Friday, May 18, 2012

Here we go again....


It's that time again....the birds are chirping, school is wrapping up, windows are open....and My Love is about to start his times away.

Workups.
Deployments.
Separations.

We've been exceptionally fortunate to have My Love home so much - but now is the time we remember we are a Navy family. Really, the only constant in our schedule right now is that everything is in pencil. My Love is home at the moment, but that is about to change.

Actually, over the next 3 months, he will be gone much more than he will be home - 
and that is just to prep for an eventual deployment! 

So, as we collect our paperwork and discuss our wishes if anything were to happen to either of us; as he teaches me how to care for our lawn; as I help the beans work through what new normal will be - we are soaking up every second of our time together.

As a family of 6.

When I think about the next year and a half, I'm not excited about the separation (I married him because I LIKE him!) but I am excited to see how we will grow and develop as a family through this adventure.

Eleanor Roosevelt said it best:
“Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence.”  The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt




We have chosen a challenge - and I intend to go through it with bravery, excitement, and imagination.  We will be traveling, going on adventures, and becoming a better team. 


The Beans will realize the important role they have in the running of the household.  We will all have sad days, hard moments, and frustrations - but we will face them and work through them...together.   
We will learn the importance of relying on others. 
I will be reminded that I can't do it all on my own.
 I know there will be days that everything will go wrong - children will be sick, appliances will break, I won't sleep, power will be out.  
I know I will be exhausted beyond belief. 
I know I will miss My Love's company. 
His nearness. 
His parenting viewpoints.
His reality checks.
His sense of humor!
The way he can talk me off a ledge.


Going through this now - although different than our other separations, it is still similar in many ways - which is great, because I have a better idea of what is coming my way; and terrible, because I have a better idea of what is coming my way.


Kind of like labor and delivery. 
The first time through, the fear of the unknown could just kill you.
The second time though - it is the fear of the known.

Either way, the difficulty of the next year will deliver us into shore tour.  

Hopefully there isn't a lot of screaming involved.



~Whitney Copyright 2012

5 comments:

  1. We are here in your corner. No more subbing for me!! We will be a better aunt and uncle this time around! We love you all so much! R and D

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  2. I'll be praying for you, girl! You are a good mama, and you have Christ in you, so I'm sure all will be fine.

    Now, I could make assumptions, but what exactly is shore tour?

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  3. Here's a quote for you. I believe every military spouse should be able to do this otherwise they won't be able to survive!

    A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
    ~ Robert A. Heinlein

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  4. praying for you!!! my heart just aches reading this...:(. Mareto and I will have to come over and add to your adventure! Maybe it will help make the time pass quicker! ;)

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  5. Praying for you girl! Deployments are aches but are lifes growing pains God gives to us! And He is there for us to make it through! Shore duty for us has been a God send. I'm almost scared to return to sea duty next summer! (Dept head school this winter!)

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Thank you for your thoughts and encouragement!