Military Life

Sometimes I ache to not be a military family. To have the choice to live near grandparents. To be able to put down permanent roots, in a good area with good schools. To know that my husband will be home by 6:00 for dinner, and every weekend. To plan trips far in advance, knowing that our schedules won't change and my husband won't have to back out at the last minute. 

But then I wouldn't have learned to stand on my own two feet as a wife and then mother as quickly as I did. I wouldn't have met, learned from, and leaned on the amazing wives and mothers in our Air Force family. I wouldn't have the network of friends across the country and world that I can call on when I need to talk, or I'm visiting the area. I wouldn't be able to watch my husband do what he loves to do. I wouldn't get to proudly say that my husband is a pilot. I wouldn't get to tell my kids that Daddy serves his country, and we are proud of him. And I wouldn't know that no matter where we go, we will immediately have a support system like no other, because you can't understand how much other military families help each other without experiencing it. 

So as hard as it is to live far away from my parents right now, and as scary as it is to not know where we will be living in two years, and as frustrating as the twelve hour days Ben works are, I can take it. I might wish to be a nonmilitrary family some days. But we are extremely blessed with the life we have. And I know God puts us where we need to be. 

So thank you to all the people that make our military lives better. And thank you to everyone in the service, and their families, whose sacrifices are more quiet, but no less meaningful.