Deployment Reflection!!

So tonight I feel like I am about to deliver a baby!!  The house is clean, the laundry is done, the fridge is stocked, but my bags aren't packed...it is just that my husband is coming home!!  :)  Yay!!  As I scrubbed the floors today, I was soaking in the fact that this past 7 months was truly coming to an end!  Hallelujah chorus!  :)  It has been an emotional week just reflecting on the whole thing.  I am so proud.  Just proud of everyone.  I am amazed at how resilient and strong the kids have been.   Langley has had her moments of meltdowns that I believe have stemmed from sad feelings about Daddy being away, but overall she has been so understanding that Daddy is "serving our country" "on the ship".  Mason has recently craved attention from any boy and usually calls them "daddy"  whether they are or not!  And has been known to wake from his nap saying "wee daddy" as if he has been dreaming of being tossed around by his very own!  And he loves to point at the "el-i-cop-ers" and say "Daddy" as they pass over our house.  The kids are going to be beyond excited to have Greg home!

I look back at pictures from Valentines Day and realize that Greg was already gone and now starting another school year, and I just can't believe how long it has been and that we made it through!  I have friends that always say, "how do you do it?  i can hardly stand it when my husband is gone for a week?".  I always respond saying well you just get in a groove and stay busy, etc. etc.  But I think the truth is that I can hardly stand it a week either!  I would much rather have him here to do bath time.  And be able to slip away for a quick run or run to the grocery store without kids.  I know that God had a plan for me to be a military wife, because I see him chiseling away at me throughout the entire process.  I am a girl who doesn't like uncertainty.  And of course I can't tell you the homecoming date...but, I will say that it has changed at least 5 times in the past week!  So often I am left to trust in His plan and give up the control that I so want to have.   From disciplining the kids without back-up to cleaning up messes, and to repeating myself over and over...I feel like my patience has been at it's breaking point many a times this past 7 months!  But through His grace, God is teaching me to have more.  Chisel!  :)  When I am left exhausted at the end of each day, I remember that He is not going to stretch me beyond what I can bear, and somehow right when I am at the end of my rope He has provided rest.  And it is usually by providing help at the perfect moment by my friends and family.  The same one's that say "so how do you do it?".  Whether by watching my kids or letting me vent.  I am so thankful for all of you!

I feel like God has taught me a lot about serving others this deployment.  Since Greg is the Officer-In-Charge "OIC" this deployment, traditionally the OIC wife takes care of all the spouses that are left.  I wasn't really sure what to expect for I didn't know any of the 13 spouses on my phone tree when he pulled out to sea.  None of the officers from the detachment had wives, so I hadn't met many of the enlisted spouses except at the information meeting.  So I was thinking how am I going to have time to take care of 13 spouses?  At first I was all gung-ho.  I brought breakfast and coffee the day the ship pulled out and nobody came.  I planned a play date a couple weeks in and nobody showed up.  Gosh, I felt completely deflated!  Then I felt like I didn't do much for awhile.  The half way point came around and I pulled myself together to throw a nice party for everyone.  Decorations, pork tenderloin and chicken, sangria, bounce house for the kids, little navy party favor boxes.  And 3 people came after expecting more!  So I had a really negative attitude for a few days.  But then Greg emailed me and said, Lissette's husband said that she had a great time at the party.  "It really boosted her spirits."   I was convicted of my negative attitude and realized that God could use my efforts for just a few and it was still rewarding to Him.  When it came time to paint signs--we had 9 easels front and back to paint for the streets, and sheets and posters for the hanger, and I had 3 people to help me a couple afternoons.  I couldn't understand how your husband could be gone 7 months and you couldn't paint a sign?  I definitely felt a negative attitude setting in...i vented to friends and family...and then once again God completely convicted me...why can't I paint with joy?!  Remembering the guys who are away and that they are coming home!  Chisel.  And many wives were busy...four of the which delivered babies while there husbands were gone!  I still feel like I could have done so much more in the OIC role.  I think about all the phone calls I could have made or even knocks on the door.  I am thankful for what God has shown me about serving with a joyful heart and that our efforts are rewarded in His eyes.  And I love that I was able to get out of my little bubble I so often stay in and bring new people into my home.  I hope to keep in touch with the girls I got to know.  

I realized this deployment that all of a sudden I felt more in tune when people needed help.  Partly triggered from a bible study on motherhood i have been going to.  And maybe it was because I felt like I needed help a lot?  :)  And as a military wife, I realize now that all military wives and really just mom's in general...we don't like to ask for help!  I realize that so often I say to others, "let me know if I can help you?".  Well does this really help them at all?   Because who really lets you help them?  We don't take them up on it!  So now God is showing me that if I really want to help- why not take action?  "I am coming to watch the kids tomorrow" or "I am bringing you a meal on wednesday."  I hope that I will be a better helper.  And in this past month, I feel like God has softened my heart to actually ask for help or take people up on it--at least from my close friends and family!  So many of you have helped so much!!!  My dad cleaned the entire back porch--hosed down, screens off the windows, on the ladder, cleaning the tops of the ceiling fan--kind of clean.  Thank you!!  :)

And everytime a deployment comes I am thankful for God's protection over our family and over the ship.  I am thankful that God has kept me content trusting that Greg will be OK.  I am thankful that He opened up a spot in base housing so that everything would be taken care of, in a safe neighborhood, where the kids have so much freedom.  I have felt very lucky.  Everyone is coming home!!  Such a huge blessing.

And back to being proud.  :)  I am most proud of Greg!!  He has taken on this detachment like it was his baby.  He loves his 'Barefoot Bandits' like family.  I am sure they know all his quirks. :)   They have been day in day out for the past 7 months protecting the waters off the coast of Africa performing anti-piracy missions, flying many hours, and coping with lots of rough seas(during monsoon season there!)   I am so proud of all their hard work!  I am so happy for Greg in all that he has accomplished in the military.  I can't wait to see their faces and to hear their stories.  And to have mine in my arms.  

Life is a journey.  7 Months at a time!!!!  Praise God for homecomings.  

Some memories of this deployment....