Well our 3 years in the beautiful state of Alaska has almost come to an end.
When Don first told me that we were going to move here, I was not happy about the idea at all. "It is so dark and cold in Alaska!" I told him. "Plus it is so far away from our families." Now as we are on the brink of yet another new duty station I am so sad to be leaving this place. I have come to appreciate the beauties of this state and have to even learned to enjoy the snow. During the winter, the frost covers and outlines each twig and branch, and the snow on the ground sparkles like diamonds. The summers are bright and I love the almost 24 straight hours of summer sunlight. The land turns green and these flowers called fireweed bloom. It is gorgeous and it makes the long winters bearable.
I also feel like our family has grown together here. We have learned to rely on each other as a married couple and enjoy our own growing family while being so far apart from the families we were raised in. We do miss them, but being up here alone has strengthened our family unit.
March 10th was Don's report date to come up to Alaska, and even though he had been in the military for 9 1/2 years, we had never PCS'ed or (moved) with the military before. We had no idea what we were doing and by the time his unit gave him the go ahead to start out processing, it was too late for them to get our whole family ready in time. So Don had to leave without us. They told us that the rest of the family would have to wait for a command sponsorship to go to Alaska. I balled as I drove him to the airport thinking how could I care for 4 children alone with the youngest being only 3 months old. Well, the Lord was looking out for us. Don found out right after arriving that he would be deployed the next month. So if we had gone together, I would have been up here alone in a strange, cold place, hardly knowing anyone or having a support system in place. I was blessed to be left behind with the support of family and well established friends. We finally got the approval to move to Alaska the end of September and Don came home from his deployment the first part of October. I couldn't have timed it more perfectly myself. The Lord knew me, he knew our family's needs and he oversaw the details. At the time I couldn't see the path ahead and my faith wavered and I wondered why God wasn't hearing and answering my prayers. When we were all together again, I thanked him for doing it his way and in his time and for not answering my prayer in the way I had wanted him to.
Now with that backstory, let me tell you about this PCS. We are suppose to be going to Texas next. Funny how the idea of it is not that appealing right now. Cockroaches, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and spiders are not my cup of tea. Alaska has dangerous animals, but you know that when you are safe inside your home at night, you will not roll over in bed and find a bear or moose on the pillow next to you staring you in the face. In Alaska, the spiders here are smaller than a pencil eraser here and I have seen maybe 5 total inside of our house the whole time we have lived here. I don't really want to go there, but I keep telling myself, I didn't want to come here either, so who knows I may learn to love it just as I did this place.
My husband is suppose to be reporting there in April 10th, but we still do not have orders, and in the military everything you do for your move hinges on those orders. We can't schedule the movers, get out of our lease, schedule travel, find a house where we are moving to. We are suppose to be leaving Alaska the 25th of March, that is about 2 weeks away. Also, from everything we are hearing we don't think that the base we are going to has the services our son with Autism needs. We are trying to talk with Branch (they handle assignments and orders) to see about getting a re-assignment to a base that does, and so far my husband hasn't been able to get branch to answer their phone. There are moments of stress for sure, but for some reason this time I am also very calm. Because of last time, I feel like the Lord has a plan for us. We have done everything we can on our end, and now we are just praying and fasting that the Lord will do the rest. We are willing to go where he wants us to go and in the time frame that is best for our family. I truly believe that the Lord hears and answers our prayers and that he knows what we need to become better, stronger people. Despite everything being up in the air in our lives right now, I still have faith that everything will turn out as it should.
Stay tuned for how this move ends up going. We are on the edge of our seats wondering what happens next. ;)
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