Ch-Ch-Changes

I have not been writing much lately for a number of reasons and I have sorely missed it. One of those reasons is that my entire life has been given the old one-two by the US Army. It was expected but still no fun. I have recently PCSd. It's a Permanant Change of Station and it happens every so often in this life I've been called to. Basically, it means I've moved. I don't mind moving (as I'm naturally something of a nomad) but I hate leaving the soldiers and ministry I have come to love over the past 3 years. My writing since mid 2004 has been my way of relating the events of my life, down range and back home. I love painting mental pictures with words. I love telling people what a great job our soldiers are doing. I love putting my readers in my place so they can get a small glimpse of what life in the military is like. So here's another glimpse. It's transient. The hard part is that this life does not affect just me. It impacts my entire family.

My move, this time, was a short 3 hour drive from Savannah, Georgia to Columbia, South Carolina to attend the Chaplain Captain Career Course (kind of a "how to be a brigade chaplain" class that all chaplains take at one time or another). The problem is that this move is not for 3 years but six months. That means that if my family moves with me, we have to pull the kids from their school only to change to another school half way through the year. It means that for 6 months, my wife must make new friends knowing that she will have to leave them again at years end. It means that the next time we move it will be at Christmas time. It means alot. Our answer is that my wife and kids will stay in Savannah and I'll drive home on the weekends. Frankly for me this is not a big problem. I'm a nomad and I don't mind being alone for a bit. But my wife and kids are a different story.

The point of this posting is not that I have to move again, nor that my family is without me 5 days a week, nor that we have to move at Christmas this year. The point is that like many of the military wives I've met, my wife is amazing. For 6 months she will be a single parent. For 6 months, she will pay the bills. For 6 months, she will get the kids to school, games, field trips, and church with no adult assistance. And for 6 months she will not complain about it. So for 6 months, she will keep her head high and a smile on her face so as to make life easy on me. Finally, for 6 months I'll be thanking God that it's not me because I'd make it about 6 hours before there was bloodshead in my home!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, military families are amazing, especially mine.