And he’s off….

This was a hard day! We’ve said goodbye before. . Mike has been “deployed” twice: once for the standard AF four months on a peace keeping mission in Hungary and once for a month in Korea. He’s also been gone for 8 – 12 weeks many times in the past 10 years. We’re old pros at this goodbye/hello thing.

This time did seem harder. It could be because I know the girls will be leaving in two weeks. Or it could be because he will be gone for a longer period of time – and dates tend to be open ended during this phase of military history. It could be because the country is at war this time and no place seems to be really “safe” – though we’ve established that a Christian is always safe in the eternal sense. I simply know it was hard to watch him walk through the security check point this time. I suspect watching the reaction of others at the air port had something to do with that. Air Force troops have been coming and going for years with barely any notice. Wow – people notice now. They give big smiles and they cry. Yep….there was an elderly couple standing near us and when I turned around to leave I noted they were crying….really crying. They smiled and gave me thumbs up. Of course there are a lot of us to watch if people watching is your thing. :::snort::: I was so proud of the kids. We talked, we prayed, we hugged. Yes, there were tears in our eyes…but no big break downs. Thanks to all who prayed for us to have another dignified leave taking. I was so grateful to Steve (of the famous Steve and Debby duo) for coming to the airport at 5 a.m. He visited with us…he left us alone…. and when I walked away from the security check…feeling pretty alone…. he was still at the back door. He told me everything is going to be alright. He is right. I truly am thankful for good friends. One of our commanders and a couple of chaplains dropped by to say goodbye to Mike as well.

It was hard. Yet I’m so very proud of my husband. I’m proud of him for wanting to deploy. Most chaplains I know came into the military to be with the troops in times like these and so I’m proud that my husband was willing to go and in fact welcomed the chance to go. It is a time that is RICH in ministry. As we watched Mike go through security, Zander asked “Are you going to leave too, Mom?” I know for certain that I made the right choice not to attend the National PWOC Fall Focus this year. The little ones simply can’t understand the difference between 3 days, 3 months, 6 months etc.

Back at home we quickly remembered that we have several different coping mechanisms. Some read…some sleep and Jamin and I? We clean. . . and clean….and clean! I don’t think my room has been this clean since we moved here. :::snort:::

We spent the afternoon talking, we watched *The Newsies*, had a great dinner (because Jamin and I cook when stressed too LOL), we went for a walk to visit the neighborhood deer, some of us watched *Through Gates of Splendor* and now all but Bre and Zander are sleeping.

Mike called from Baltimore and those brand new $200 suitcases….that we paid $100 for….one of them already had the handle ripped off and a seam or two tearing. Hmmm….makes me think the $29.99 specials may be the way to go. LOL Mike will continue his trip tomorrow. It was good for all of us to get to talk with him briefly – and I mean briefly. Krista timed us each for a minute. Zander refused to talk. He’s done this all year with the girls too. I’m praying that he’ll talk with Mike the next time he calls. Stacia grabbed the phone and said, “Hi”. Her expression was priceless when the phone answered back! I think that may be the first time. She loves to talk into the phone. She started jabbering back with “dad” in the midst….and then said “byyyee” with a huge big grin.

I’m not sure I’ve mentioned that Stacia has been walking “on the sly” lately. We’ve watched her race around the living room while we are in the dining room or the library. When she sees one of us she plops down and crawls. Today she began walking – even in our presence…everywhere.

We had planned on going to the zoo tomorrow but it seems that several of us have a flu bug. I hadn’t realized how out of touch we were with our “selves”. I knew I had been feeling nauseated and had a head ache. I knew I was hot and sweaty off and on today. It wasn’t until Arielle mentioned that her head really hurt off and on….and later that she felt like throwing up…that I said “hmm….so do I” and then several of the other kids confessed to symptoms for the past couple of days. I guess we’ve all been focused on spending time with Mike and chalking it all up to too much fun. Jamin thought maybe it was the chocolate promotion cake or the mint ice cream I made. I think we’ll spend another day vegging around home…..and begin our playing on Friday or Saturday. We’ll also pray that Mike doesn’t catch this bug at all.

You know – I’m looking forward to the next six months. We always grow so much during these times…as a family, as a couple and as individuals in our walks with God. I had planned to simply put some pictures on the blog…who knows…maybe I’ll go ahead and post all of this….who cares if people think I’m psychotic or neurotic…such is the case of the modern military spouse. LOL It’s hard, it’s good, we’re sad, we’re proud, we’re scared, we’re confident, but most of all we’re human. And I personally am so very thankful that I have a sure God to hold my hand through all the times like these. Ah…I think I’ll just post this without thinking about it further…several of you have emailed to ask how we’re doing…I’ll just post my journal tonight.