Accepting the Uncertainty of Military Life

Over the past year, we’ve had a great deal of uncertainty enter our lives. With D having 2 back surgeries, we didn’t know if he’d recover enough to continue his career in the Marine Corps. The truth is, we’re still not completely certain where we stand with that as he’s still on limited duty and hasn’t fully recovered from the last back surgery. We were told we were heading to Japan as our next duty station, so we went through the process of getting ready for that only to have D denied (as expected) due to his medical situation. Now, those orders have been cancelled, but no new orders are being issued even though it’s our scheduled time to move.

We’re staying put for one more year. How do I feel about that? Well, the truth is that I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. On one hand, I love it here. It’s perfect for my outdoor loving family. The weather has been great other than the super duper hot summers. We’ve been attending a small church that has a genuine passion for Christ with a pastor who preaches truth from the Word. On the other hand, I was looking forward to living off base and the freedom that affords. I was also looking forward to finding a house with a nice yard for Munchkin and the pups. It would have been nice for them to have some room to run and play. Plus, it’s just not going to be the same living on base here once Munchkin’s best friend next door moves away in a few weeks.

Because we thought we were moving, the house has been torn up a bit in preparation for the move. Now, we find ourselves shifting gears and find that we need to put the house back together. We need to adjust our thinking to, once again, look for the things we love here and embrace those things. It was with that in mind that we headed out to the desert on Saturday afternoon. We didn’t go out for very long. Just a short ride and a little hike. Seeing how excited the dogs got when they saw we were going for a hike was a nice reminder of why we love this area. D found some new places to explore once his truck is back up and running. (Oh, did I forget to mention his truck is currently out of commission?)

We never know what is going to happen in our lives. Military life is full of ups and downs as our life truly is not our own. We don’t control where we go or when we go. Thankfully, even though the military controls us, we know that the Lord is really the person in charge. With this in mind, we accept the uncertainty of military life, enjoy the present, and look forward to seeing what the future may hold.