There’s just something so special about this time of year. It’s true, fall is my favorite season, even when it’s slow to show up here in El Paso. I love the cooler temperatures, the beginning of the holidays, and the promise of fresh joy on the horizon.
This is a time of year that many of us press into generosity, hope, and gratitude.
Many of you might be wondering why I’m wearing my wedding dress on a seemingly random Thursday. Well, two reasons: life is short (so why not?) and today, as you might have gathered, I am talking all about military marriage—specifically the lessons I’ve learned since saying “I do” to my infantryman 10 years ago.
I joke that military marriage years are like “dog years,” so really we are somewhere between 50 and 70 years together based on all of the life experiences we’ve had in the last decade.
No, this isn’t about household tools.
We here at AWN cover a variety of topics, and today is one of my favorites. I read a lot of books, and one that was a classic for me in college, and still pretty popular among leadership gurus out there, is Seven Habits for Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. All of the habits build on one another, but the first six can’t be optimally successful without the seventh: That is, “Sharpening the Saw.”
Have you heard the story of the two woodcutters? If not, here goes:
It was a dark and stormy night…
It had been a long day, and I was grateful the kids were finally in bed. Hubs was gone to the field and not due home for a couple more days. I sat on the couch in the dark, regretting my bad life decision to finish the last of my suspense novel when home alone. I mean, it wasn’t that scary, but between the unexpected ending, the lightning cracking outside in the fall thunderstorm just a few days before Halloween…I was a bit jumpy.
Suddenly, I heard a dull roaring sound. Did I lock all the doors? I know I did…but maybe I should double check.
Before I could check the locks, I heard footsteps. Oh man…I’m not making this up!
I didn’t want to look.
It was mid-Saturday morning, and I was supposed to be working on a sermon for church two Sundays away, but in a moment of final procrastination, I got on Facebook.
I shouldn’t have looked.
Some of my friends started sharing news stories about an “active shooter” in a local Walmart near our home here in El Paso and Fort Bliss.
There are a lot of layers to military spouse life.
It’s kind of like an onion. (Or, as Donkey from the movie Shrek insists, it’s like a parfait. Which sounds delicious. But I digress.)
Seriously, so many layers. It isn’t like the romantic homecoming love stories in the movies. Sure, we have our moments, but real life military marriage requires a lot more than a long kiss that makes your toes curl.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904
