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Archive for moving – Page 2

Not my finest hour

Posted by Pattie on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 in Hope | Comments (2)

I’ve been putting off writing this story for awhile, but the time has come to get it out on the page, so to speak. Here is the story of our recent move.

Load the Truck Day had finally arrived. We’d been staying in the TLF on base twenty miles away, which meant I was in a hurry to get the girls to their last day of school on time, grab my coffee, and head to the house to let the movers in. On my way to Caribou Coffee, I was in an accident.

We make dozens of small decisions every time we drive our cars. Which route to take, whether or not to take a right on red, how best to merge into traffic. I checked the intersection (a two-way stop on a frontage road next to a four-way signal) and it was clear; then a van pulled in to the intersection to my right, partially blocking my view. I crept out of my stop at the sign, and crunch! A woman drove into my passenger-side front bumper and wheel, rendering my car undriveable.

What happens when you shake a can of soda and then open the tab? It explodes. The same thing happened to me. I’d been organizing our move, taking care of a plethora of details covering the move as well as our temporary living with my inlaws during my daughter’s ballet intensive program. While the move to this point had gone smoothly, I was still stressed out.

That sickening “crunch” and not being able to drive my car caused my “can” to explode. I cried for about an hour straight. Couldn’t stop. Freaked out when the other driver asked for my cell phone (which was in the bottom of my purse and I couldn’t find it), because she’d hit her head due to not wearing her seatbelt. Cried when talking to the police. Cried on the phone to my husband, who had to work on our last day. Cried on the phone to AAA. Cried on the phone trying to find my realtor, to let the movers in and load the truck. Cried in the tow truck. Cried at the dealership. Cried on the phone to USAA. You get the idea. I ended up crying on and off for two days!

As cruddy a situation as we were in, of course God provided for us. In time it all got worked out. The dealership shuttle delivered me home. My husband eventually finished work and came by the house. Our worldly goods drove away. We finished cleaning the house before the new owner’s walk-through. The girls had fun places to be for their last night in town. The dealership agreed to fix the car, and we decided to continue as planned, except in one car: head to Minnesota to spend Memorial Day weekend with my family, and then on to Kansas City to spend a few days with my husband’s family, before heading to Texas to move into the house that will be our home for the next year. We have a friend in the car business who is going to do the body work on my broken car, and he also found us a good used affordable vehicle to buy in the meantime.

As I write this, I realize it’s been four weeks tomorrow since my accident. After a few days of soreness, I was fine physically. Spiritually, once again I find I’m a little weaker than I thought I was. My spiritual muscles must have gotten tired at some point, and my faith was not exhibited as it probably should have been for a “chaplain’s wife.” Nevertheless, it’s been an incredible comfort to me to have friends and family in my corner. Accidents happen, and that’s the way life goes. My accident and my reaction to it was certainly not my finest hour. I didn’t take it in stride, I freaked out about it, and I didn’t exhibit the love of Christ to the woman in the other car as I “should.”

But you know what? God loves me anyway. Simply loves me. John 3:16 attests to that great love: God so loved the world that He sent His Son. Right now, I rest in that knowledge, recover spiritually and emotionally from my ordeal, and continue with the summer as planned.

Oh, and that supposed urban legend about military movers packing and moving your trash? Yeah. It happened to us in my daughter’s bedroom trash can! (Thankfully it was all paper, nothing smelly!)

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Passing on the Good News

Posted by Sara Horn on Monday, June 21st, 2010 in Faith | Comments (0)

I’ve been thinking about all of the military families who are moving around our country and world this summer. Jessica, our new Member Care Director, is off to a great start and she’s been receiving updates from our members, many with updated addresses. It’s a reminder of all the change we military wives undergo.

My family has also recently moved and we just started our search for a new church. It’s always tough finding a new church and it’s hard not to compare with what you were used to. While the church we visited this past weekend is probably one we won’t go back to, I did appreciate the passage the pastor spoke on. He was speaking to folks in their church who are getting ready to leave for a mission trip, but as is often the case, I immediately thought of how this passage of scripture applies to military wives. Check it out:

From Romans 10:14-15 -

“How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

When you get ready to move to your next duty station, it’s easy to think in terms of “we.” What will we find there for us? Will we like it? Will we be happy? Will we find everything we need, including friends, schools, and yes, a church to join?

But when I read that last verse – “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news,” I automatically envision a Wife of Faith, a military wife who knows Jesus who moves into new base housing or a new neighborhood. I see the potential there – the kindness, the peace of Christ that can be in that wife’s heart, and by extension, that wife’s family. I see the difference that wife can make in her new FRG or key group or spouse club, simply because she knows Jesus and brings His good news with her.

Let me challenge you today and this week to begin prayerfully asking God to give you the opportunity to share His good news with others. Not sure how to do that? You don’t have to be a missionary to share – here are five ways you can share Jesus with others, starting TODAY!

1. Invite another military wife to come to church with you (or PWOC, or Wives of Faith or another military ministry).

2. Start a Bible study in your home and invite 4 or 5 friends to come. Do a study like GOD Strong that comes with a free Bible study that is easy for facilitators to use, or another book study like Hope for the Homefront or the Power of a Praying Wife to name just a few or a devotional like Faith Deployed.

3. Ask a friend how you can pray for them this week. Even if she isn’t a believer, most folks won’t turn down prayer, and this may be a great way to plant a seed for further conversation about God.

4. Do something kind for someone else and give God the credit. Make dinner for naother wife going through deployment and write a note and end it with “God loves you.”

5. Be ready to listen. People can tell a difference in those who have a close relationship with God. Spend time with Him each day and understand He is preparing you for the opportunity to share Him with someone else. Then be ready for the opportunity!

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More PCS Info

Posted by Pattie on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 in Resources | Comments (0)

After hearing some PCS horror stories the other night at my book club, I was ready to find some more information to be helpful! So here are some articles I found. I hope they’re helpful to you as much as they are for me.

Article at Military Spouse Magazine Online

Move.mil, also some changes to DITY moves (DITY=Do IT Yourself) and some lists!

Military Homefront

And, of course, USAA.

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Keep Blooming

Posted by Katherine Wilburn on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 in Faith | Comments (3)

Have you ever heard this phrase before? Bloom where you are planted. This is a common phrase among Military Wives for sure, as we barely get time to grow some roots before we are plucked from the soil and seemingly cast to the wind, only to try to bloom someplace new. How about Home is Where the Army Sends You? I always stop and admire the charming signs that the concessionaires sell at the PX, the kind where you can purchase little tabs to hang underneath them designating each station you’ve lived at before. It hardly seems fair that they generally only come with three or four tabs when we need six or seven, and possibly more before we’re done.

As Military Wives we can often feel like we are just tagging along behind our husbands, moving at the Military’s whim. An afterthought. It can seem discouraging, and may be tempting not to unpack at all or meet the new neighbors. After all, you’ll only be moving again soon. In a world where the rule of thumb is to always use pencil in your address book, it’s easy to feel like you are being cast to the wind. But the truth of the matter is we are where He wants us. He sees each of us individually, loves us each individually and has plans for each and every one of us. You have a calling and a purpose unique to you.

When we received unexpected orders to PCS to Fort Polk in Louisiana with only six weeks notification, it was easy to feel buried under all the responsibilities and things that had to be done. It sure didn’t help that all of my friends expressed their sorrow that we were heading to Polk, their faces looking more appropriate to speaking to someone about the unexpected passing of a beloved family pet. I had planted firm roots in Heidelberg and the prospect of leaving made me feel like crying. I knew that I would be leaving part of myself when I left and wasn’t sure I wanted to set those roots in my new community.

I did though. God reminded me that I was never buried; only planted. I would Bloom here too and if I was willing, I could fulfill His plans for me here. I’m not in Louisiana at the whim of the Army, and not because I am tagging along behind my husband as he serves all over the world. God has a unique purpose for me. Me alone. And unless I open myself to him, and plant my roots, I’ll never be able to bloom and bear fruit for Him.

Look at Ruth. She left her homeland to follow Naomi, even though she could have gone home. She might have felt as we do sometimes, just another victim, tossed about by the world with no control over her own fate. Yet trusting in God, she followed the path he set her on, and was the ancestor of our Lord and Savior. Just as Ruth, we have to trust in His plan for us.

Home is not where the Army sends you. It’s where God takes you. When you stop letting yourself feel like a victim of the Military’s wants and whims, and see yourself as the Heroine of your own story, you will Bloom, you will bear fruit, and you will grow stronger in your Walk with Him.

Katherine is an Army wife who is stationed with her husband at Ft. Polk, LA.

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Go where He sends you

Posted by Katie Graham on Friday, August 7th, 2009 in Faith | Comments (1)

I was reading my Bible Sunday morning and found something I wanted to share with you ladies that God has not let me forget. I’m believing it’s something He specifically wants me to post on here as it’s been the first thing on my mind as soon as my eyes open and the last when I’m drifting to sleep ever since reading it.

So here goes….

Acts 18:1-3

1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

Making new friends*

Priscilla and Aquila were forced to move from Italy to a new country. In Corinth they could have closed themselves off–pining for what they had left behind, scared to start again. If they had, they would have missed out on a life-changing friendship with Paul. (They become deeply involved in Paul’s ministry and are fondly mentioned in his letters.)

When you move somewhere new or even enter into a new community or job, it’s difficult to embrace new challenges and relationships when all you want is the familiar comfort of your old life.

But be open, reach out to new people and ask God to bring new friends into your life.

As military wives we have to move often. Be it a new state, country or community, it’s hard.

Confession:

I struggle ALWAYS the first 6-9 months. I long for all things familiar; other Navy wives, my Bunco group, book club friends, favorite resturants, my NEX & commissary, my church family which includes my small group family, Tuesday morning bible study ladies…the list goes on and on.

My heart longs for it all.

Then one day…I wake up and sincerely pray for the good Lord to restore my empty heart, to open MY heart to new friends and surroundings and you know what? HE DOES!!

I just need to remember to ask Him. I have to be reminded to ask Him.

So ladies, here’s your reminder! Ask Him. Listen to Him. Go where He has sent you.

Remember: The situation you are in didn’t take God by surprise, and there will be a time when He brings you through it, as He uses it to shape and mold you to be more like Christ and prepare you for what’s ahead.**

My heart is so full of love for each of you no matter if we have or have not met (yet). My prayer is for you to find joy in the place you are at this very moment. That your paths will be widened with new avenues and blessed with amazing friendships filled with love and adventure.

*true.identity NIV

**The One Year Women’s Friendship Devotional by Cheri Heath Fuller & Sandra P. Addrich

Katie is a Navy wife from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She originally shared this on the Wives of Faith FB group and with her permission, we’re sharing it here.

I was reading my bible Sunday morning and found something I wanted to share with you ladies that God has not let me forget. I’m believing it’s something He specifically wants me to post on here as it’s been the first thing on my mind as soon as my eyes open and the last when I’m drifting to sleep ever since reading it.

So here goes….

Acts 18:1-3
1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

At issue: Making new friends*
Priscilla and Aquila were forced to move from Italy to a new country. In Corinth they could have closed themselves off–pining for what they had left behind, scared to start again. If they had, they would have missed out on a life-changing friendship with Paul. (They become deeply involved in Paul’s ministry and are fondly mentioned in his letters.)
When you move somewhere new or even enter into a new community or job, it’s difficult to embrace new challenges and relationships when all you want is the familiar comfort of your old life.
But be open, reach out to new people and ask God to bring new friends into your life.

As military wives we have to move often. Be it a new state, country or community, it’s hard.

Confession:
I struggle ALWAYS the first 6-9 months. I long for all things familiar; other Navy wives, my Bunco group, book club friends, favorite resturants, my NEX & commissary, my church family which includes my small group family, Tuesday morning bible study ladies…the list goes on and on.
My heart longs for it all.

Then one day…I wake up and sincerely pray for the good Lord to restore my empty heart, to open MY heart to new friends and surroundings and you know what? HE DOES!!

I just need to remember to ask Him. I have to be reminded to ask Him.

So ladies, here’s your reminder! Ask Him. Listen to Him. Go where He has sent you.

Remember: The situation you are in didn’t take God by surprise, and there will be a time when he brings you through it, as He uses it to shape and mold you to be more like Christ and prepare you for what’s ahead.**

My heart is so full of love for each of you no matter if we have are have not met (yet). My prayer is for you to find joy in the place you are at this very moment. That your paths will be widened with new avenues and blessed with amazing friendships filled with love and adventure.



*true.identity NIV
**The One Year Women’s Friendship Devotional by Cheri Heath Fuller & Sandra P. Addrich

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