PCS-ing

Or in other words, permanent change of station. That's the orders my husband recieved about 10 days ago. It was very sudden with no warning- I was at the pool with my boys and Jack called my cell phone and told me the news. Obviously I was shocked, actually for a minute I thought I might have a panic attack with all this information coming at me at once! He was asking me what I wanted to do, he had to give and answer by the end of the day. You see, he was served with the orders and if he accepted them, he would have to re-enlist and we would be moving to the Atlanta area this summer. If he denied the orders, he would no longer have that option to continue his career in the Marine Corps. We had been contemplating for a while about getting out, moving back home to TN or GA and just being a normal, non-military family! I know I have spend many nights in prayer about the future- where will Jack work? Where will we live? How in the world will we pay for insurance? I guess we've gotten a little spoiled by the government...and to be quite honest, it made me sad to think of my husband getting out. I do love the military lifestyle (minus the deployments) and it's what I've known since I was 19. I guess it's just kinda scary to make such a big change. So to make a long story short, I said a quick prayer that day, and felt like this was simply a door opening up for us. I told Jack I have a good feeling about it, and go ahead a sign the papers. That weekend we drove up to Marietta, GA and found a lovely house that I'm sure was built just for us ;) and things are moving along smoothly. We have prayed consistantly for God to guide our footsteps, and He is good all the time! I feel like this is Him saying he has something wonderful in store for us and to just trust him. I am thrilled to finally be close to our family again. We will be less than 2 hrs. from all grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, ect.! And my mom & dad will be a short 6 hrs. away as opposed t0 8. I truly feel blessed right now!

The sad news is I will have to say goodbye to the best friends I have ever had. And I'm not just saying that- I mean I really have some amazing people in my life! Friendship is something I have struggled with since Jack and I were married. We moved to Jacksonville, NC and lived there for 4 1/2 yrs. and when we moved, I never looked back. This is sad to say, but there wasn't a single person that I would miss. I never developed any real friendships- just a few 'aquaintences'. After moving to beautiful SC, we found a wonderful church, and suddenly I was meeting so many new friends I didn't know what to do! The girls in the flip flop club :) have been truly amazing and I'll never forget the memories we've made. There have been times when I don't think I deserve to have such good friends in my life, people that truly care about me and would do anything for me. They were all there for my surprise bday party back in April, and it was SO HARD for me to just accept that they wanted to do something nice! Why do I feel that I'm not worthy of good friendships?! Probably just the enemy tryin' to bring me down...Oh well I'm getting off track. I make a point to praise God everyday for my friends, and not just the flip floppers, also our friends Jeremiah, Bernie, Bobby, Polly, and the list goes on and on. These people have been such a blessing to my husband and me. There's no doubt in my mind God placed them in our path to help us grow in so many ways.

So now how on earth can I say goodbye? I hate goodbyes anyway, I have already begun to build up a wall. Thursday night we missed choir practice, partly b'c I had a headache, and partly b'c of my selfish reasoning. I asked Jack if we could just sneak away in the middle of the night and not have to tell anyone goodbye! LOL It's just so hard, I can't even explain the hurt I feel and the sadness it brings upon my heart. I always knew this day would come when we'd have to move away, but the fact that it's so sudden- it just hurts.

Please be in prayer for us and all the upcoming decisions and changes coming our way. I love you ALL!!!