What can I call this? An Update!

I just realized it's been a few weeks since I've posted.  A lot has happened!  I was soo blessed to take a trip to Washington at the end of last month and I got to see just about everyone that I hoped to see.  Though I was incredibly excited to go to Cheney/Spokane, I have to admit, I was also very nervous.  I knew I would be seeing people and places that take up a HUGE part of my heart for the last time in who knows how long.  Tough.  The trip was a whirlwind.  Though I wish I could have spent more time with everyone that I saw, I'm glad that I got the time that I did.  I felt like each day I was checking people off a list!  As I said when I went to Seattle in December, Washington is such a beautiful state.  I always appreciated it's beauty, but I do even more so now.  My fears about being in Spokane were somewhat valid, but as sad as it is to say, it actually gave me a needed sense of 'closure'.  I realized, really for the first time, 'I'm not coming back.'  At least not soon.  I cried about it quite a bit, but I needed that.

There's a huge life lesson that I have learned (or am in the process of learning), over these past few months that I never could have learned had I stayed in Cheney.  I guess the best way to sum up that lesson is that God's will for my life is soooo much bigger than my own.  Most of the time I want to stay in my own will for my life because it's what is comfortable, 'safe', and familiar.  (If it were up to me Aaron never would have joined the Air Force, he would have gotten a fire job somewhere around Spokane, and we would have stayed in Cheney and raised a family and lived happily ever after.)  Though God is patient with that attitude, I've realized that when I try to live that way I'm missing out on a much better life (a better life? is that possible?? hah).  But seriously, God really does want us to live.  Maybe someday I will end up back in Cheney and raise a family there, and if that's what God has for me, wonderful!  But I can also say that if that's not His plan, I'm okay with that too, because He knows me better than I know myself.  He knows better than I do what is going to bring me joy, and I trust that wherever He takes us in life, that is where we will be most fulfilled.  If I gain nothing else in life, I have all that I need in Christ.  I'm not just saying that, I really do believe that. (Ok, I'll be honest, sometimes I have a hard time believing that when there's a pair of shoes staring at me that I think I really need).  But truly, in my heart I know that He is all I need.  I can wait for heaven to settle down. :)

Well, all that from one visit to Spokane, eh? :)  What can I say, not having a job or children gives you lots of time to reflect.

Anyway, moving on to more recent news...  Aaron is in his last block of training, less than three weeks left!  Things have gotten hard for him these past few weeks.  One of the things that they do while in training is inspect everyone's rooms.  Apparently the expectations have gotten much more strict on how clean their rooms should be..  Lately most people are failing their room inspections.  Just to give you an idea of how ridiculous it is:  Aaron can't have a trash can in his room, so he has to take his trash out to the dumpster every time he has any.  If he can't make it to the dumpster he has to stuff it in his pockets.  Aaron didn't pass a room inspection because he forgot about a wrapper that was in his locker from a hot pocket he'd had for lunch.  That was the only thing that was wrong with his room.  You would never have guessed it, but Aaron actually has some OCD tendencies.  You should see how he can roll socks and underwear.  He is incredibly meticulous about cleaning his room now. 

They've threatened the guys that if they keep failing inspections they will put them on restriction this weekend (which means they can't leave base and they have to sign in every hour).  They have Aaron so paranoid that he is constantly cleaning and dusting.  He even dusts the lightbulbs because some guys have failed white glove inspections for having dust on their windowsills!!  (Yeah, as he was telling me this I was staring up at the ceiling fan above my bed wondering what they would say about the dust balls peeking over the edge of the fan blades.) 

Well, it's Thursday and we still don't know yet if Aaron will get this weekend or not.  I was planning a trip to visit him because they have Monday off, and obviously because Sunday is Valentine's Day.  We're praying and hoping, and trusting God.  We keep telling ourselves, 'only three more weeks of this.' 

Aaron will graduate March 2nd, get a few days of leave, and then he'll work for a recruiter for up to 12 days in De Soto, TX (it's near Dallas).  He chose to do this so that he could have more time to see his family without taking leave before we go to Japan.  Then we will either leave March 18 or March 24th for Japan.  We're hoping for the earlier date so that he doesn't have to use more of his leave and he can save it for a trip back to the states later in the year.  But again, we are just trusting God's will for this.

It's so exciting that we're nearing the end!  Keep us in your prayers for the many preparations we still have before leaving, and for our travels!