Welcome to the Faith Deployed...Again online book club, Day 12! (Not sure what this is all about? Click here.)
In Your Book: Before we begin, please turn in your copy of Faith Deployed...Again to page 158 and read "Moving with Children" by Pattie Reitz. (If you don't have a book, don't go away! We'd love to have you join us for this discussion anyway!) Now Let's Talk: Today's discussion is led by Pattie Reitz. When I originally wrote the devotional “Moving . . . With Children,” I knew another military move was on our horizon. After a four-year stint in Grand Forks, North Dakota, we were fairly sure my husband’s school assignment in Texas would not extend past the twelve months listed on his orders. Sure enough, about a month after my devotionals were sent to Jocelyn for inclusion in the book, we indeed received news that my husband’s next assignment would be Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. To say we were excited would be an understatement. To say I was overwhelmed with the multitude of details would also be an understatement. One would think that since this was somewhere in the neighborhood of my sixteenth move, I’d have the process down by now. Alas, this was not the case. I still got stressed out with planning what to do with our stuff, the dogs, the vehicles, the travel, the kids, the cars, the paperwork, and the plethora of additional details for an OCONUS move. Additionally, the usual worries about school transfers, whether or not to pursue employment, making new friends all over again, and the fear of having another car accident like we did moving out of North Dakota were all tangled up within my mind and heart as we prepared for a cross-continental move. Six months later, I can absolutely say that our God is so very good. He provides. In His infinite wisdom and grace, He went before us to prepare a lovely house to rent, and a wonderful chapel community for worship. Both of our daughters enjoyed visits with friends in Missouri and North Dakota over the summer, and I believe it made our move a little less traumatic and helped prepare them for making friends here in Alaska. It took a few weeks to adjust to new schools and a new dance studio, but it wasn’t long before social activities became a part of their lives once again. As for myself, the Lord opened the door for me to enter the college English classroom once again through a Christian university that holds classes on base. What a joy to minister in a new way to the military community, this time through literature and composition. God was even working out details with a medical condition that surfaced during our year in Texas, but which could not be properly diagnosed until we got here to Alaska. As I write this, I’m recovering well from the ear surgery I had over Christmas vacation. I recently came across a book I received through Focus on the Family just after we made our first military move from Missouri to North Dakota: After the Boxes are Unpacked: Moving On After Moving In, written by Susan Miller. I had the privilege of telling Susan in person at the PWOC International Conference in Dallas last year, how much that book had helped me. Paging through it once again, I was reminded of so many good things:
“You never grow if you always stay in your comfort zone” (p. 15) “…a cherished friendship never dies” (p. 20) “Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your house won’t be settled in a day either” (p. 33) “Listening is one of the greatest gifts you can give a newcomer” (p. 53) “Don’t feel sorry for yourself” (p. 95)
As I talked about in my devotional, "Moving...with Children," our kids can be challenged by the frequent relocations as well. This week I asked Susan Miller what we can do to help them, and I'd like to share with you what she told me:
Be aware that your children are going through some of the same feelings and emotions that you are, only they don’t have the same coping skills as an adult. Communication is so important--not only talking about the move, but listening to their questions, concerns, and fears. “Hold hands and stick together”---in other words, let them know you are all in this together, and you’ll get through it together. “Be there” for your children—emotionally and physically. (My book, But Mom, I Don’t Want to Move! covers a lot of this, and more.)
Experiencing two military moves inside a 14-month period is not something I would choose to go through again. However, I can say with absolute certainty that God was with us the entire time, protecting us in ways we could not even begin to comprehend. I continue to claim Joshua 1:9 as my military wife life verse: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Know what? It’s still as true today as it was when my husband told me he wanted to go active duty in 2006. I’m grateful that the Lord is with us, that He knows what it’s like to move, and that He continues to be a part of our lives, even in the intensely cold and breathtakingly beautiful Last Frontier. Discuss: Have you moved recently? Have you focused on the positives instead of the negatives? How do you help your children go through each move?
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