A bit harder

Yesterday and today have been a bit harder in the "No Grumblin'" department. I'm fine on all topics except one.

Patience.

Patience with the details surrounding our move.

Patience with the military.

Just plain ol' patience in general.

Please don't get me wrong. I am very happy we are in the military. I know we did the right thing in signing on with the Air Force. I know our country needs people who will fight to protect her. I am glad my husband is one of those people. I am proud of him.

But gosh darn all the paperwork and red tape and walls and whatnot. It can be enough to drive you batty.

We are still waiting to get our "ticket" on the rotator on July 28th. They have told us to make sure we book our seats early because the spots for dogs fill up quickly.

We would LOVE to book our seats early. We'd love to have booked our seats two months ago. But we have to wait for some form.

And still we wait. We got our orders last Thursday. Still no form.

Meanwhile the physician JB will be working with emailed me today. She got her orders yesterday and is already booked!

Sometimes it just all fees so random. Of course I know God isn't random. But the military sure feels that way some days.

We also got word today that the nice housing that we thought was a "sure thing" in Turkey may not be now. Everyone tells you not to count on anything until you actually have it in hand. But this time we were told it was so sure that I went ahead and got my hopes up.

The question is, why can't it be that way? Why, sometimes, does someone tell you one thing and then someone tell you another thing? Why can't there be sure things?

At the same time I have a few different friends dealing with "surprise" assignments. They are being sent to a place that was nowhere near their radar. One of those friends is still waiting to find out where they are going and whether her husband will be sent unaccompanied (without his family) for one year to the Middle East.

We have another new friend who tried to get into housing here on Eglin and ran into so many walls that they just gave up and went off Base.

Everyone tells me that this is the nature of the military. But I just wish it were not so very complicated. I wish that it could go smoother and more according to my timetable.

And for that, I am struggling with not grumblin'.

If you think of it, could you pray, not just for us but for all the families in the military. There are so many around this time of year that are preparing to move. That are going somewhere that they weren't planning on. That are getting housing that wasn't what they wanted.

And could you more specifically pray that we get a spot for Scrubs on the rotator? I know it seems like a small thing in the nature of big things. But it's something that is really weighing heavily on my heart right now. I really need our doggie to go to Turkey at the same time as we do. He may be a dog and goodness knows before we got one I used to make fun of people that signed their Christmas cards from their own dogs and that sort of thing. But now that he's my dog, I have included him on our Christmas card because I really love him, and I just want him to get there with us and at the same time as us and for cheaper than us.

I think it's wrong if it costs more to mail a dog than it does a human. Don't you think so? And if he doesn't get on the rotator that could happen. And the receptionist at the vet said to me, when she heard we were going to Turkey: "Don't fly him commercially. Take the rotator. That's all I want to say about Turkey and dogs."

And that freaked me out a bit too.

The Bible says God cares about the sparrows. And Scrubs is a lot bigger than a sparrow. I'd think he is like, at least 70 sparrows or something figuring a sparrow weighs a pound or so.

And so I think God cares about Scrubs.

Anyways, I'm ramblin' ... which is better than grumblin' ... but still, I should just sign off and go to sleep and pray that tomorrow brings good news and less tape and more clarity to the details.

I'm posting this tonight because tomorrow I'm back on my no grumblin' and no mumblin' kick even about the military.

Thanks everybody.