Popping Smoke

I really cannot remember who I have told about my blog and who I haven't. I also do not know if I have told everyone that is reading my blog about Seth's upcoming job change.

If you don't know, Seth is getting out of the Army. He has officially turned in his paperwork and it is making its way up through the Army bureaucracy.

Seth has started a blog about his transition out of the Army. It is called Popping Smoke. You should check it out. If nothing else, you have to figure out the reason for the blog title.

Beach House

This past weekend Seth and I were able to take a break just the two of us. We stayed at a Beach House in Gig Harbor. When Seth was about to redeploy (return from Iraq) a friend of mine offered us the use of her parents' house in Gig Harbor. My sweet friend emphasised how small it was and did not mention that it was right on the water. We planned our trip 2 different times before the year ended but it just didn't work out. The 2nd time we almost got away but the night before out trip a storm hit that resulted in the 'great WA power outage' (we, as well as much of western Washingon, were out of power for 3 days). It was right before that storm that found out the house was on the beach. I was so surprised. For us, it really wouldn't have mattered where we were going...just having a retreat together after being apart so long was going to be incredible. We were so delighted and surprised by the beach house. Our weekend was amazing. I had 2 friends that split the weekend watching the boys. They brought their children along. The boys were thrilled about the 'sleep over weekend.' They didn't mind at all when we left (except Thomas- but he did great once we were gone.) The boys enjoyed an exciting weekend of playing with friends, staying up a little later than normal and eating treats like Oreos. Seth and I just enjoyed a lot of quiet! The place was peaceful. And, for Washington in March we were blessed with decent weather (meaning: clouds with a few moments where the sun peaked out and NO RAIN!)

We were so thankful for the weekend. We are so grateful to our giving friends. There is really no way to thank them enough for the gift of place and childcare for a weekend. It was a real blessing!

The Beach House

The View

Seth and I (we set up the timer on the camera for this shot)

34 months

After 34 months, Seth changed command (left his "company command" postion) today. There was a Change of Command ceremony at Fort Lewis. He made an outstanding speech. I couldn't have been more honored and proud of him. He did such an incredible job commanding his company of around 200 people (give or take some throughout the months). He is a great leader. He lead his company to success in their missions. He brought them strength and served them as a strong leader as they prepared for, went and returned from Iraq. So many people have told me that they are going to miss having him as commander. I know one of the many reasons- and perhaps the strongest reason- is that Seth truly cares about people. He cared about his company...but more than that... he cared about each soldier and the soldier's family. When you care about people, you touch their lives. I can tell you that Seth touched many lives throughout his tenure as Company Commander. He honored me during his speech and gave me credit for my work with the company's family support group. His words were heartfelt and touching. He honored me even more by the way he served his company-- with heart and strong passionate leadership.

I cannot end this post without mentionign that right before the Change of Command ceremony, Seth was promoted from Captain to Major.

As soon as I can, I will post some pictures of the ceremony.

Refrigerator of Life

My son David has an insatiable appetite. This is especially true when it comes to sweets. Not only can he not be satisfied, he wants more than his share. The other night we had ice cream. This is one of the boys favorite treats. They had these Mr. Incredible Drumsticks. David sat there and ate all of his ice cream. The moment he was done, he got up very quickly, threw his trash in the trash can and went straight over to the refrigerator. He said, “Momma, I didn’t like that one.” It was all gone and he had devoured every bite of it. Now he said he didn’t like it at all and that he wanted something else. This wasn’t the first time he tried to use the “I ate it but I didn’t like it” plea. It seems ridiculous and, unbelievably, almost cute.

It reminds me a bit of myself. There was a time when I approached life like that. What was going to make me feel good? I didn’t know it at the time, but ultimately I was searching for contentment. It started in high school and I really sunk in my struggle in college. I tried knowledge and achievements. But, I figured out pretty quickly that an excellent score only felt good as long as you weren’t thinking about the next test. I tried physical pleasure, but the substances and activities were a fleeting euphoria and I came down harder than I went up. I tried relationships: finding validation and purpose through loving others. I found that it was wonderful but it didn’t give me peace. No one was making me completely happy. I could never totally make others happy, either. Every time I tried some pleasure, I was much like my son, thinking in essence, “That was good but I want something better.” My search for meaningful relationships, led me to realize that there wasn’t a person that I could fulfill or that could make me feel satisfied. I struggled with love. Love was so amazing but it could be so fleeting, too. People could endearing but hurtful. What did it mean to love? I struggled to trust people and to be willing to love with my whole heart. I had to realize that love cannot be seen or quantified, it just has to be trusted. It was then that the Bible verse that I learned as a kid, “God is love” became real to me. God cannot be seen unless you believe he is there. Through my own selfishness and ignorance, I hadn’t been able to see Him or much else besides my personal fulfillment. I realized there was truth in faith in God and love. I decide to have faith. I decided to trust there was a God who loved me a sent his son to cover my failures. I took a baby step- a commitment to trust- and I was granted peace and something I didn’t expect: Joy. My relationship with Christ has given me joy. Now instead of coming to that refrigerator of life, looking for the next pleasure so I can be happy, I close my eyes and pray and my soul is full of lasting Joy.