Reflection on Life as an Army Wife

Yesterday morning, the women's ministry team at my church put on a Valentine's Tea. It was great to spend the morning talking with old friends and making new ones. However, something that one woman said to me started to make me think.

I was talking to this lady that I hadn't met before, and we were in the process of introducing ourselves and getting to know each other a little bit. It soon came up that my husband was in the military and deployed to Iraq. The woman's first question was how long he would be gone. I proceeded to answer like I always do -- "I'm not quite sure -- probably a year at the most," and she proceeded to comment (like most do) "I could never do that. I don't know how you do it." Now, when people say this to me, I always respond in the same way -- "Yes, you could do it. If you were really put in the situation where something like this happened -- you could do it and you would get through it." But then she said, "No I couldn't. I love my husband. I actually like living with him way too much to send him away like that."

Okay, so in this woman's defense, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by her comment, but it really made me kind of upset. The fact that I can go on living when my husband is away doesn't mean that I don't love him. In fact, I love him very very much. I am not afraid to step aside while he leaves to serve our country. I know that there are worse things in life than a deployment. And even though life in the military is certainly difficult at times, at this point in my life, I love being an Army wife. I thought I would share with you some reasons why:

1. Welcome Home Ceremonies
2. Love letters from the field
3. The incredible bond I have with other Army wives -- just because we are going through the same thing
4. Free Health Care -- I can go to the doctor, walk right across the hall to pick up my prescription, and never have to pay a thing
5. Cheap groceries
6. Wive's Coffees
7. Knowing we won't be in the same place, doing the same things forever
8. Having a husband who comes home from work happy
9. Being able to see my handsome husband all dressed up in his dress blues (WOW!!)
10. Hail and Farewells
11. Learning about the Army -- it's lingo, posts, policies, history
12. Getting saluted sometimes when I drive through the gate on post.
13. The enormous sense of pride I have for my husband.

So these were just a few of the things I thought of when I was driving home from the tea yesterday. I also thought about how lucky I am to have a God that gives me strength and hope. When I first married Jon, my second cousin, Stephanie, sent me the Army Wives' Prayer. What a blessing:

"Dear Lord,

Give me greatness of heart to see, the difference between duty and his love for me.

Give me understanding that I may know, when duty calls him he must go.

Give me a task to do each day, to fill the time when he's away.

And Lord, when he's in a foreign land, keep him safe in your loving hand.

And Lord, when duty is in the field, please protect him and be his shield.

And Lord, when deployment is so long, please stay with me and keep me strong.

Amen."