One week down

Updates and such… 

S has been gone one week today. One week down, 11 to go!

He has settled into the beginnings of military life, only to have it changing again tomorrow…but this change he was very much prepared for- and one to which he is very much looking forward to and excited about! Tomorrow (03.19) is the beginning of general, fundamental training for 4 weeks, after which he’ll begin working with specific aircraft. As this was scheduled after his enlistment and after basic training, this has been in the works for a good 7-8 months. S is excited to start learning and getting his hands dirty…well, besides getting them dirty doing details and patrols!

S sounded SO much better after the first few days, though he still wasn’t himself, which I expected. It was so hard to be here and not be able to do anything to make the situation better, to not be able to fix it, to feel so helpless. The Lord has His mighty hand on my boy and his current life stage, and He is in control. None of this has surprised Him, none of this has caught Him off-guard. Providentially, He has placed S with some great guys who he hit it off with right away, and I’ve heard more laughing on the phone while we’re talking than I’ve heard out of him in a week. :)  AND morale is infinitely better over the past couple of days, which makes my heart soar with gladness and thankfulness. The initial shock/disappointment/sadness/anger/bitterness/resentment/bewilderment/surreality wore off after the first few days, and he adjusted beautifully to his new (yet familiar b/c it’s the military) surroundings. Not saying it was easy by any means, but he quickly realized that being mad and angry and bitter wasn’t going to get him anywhere, certainly wasn’t going to change the situation and was only going to further the already-degraded immune system he was toting and make him feel even worse, physically. God is good!

Prayer requests:   please pray that S will get restful, recovering sleep. He seems to be having a rough time of it in the mornings- we know how hard mornings are here for us in our own beds, with our own sheets and covers, in our own worlds….I can’t imagine (really!) what it’s like to live in military dorm. Thankfully, most of us will never have to know what that feels like. (BEYOND huge thanks to our military and their families inserted here.)
                                    please pray that his immune system will be strengthened, that his lack of sleep will not overpower his physically and mentally drained body
                                   please pray that he will stay focused on his job there, that being away from family and friends, not getting things done while he was home, thinking about what’s to come and other distractions will not cloud his thoughts
                                  please pray that he will do well in his classes and retain what he’s learning- “assmiliate” as his daddy called it (great word!)
                                 please pray that he will continue to meet good guys (and girls!), that he’ll be able to study with them and continue forming those needed relationships as they go through these next 11 weeks together
                                please pray that he will continue to make time to get in The Word and walk with Jesus- we know how hard it is here in our regular routines and daily lives to make time for Him . . .  and getting up at 0445h for PT and having a strictly regimented routine isn’t going to make that any easier.

I think if we all had our way, we would most often choose the easy way, the path less traveled. Easier is easier no matter how you look at it. The human spirit doesn’t intentionally look for things that are hard and difficult. And this last week was hard- it was hard to say goodbye to him, hard to see him go, hard to know he won’t be here for 3 months…hard. The past week has not been one of my favorites (ever) in my life, but it has been pretty darn memorable. I have seen and felt the love of Christ, leaned on Jesus more than I ever have before, experienced the love and support of a family who is simply unbelievable, and I’ve learned a great deal about myself- and about S and I as a couple. (Aww… love that word!) I miss him- terribly. Heart-wrenchingly. Everything makes me think about him, and I don’t expect that to change. I don’t expect the separation to get easier either (at least on my end!), but I do expect our communication to get better and easier as we adjust to this.

His address is available now to those of you who’d like to write him- just let one of us know and you can write away! His family said he got a virtual onslaught of letters during basic, so I don’t expect this round of training to be any different….especially now that I’m in the picture. Good gracious, I write people letters so they have something other than a bill to read on a boring Thursday… I have 6 letters sitting here now as we speak!!! (roll of eyes, smirk on face, shaking of head) 

All that said . . . God is good. So good. Too good. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. On another note, to put this all in perspective… I know of a family close to this family’s hearts who lost their  4 year old little girl this morning to cancer she’s been fighting since she was 11 weeks old. There are no words. Perspective is key, here, remembering that my fight is relative and my “problems” are relative and my world is so different, so “easy” compared to other people’s. Let’s just take an imaginary 5-mile radius of people around me- even a 2-mile radius!- and compare. Hmmm…yep, I’d venture to say my life looks pretty good to more than a few of them.