“We’ll find out soon”

How many times have I spoken those words together in the last 3.5 years?  Too many to count!

You and I will experience the military differently but one thing we can come together on is the fact that at some point we’ll find ourselves waiting.
Waiting for our spouse to return, waiting for orders, or waiting for an unknown future.

The thing about waiting is that it’s really hard sometimes.  I don’t know about you but I love having a plan. I want to get my hands all over that plan and make sure whatever the transition is that it goes smoothly.  For example the minute we find out a possible town we may be moving to you can bet i’m sneaking to the computer to look up places to rent, buy, or looking up the military base in that area.  : )  The crazy thing is I do this even knowing that the plan will probably change but I love to know something, anything even if it’s the wrong thing.  Please tell me i’m not the only one?!

I didn’t really believe wanting to be in control was a lack of faith in God’s plan until recently.

This summer we are waiting to find out what will happen:

• Deployment
• Stay where we are and possibly finish out our time as a military family here
• Move to another duty station

Months back we found out after my husband’s deployment was cancelled that he was up for new orders in July.  Each month we would come up with nothing and the stress mounted inside and I found myself telling people, ‘we’ll find out soon’ but in the back of my mind I was crying out, I just want to know!

It was my husband who knowing me well decided it was time for a word about how to wait.  He is wise and I love him dearly!  I wrote about that conversation {Here}.

I was so encouraged by our conversation and have be enjoying this last week not worrying about what’s to come.  Here are a few other ways I’ve learned to handle these periods of waiting, I hope they help!

1.Pray- For peace where you are, a plan to unfold, and comfort for the in-between.

2.Decide to live fully where you are

3.Don’t check out – Sadly I’ve done this several times only to regret it later.

4.Have hope that God has a plan for your family. {Jeremiah 29:11}

5.Dare to set aside the desire to be in control – I have experienced some serious peace in the release of wanting to be in charge.

I’m slinging my arm around your shoulder and reminding you I understand where you’re coming from but if we ought to live this one life well, we have to find a way as military spouses to continue living full while we wait for what’s coming next.

What has helped you while waiting?

Until next time,
Laura

Last week we went out to a local strawberry patch and filled up a bucket of strawberries and sweet memories.
It was a beautiful day!

Once Garrett figured out we were picking strawberries (His favorite) he was all about it!

Of course we had to taste a few and they were delicious.

This is what strawberry picking with a two year old really looks like! : ) He decided to sit down and take a break…right on a strawberry bush.

When we came home after our fun-filled morning he went down for a nap and I enjoyed putting these treats together!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!  It’s gloomy over here today but we’ve built a fort and in between loads of laundry we’ll be reading books and playing with planes, trucks, and trains.  : )

Until next time,

Laura

The last few months I’ve been making my way through a new Bible with 90 Days of Encouragement for military wives.  Zondervan sent me a copy of this bible to review and share with you!  I’m selective with the giveaways on this blog but I thought some of you would really enjoy having God’s word along with a devotional written by other military wives who can relate to our unique circumstances.

There is a feature called, Home Front Heroes that I absolutely love! Learning about History is fascinating to me and i’ve enjoyed learning about the military spouses of the past.  At the very end a few military wive’s shared their favorite hymns and there’s also a short ‘Basic Training’ bible study to work through.
It’s a wonderful resource for the military spouse to draw encouragement from.  I truly enjoyed this New Testament!

If you’re interested in purchasing one they are running a special.

Buy 1 Give 1 Free!
With every purchase of the NIV Military Wives’ New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, you will receive an additional copy to share with a friend for free!

To get your free copy:

• Visit www.churchsource.com and create an account
• Add 2 copies of NIV Military Wives’ New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (9780310421078) to your cart
• Enter promo code BD5W11 at checkout

Offer Valid: 5/1/2013 through 5/31/2013

Giveaway:
We are giving away one copy of this Bible!  Enter below and we’ll wrap this up May 22. : )

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