t really sure how you got from one point to the next?  This is how the last few months have been for me.  It all started after Randall got home from deployment.  I felt as though the past eight months hadn’t happened at all, but were just a figment of my imagination.  I was in disbelief that we had actually made it through what I had once thought would never end.  As the weeks passed with Randall home again, the feeling that I was dreaming didn’t go away.  Everything seemed real and normal throughout the day, but each night I would lie awake feeling like everything that happened during the day was surreal.  We planned fun family activities during post-deployment leave, but they passed so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to realize they were happening.  Thank goodness I had proof from the pictures!  Needless to say, this dream-like state has continued to linger for nearly four months.

Is this possibly one of the stages of post-deployment?  Is it a result of the business of life with kids?  Or is it, perhaps, a natural feeling that occurs from the ever increasing pace of time as each year passes? Most importantly, how can I prevent the feeling that I am just living in a dream and at any moment I will wake up and see that none of this has really happened at all?