I'm starting to really grieve not having our "stuff" here yet.
I know it is just "stuff" but my choice of clothes is starting to get to me. And I most miss my bed. The last time I slept on it was back in early April! I miss my rugs. Not having any rugs makes for a loud house and a lot of dust bunnies. I want all the 18 month clothes that I sent for Abigail thinking that there was no way they wouldn't be here by now. I also miss our toaster. And our saucepans. An our broom sticks (the heads made it but the sticks did not.)
You are allowed to send over 1,000 pounds of stuff via air. We did. Only our movers messed up a lot of that shipment. Half of the things we wanted here early, aren't here. We put a bunch of transformers (outlets designed to let you plug American electronics into European electronics) but they are not here. We sent our bikes. But they are not here. We sent our toaster. I know we did. It is not here.
When we moved to Turkey from Eglin back in 2010, we sent our stuff on June 29th. It arrived by August 18th. Just over 1.5 months.
This time, we mailed our stuff on April 9th. We thought that it would probably beat us here. April 9th was early! Instead, we have been here for coming up on a month, and we still dont' have our stuff. We are coming up on three months without our stuff. That's a long time!
It could be way worse. We are a nearly furnished home. We have everything we need. But you just want to stop having things in temporary places. You just want it to feel like your home. The kids want their toys. We want our computer. We just want to make this home. If you are only here for 2 years, 3 months is a huge portion of that time.
We are fortunate enough to have a friend from Turkey. Her name is Pam. She and her husband Randy came over here just a week or so before we did. Their stuff is on the same boat as us. Their car is on the same boat as our's. She works on Base and has been able to keep tabs on where stuff is.
JB got an email from Pam. Rumor has it our van is due in next week. Yippee for that. But no update yet on our big shipment (HHG).
Would you join me today in praying that our "stuff" gets here soon. We'd really like it. We don't need it. But boy do we want it!
14 comments:
Wendi, Praying with you!
Be glad you aren't stationed in Colorado Springs where not only your stuff, but your home could be burning down. http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20940351/colorado-wildfire-waldo-canyon-fire-near-colorado-springs
I like my stuff and my bed too, but just saying it could be way more devastating....
Anonymous,
I appreciate the sentiment. However, things could ALWAYS be worse. For those people in Colorado Springs, there are people without homes in Africa. I am a huge proponent of the thought that it can always be worse, but that doesn't mean we can't pray for the little things that we would LIKE in our life.
My husband has strep throat right now. There are people who are dying. But I am still praying for him to feel better.
I understand what you are saying but feel it is important to remember God cares about the tiny things too.
Hope your stuff arrives soon! That's a long time. Moving is hard enough to deal with.
I'll be praying for your stuff to arrive shortly! I too will be in the same boat very soon. =)
And anonymous, I have friends and family who are currently evacuated in the Springs. I am praying VERY hard and intensely for them. And for Wendi, I also pray for her stuff. God cares about both and hears both prayers. =)
We had dinner with Dan B. tonight and he said their stuff is already in the States and they packed when we did! So crazy how that works. Hope it gets to you soon!!
I can't believe you still don't have it! Our stuff "should" be arriving the end of July (25th), and we only just packed it out the end of May. Only two months for us, and much further to come than your stuff. I just don't get why some things are so speedy, and others so slow! I hope is shows up soon!
Thank you Joy for a little bit of compassion and understanding. While I totally agree that God cares about BOTH small and large concerns and things could always be worse - I would have thought Wendi would've been a little more sensitive to the subject being in the military. I think when you are in the military short term, you probably really do not GET the "lifer" military mentality and COS is filled with a ton of military (and civilian) families who are banding together to show support and care for those who have lost their homes, finding shelter and food (a basic need!!!) for people who now have nothing - yea people in Africa don't have homes and limited food, but this is happening in our backyard - (maybe it would make a difference if you knew someone in this situation), helping pets find a place to stay etc. It has made me a better person - not worrying about where someone's "extra" things are. Joy, I hope and pray your friends and loved ones are safe and their losses minimal, if at all. I also pray for the firefighters who are fighting in extreme temperatures to protect people, property and homes instead of sitting in an office.
Anonymous, I am in no way saying that what people are going through in Colorado is not bad. It is TERRIBLE. HORRIBLE.
What I was saying is that, I have found, when dealing with disappointments of any kind, it is not usually helpful when you say, "It could be worse."
It could ALWAYS be worse. Always. And if we ascribed to the idea that "it could be worse" we wouldn't pray for anything.
I am praying for my husband to feel better DESPITE the fact that his illness is, rather trivial.
My stuff not being here is, trivial. I mentioned that numerous times in my post. It IS just stuff. But that doesn't mean that I don't miss it, and I'd like prayers that it gets here fast.
I hope this makes sense. Your comment, while well-intentioned, indicated that I didn't need to worry about my stuff or pray for it. And I just don't agree with that. I can pray for my things while realizing and recognizing that it is really trivial.
Also, it would be great, when commenting, if you left a name to. I think it is only fair, especially when "debating" (although we are doing it kindly) to say who you are as I am saying who I am!
I hope this came out right. I am not angry at you comment. But I do think it is important we don't ever stop praying for little things because it could be worse.
When I was going through infertility, I didn't have it so bad. There were women diagnosed and NEVER able to have children. There were women in other countries with no access to infertility treatments. But I still prayed.
Hope this makes sense.
And also, may I say, that if my initial response came out insensitively, I do apologize. It is hard when you open yourself up to people on a blog because people can respond by saying anything and even if it is anonymous, it hurts my feelings. I was very hesitant to mention on the blog about how much I missed my stuff in fear that people would ever think I am not grateful.
I definitely know that I live a priviledged lifestyle. I grew up in a trailer park with NO extra money. I have spent weeks in Africa where my trailer is a castle. But when you implied that I shouldn't "complain" because it could be worse, it made me feel that I did not have the right to express how I was feeling, and that hurt my feelings.
I hope this makes sense.
I find it interesting that people leave the most snotty, self-centered comments anonymously. Since, they felt they could bash Wendi without leaving their name, maybe I'll do the same...
How self-absorbed can you be? To randomly pick some other catastrophe and tell a person it is worse than their current complaint is the exact opposite of compassion and understanding... Which is what you claimed Wendi did not have. Are you that blind to your own hypocrisy?
I don't know if your home is burning down with all your stuff in it right now. You were not clear about that. But let's say it was. What if when you voiced your concern about it, I said, "Well, at least your family wasn't in the house when it burned, so suck it up, Cupcake!"
That is the epitome of rude... Which is what you did. Anyone can play the game of one-upmanship. It is never appropriate.
And THEN you try to pull some holier-than-thou "I'm a lifer in the military blah-blah-blah" card. Just so you know, that only works when you are NOT seeking attention for it... Which is what you did. That is pretty low-class, tacky, if you did not know.
Maybe you should get the log out of your own eye before you criticize a make-believe speck in Wendi's. I was paraphrasing the Bible if you didn't know. But I'm guessing you claim to be a Bible believer, but just don't practice it much, huh?
anonymous, it is obvious by your passion for the situation that the Waldo Canyon fire is affecting your very personally. While I do empathize greatly with your situation, I find it rather offensive that you would attack Wendi while she is sharing her heart. Many of us who read this blog daily are her dear friends and it is the only way that we are able to stay in touch with her. I pray for Wendi on a regular basis and so I appreciate when she shares things that I can specifically pray for her about. I'm not sure if you are a regular reader, but your reference to her being "newer" in the military and not a "lifer" makes me think you've been around for a bit. I would assume if you've been here for a bit that you would KNOW that Wendi is one of the most caring and sensitive people around. If you don't already know that about her, then let me assure you that it is true. If you noticed in her original post on this subject, she several times makes mention that she knows it is just stuff, that it's not the most important thing, etc. But she asks for prayer anyways. This is how our Heavenly Father operates. He wants us to pray for people evacuated for fires, genocide in Rwanda, strep throat, lost baggage, etc. Another thing that you must remember is that Wendi doesn't write for the New York Times. This article isn't on the front page of the paper as the main headline. This is her private blog, a way to communicate with those close to her that are currently far away, and a way to encourage so many hurting hearts that are struggling with infertility. And you have to remember that Wendi is a real person, with real feelings, who takes things very seriously. So it hurt her feelings that you would call her insensitive when part of her MAIN reason for writing this blog is to BE sensitive.
Now, I really don't want to come down on you too hard, anonymous. My first comment reflected that. I was trying to defend Wendi and at the same time validate the horrific time you are experiencing first hand. And I meant it when I said that I pray HARD for the fires and I also pray for Wendi's stuff albeit with less intensity. But it doesn't mean that I didn't want to hear Wendi's heart. I do and so does our Heavenly Father.
Anonymous, please know that everyone there is in our prayers. Like I said, I have friends and family who are currently evacuated so I am keeping close tabs on things. I pray that your home and belongings are safe and I especially rejoice that you and your family are safe. And I pray for rain. And I pray for the firefighters. (my own cousin lost his life in a forest fire in California a few years ago. It was most heartbreaking because the fire was started by an arsonist.) Blessings to you anonymous and I do hope that you might stick around Wendi's blog so that you might benefit from one of the most compassionate, heartfelt, beautiful people that I know.
Here's my take (which I already shared with Wendi).......'anonymous' has a right to her opinions, certainly. If she feels that Wendi is being frivolous or self centered in complaining about her current situation, she is entitled to that point of view. There is nothing wrong with that.
However, this IS Wendi's blog. Anyone who has read it for any amount of time knows that it is place where Wendi is quite transparent about her victories, struggles, and personal stories. She can post about what she likes when she wants to. If you don't like what she is saying, you can quite simply click the "x" button at the top of your screen and close the page. No one is forcing you to read anything.
If you should chose to debate with someone for a personal opinion on a personal blog, I think a personal email would be the more appropriate way to do it.
Just my two cents......
Okay everyone -- thank you for supporting me.
To Anonymous -- I think what hurt me the most was the worry that I would have to never say anything on my blog of complaint because it could all "be worse."
In addition, to have my military committment judged also hurt me. I can guarantee you ... the military community is a WONDERFUL and caring and giving place. But everyone on base -- those of us who are in it for a few years or a ton of years all feel the same way. We get anxious for that "bit of home" so we can feel like our home is with us. (And, by the way, while we do not think we are in this for career, at this point, we are not positive of that.)
So, yes, this hurt my feelings. But I have allowed my blog to be public. And I have allowed people to put comments without my moderation ahead of time because I want people to be able to follow our lives. This blog is mostly for those who know me personally.
I just don't want to ever feel that I can't "complain" sometimes. My point is there will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be something worse. I do know people personally effected by these fires and it is pains me greatly. Just like those I love in Africa pain me. I help when I am close, I fund money when I am far, and I pray all the time.
But no ill will anonymous. Let's just all get along everyone!
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