Deployments are...

I was looking up a picture on here a few days ago and read my blog from April...God has some HUGE plans for this deployment....boy was I right.  This deployment has had more action packed into the last 4 months.  It has brought tears of happiness and tears of sorrow, tears of frustration and tears of absolute relief.  Yep this deployment has brought me to tears more time in 4 months than I think I have been in tears in the last 4 years.

Deployments are NEVER easy...deployments are RARELY fun....deployments are NOT my idea of the greatest way to spend months at a time...but deployments CAN bring changes for the better...they CAN bring absolute joy in moments...they CAN teach us so many things that the civilian world will never have the chance to learn.

After being married for 12 years I have learned so much about my best friend and husband during this deployment than I could have ever imagined.  He has brought me to tears of laughter so many times over the last 4 months and I couldn't be more thankful for him.  God's plan to bring us together even closer as a couple is one of the GREATEST blessings I could have ever imagined.  This deployment has brought so many blessings and I cherish every single one of them.  That is not saying that it hasn't been without its hardships.  There have been times when I wonder if I am going to make it...there have been times when I wish my Uncle Ed lived around the corner so I could just sit in his arms and cry...there have been times when I have laid awake at night with worry over his safety...but because of this deployment I have learned that those times when I think I am not going to be able to do another 4 months...
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26)
I have learned that when I just want to sit and cry in my Uncle's arms...
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
I have learned that when I am worrying...
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

I wasn't lying when I said he had plans for this adventure.  Most of his plans have definitely revolved around making sure I have to lean on him.  And by being put into situations where I have no choice, I have found it is so much easier to just trust him even when it seems COMPLETELY opposite from what I think I need and want.  From this craziness of a deployment I have been blessed to find some amazing friends that I would never have met, I have learned what my children are truly capable of (besides driving me crazy), I have gotten the privilege to stand alongside some amazing people and most of all have learned the hard lesson of sometimes I have to put me first and just say NO! For those of you that know me know that saying NO is next to impossible...but I am learning.  I have said NO a lot in the last few weeks and am enjoying having a little breathing room because of it (which will soon stop due to fitting in some time for me to get smoked LOL).  

For the kids it has taught them the lesson of patience and understanding and compassion...life lessons that don't always come easy. JT says the best lesson that he has learned is to make all his friends have a special knock....that started because of an incident that took place this summer and as we were waiting on news they kept knocking on the door...which we all know can make your heart drop somedays...so now all kids have a special knock LOL...he says that was the BEST idea ever because now he doesn't have to get up to go see if its for him, he just knows LOL....gotta love the laziness in that child!!!

Best of all, I have learned that my husband is an amazing man.  He is more than I could have ever imagined and I can't wait until our family returns to full strength!

I have decided though that it is time to blog the rest of this deployment, so prepare yourself to jump on this roller coaster!!!