Soccer Mom: Unplugged

The boxes are neatly labelled and stacked up against the wall in our living room.  One more day and we'll finally be leaving this little apartment in northern Virginia.  My husband's temporary assignment at the Pentagon will be over and we will return to the home (at an undisclosed CONUS army post) that we have enjoyed for the past 3 and a half years. A few months more and we will begin life as a "civilian" family.

As I look back over the past few years, I can honestly say that the title of Army Wife is one I have grown to appreciate more and more.  Growing up in a military town, I heard all the sappy tributes to wives who kept the home fires burning and I couldn't understand what would possess a woman to willingly enlist for such duty.  Though I knew them as teachers, church companions, and neighbors, I never really understood them and I swore never to join their ranks.  Funny how ironically things turned out. 

For the past decade, I've been supported by these women, befriended by them and at times carried by their friendship.  Many of them have been the hands of God in my life, reaching out and offering a lifeline when LTC soccermom was across the ocean, in the desert or dodging gunfire in "Sniper Alley", Sarajevo.  You can never really understand the beauty of these women until they show up at your house, cry with you, help you with your dishes and send care packages to the man you love - a man they man not even know.  They pass on their wisdom, their own stories of struggles and separation and they stand unfailing beside you as you wonder how you'll find the strength to manage a move alone, or help your children adjust to yet another strange town.  They hold your hand as you worry about how you will help your children remember their father when they can't see him or hear him every day. 

I love these women.  These beautiful women whose strength and character is forged in the fire of adversity and who refuse to become bitter but instead look around them and offer a hand to whoever seems to be hurting or struggling.  I haven't met an Army wife yet who doesn't undervalue her service to her country, her husband, her children and her community.  Each and every one, I've known, truly believes that her experiences are nothing when compared to the trials of others. 

Thank you Tracee, LeeAnn, Jackie, Desrae, Cindy, Michelle, Jen, Marlis, Beth, Katie and too many more to mention. I love you.

And to my favorite Army wife of all, a special thanks.  Thanks Mom for holding me in your arms while I sobbed the first time he went to war.  And when I fell to pieces every time the orders changed and suddenly he wasn't really coming home.  Thanks for coming to my aid every time I called, frantic and afraid.  Thanks for giving me your strength when I had none of my own left to carry me through.  For being a calm harbor and a safe supportive place to go when I didn't think I could go on.  You are my hero.  (Proverbs 31:28)