Army Life

Today I am linking up to http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ with the show us your life on military life.



I am having to retype this as I've typed it up once and now it's disappeared???

I remember as a little girl I was looking at a country magazine of my parents and they did an article on NC. After reading this article I fell in love with NC. I always was fascinated by NC and kept it very close to my heart. My Senior year at Glacier Bible Camp(July 1999) I had a dream one night and I dreamt that I was getting married. The whole thing was a blur. I don't remember anything from that dream except for one thing. I remember clear as day standing in front of my church in my white wedding gown holding hands with my groom, and he happened to be wearing ACU's(which is the camoflauge uniforms our soldiers wear). I didn't take anything from that dream in all honesty. I just thought it was a weird dream but one that I never forgot. I never saw the grooms face or anything. In October of 1999 I met the love of my life. My word, his hotness was standing before me and I was love struck ha! And the cherry on top was his love for Jesus. Wonderful christian man who was hot!!! I hit the jack pot:)
 September 1, 2001 we married and bought a home in MT he was a banker and I worked in the school district. We had a little boy and life was grand. In 2007 he was offered a job in Boise, Idaho with the bank up there. He took the job and we moved to Idaho. He was from there and his family still lived there. We thought we'd live there for a very long time....boy was I wrong! Soon after moving there I started having visions, they weren't dreams, I knew they were visions. It happened the minute I would pull the comforter over me to cover up. My head barely had time to hit the pillow. I could see this man walking up a sidewalk. I could tell he was wearing the army dress up uniforms(class A's). I only saw him from the knees down. Basically, it was his feet. His shoes were so shiny and I even could see the sidewalk so perfectly and noticed all the little bumps and cracks in the sidewalk. He would walk up a sidewalk and go up a couple stairs and than he would open a door to a house. When the door opened I always saw my children on the livingroom floor and they would look up as the door opened and would get this HUGE smile from ear to ear across their face as though they are seeing someone they haven't seen in a very long time. Than I would be standing there and I would look over at this person whom just walked into our home and I too would just grin ear to ear. And than that was it, vision was over. I had this vision I bet 30x or more. It was the exact samething and very consistant. After a couple times of having them I told Pat about them. He really didn't have much to say about it. He said I was just dreaming about a man in uniform coming to the house hahahahaha. I said, "hon, you don't understand, I know it's you in this vision even though I never see you." He just never said anything more about it. But I continued having them. And also I want to back track just real quick. Back when we lived in MT I was out shopping and my daughter had to go to the bathroom. When I was in the stall with her there was a big poster in there on the door and it was all about the army. That evening I brought up the army to my husband and said, "would you ever want to be the army?" He said, "no, I just couldn't." I said why not? He said, "It's not for me. I just couldn't do it." (I bet God laughed when he said that).

 The last hug before daddy left for Afghanistan. It's never goodbye.....it's always see you soon!

So flash back forward. Early in 2008 I just really started praying about our life. I felt God really pulling at my heart about a change in our lives and I prayed about it. And the word Army was always in it and I just knew it. I would talk about it with Pat but I could tell I eventually started being annoying so I just stopped. Especially when the last time he said, "Come back and talk to me when something goes wrong with my job." Well we knew that wasn't going to happen, he was with them for 5 years and loved it. Well a month later he was told his department was closing and by the end of the month he was done working there. It happened SO fast!!! That same weekend we had some good friends of ours come stay with us that we haven't seen for so long and the husband was in the army for years and so he answered all my questions and Pats. Well one evening in April I was sitting on the couch and Pat walked up to me. And I remember that moment so well. He just overpowered me(I felt like time stood still for a minute, I really don't know why) and he said, "God is calling me into the army." And I just looked at him and said, " I know." Well things moved fast and the end of May 2008 my 27 year old husband(His nickname was grandpa in basic lol.) was off to basic training. In October we found out that it's for sure we were going to live in NC. And in the middle of December we moved to Ft. Bragg, NC and have been here for a little over 3 years now and we love it.

        Missing those important days and milestones in life without him there was always so hard.

  First day of school. He did so good. But I cried wishing Pat could see him.

God has really prepared me for this life since I was a little girl. And remember that dream I had at bible camp of me getting married? Well the part that sticks out the most is what the groom in that dream was wearing. He had on ACU's. But the ACU's he had on were the ones they wear today. These ACU's didn't come out till a few years AFTER I had that dream! So when I saw my husband for the very first time wearing that uniform, I bawled like a baby.

And when something so incredibly scary, due to illness with your child, and your husband is on the other side of the world is the hardest thing to go through.

I have made some wonderful friends in this chapter of our life. Friends that I couldn't imagine being without. I miss my family so much back in MT. But I know that this is what God wants for our lives right now. He knows our future and He will guide us if we obey. At first we may have to double think what we are about to do. But once you listen to what He wants and put it into action you will see why he did, what he did.

 This picture cracks me up. Poor girl, we were there waiting forever LOL. But it was for a good cause:)
  

Now don't get me wrong. Army life isn't daisy and roses. It has it's weeds and thorns along the way and it can be a very challenging lifestyle. Thats when I just have to look at all Gods brought us through and remember HE knows whats best! And to seek comfort in His rest.

 When that plane landed it's like I took the biggest sigh  that I was holding since the day he left. Every emotion hits you.

    Daddys hugs were so missed!!!

      Happiest when daddys home!!!

                                 

   Life was grand when he got his McDonalds cheeseburger and Starbucks frapp the night he came home LOL.

  I think the smiles show the joy of being back together.