Like it or Not

Tomorrow is the day that my soldier switches his uniform to a strange new color & starts a crazy training period at work to head into deployment. The boys & I knew it was coming, but with the emotional roller coaster we've been on this week tears come when I think about it every-time. I am glad we get to go watch the Casing ceremony & enjoy the afternoon of family time with other Army families. It is so familiar now to me it's almost a relief to know what lays ahead,almost. 

My youngest two boys have never been to the Deployment ceremony as they are such wiggle worms we chose not to make them sit through the long ceremony in the past. Tomorrow we feel they are old enough to attend & watch the whole ceremony. With it being so close to Memorial Day & all the meaning that the day holds it's time they understand a little better exactly what happens when their dad deploys. He doesn't just hug them one day ,camera snaps a few times & drives away only to return twelve long months later. It's time they witness the pomp & circumstance, the ritual of the flags being cased until they arrive in their new area of operations.The fact that there are other boys & girls who have parents leaving as well for a year. They aren't alone in their jumbled mixed up emotions.

 I wonder how it will affect them, if they can truly understand the sacrifice that all those men on the parade field are about to endure for a year? Or will it simply be anxiousness on their part to get to that amazing climbing wall & free food that the MWR is providing the families? I know my oldest boys are happy to get out of school & spend some time with their dad. But at the same time they are quiet & had tears form as well in their eyes this morning as we discussed the game plan for tomorrow. There is no hiding it anymore for them. They know what a deployment means. It means, separation from their dad. It means long periods with no phone calls,no SKYPE, or bed time hugs. It may mean injury or even death . This week has shown them the grim reality of deployments, there is no escape anymore. Gone are the carefree days of youth during deployments for my oldest.

So as my family & so many others head into a long deployment period I ask that  everyone continue to pray for all the military families serving around the world. The wars aren't over even though they don't appear on your evening news daily. There are families like mine that are struggling while one or maybe both parents are deployed. There are families that are being reunited who need prayers that it goes smoothly. This military life is hard but I wouldn't change it or give it up at all. It has made my family closer, stronger,& so appreciative of everything our great country GIVES us in the way of freedom. But at the same time we know that freedom isn't free sacrifices are made for that freedom. So if you do nothing else patriotic  in your daily life, take the time to pray for our troops & their families. Because God listens & answers our prayers in his time. It gives me great comfort to know that others remember the sacrifice my husband & so many others make everyday. So like it or not here we go into another crazy year.