Life as we know it is about to drastically change. This past Friday (the 8th), John enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard!While it came as a complete shock to most family members and friends, John has actually been working on this since last October. He wanted to keep it hush-hush until all of the details were lined out and he had been sworn in. The kids and I got to watch him take his oath---it was very cool. Caitlin and Christian are great with the whole thing. In fact, Christian now goes around telling everyone that "his daddy is a soldier now."
Too cute!
I'm going to try to answer as many questions as possible in this post, but if there's one I miss, just comment and let me know, ok?
Here's how the next 6 months are going to look:
John will go to boot camp in South Carolina in early August. He'll be gone for 9-10 weeks. After boot camp, he will be home through the holidays. During that time, we will be doing as much as we can as a family. In January of 2010, he'll go to OCS (Officer Candidate School) in Georgia for roughly 8 weeks. During that time, he will be picking his specialty based on where he ranks in his class. Two of the specialties he's interested in are: 1) physician's assistant--anything medical, 2) helicopter pilot--not sure if that's an option really though. After OCS, he will come back home and be with us until we figure out where he will be training for his specialty.
It's really up in the air as to whether or not we will live here or have to move wherever his training is held. Not that that's a huge deal killer, but we do like the fact that we live very near both sets of parents/grandparents. It would be very hard to move, but then again we are willing to go where we are called to be.
Yes, John will be keeping his Fire Captain position through the whole thing. When he comes back during the holidays, he will go back on shift just like normal. It's nice to know that the fire department will work with military schedules (not that they really have a choice-ha!).
Knowing that this is something John has wanted to do his whole life, I'm excited to watch it all come together, piece by piece. I support him 100%! It's not going to be super easy, but we have plenty of family and friends to help us through this, especially the times when we are separated for weeks. There have been several times in the past 11 years that he's tried to join some branch of the armed forces, but for one reason or another it didn't work out. I think it's awesome that he was patient and waited until he had a college degree before trying again--that way he can go in as an officer.
We didn't make these massive decisions lightly. We trust that the Lord has a wonderful plan for John's life, and this is a step in the right direction for our family. Being completely at peace with this has been so freeing.
I will share more as I know more. This is all so new and interesting to me!
Mel
9 comments:
Go Guard!
Awesome! John thanks for being willing to serve. (I was thinking in HS he had talked about joining?? Maybe I made that up) Let me know if there is anything I can do. Love ya'll!
Melanie--yes, he was planning to go in to the Navy straight out of high school, but at the last minute he changed his mind and went to the fire academy. Then, about a year before we had Caroline, he tried to join the Marines. At that point, they told him that it would be best to wait until we were finished having children--the pay back then wouldn't have been as good either. AND, he wanted to go in as an officer, so he waited until he finished his bachelor's degree. Whew! Long answer to a short question! :)
WOW!!!!!! That is amazing! Thankyou John for wanting to serve our country!! Sounds like an exci ting journey your family has ahead..wow!!!! You all will be my thought and prayers :)
I am so happy that your patience finally paid off. God is so good!
Thank you John for protecting my freedom and thank you Missy for supporting him! Love you guys!
Praying for you and your family! I know you guys are very excited!
How exciting!!! Sounds like this is something that has been greatly anticipated for awhile now. Keep us all updated as to how things are going and how's the whole keeping Caroline corraled going? I laughed when I read that post b/c we have some friends that ended up doing the same thing to their little girl after she tried to make her own omlet in the middle of the living room floor! :)
Thank you John for the sacrifice you are making to serve our country and protect our freedom. We will keep you guys in our prayers and know that God will provide for your precious little family! We love you guys!
Post a Comment