This time of year in the military is much like spring of High School senior year, where everyone is waiting on pins and needles for various acceptance and rejection letters. “Ooh, so and so got Camp Pendleton! Does that mean they took our spot or were they selected from a different pool so we still have a chance? What?!! That guy is going to Hawaii? What sort of games did he play (or other, more colorful language) to make a job appear out of nowhere!? Thank God they got orders so we don’t have to see them any longer.” It’s not pretty. Or maybe that’s just what happens at our house and the rest of the Marine Corps patiently waits with no resentment, ill will, or malice. But I doubt it.
Just being real here.
Still waiting for someone to let us know what is up with our future. We are perfectly content to stay, and in fact were very pleased with our maneuvering to be able to stay based on the job possibilities that were available. Until we started seeing people getting orders to places on our dream list. Abu Dhabi?!?A job at the embassy?! (That’s the capital of United Arab Emirates — 40 minutes from Dubai and a 5 hour drive from Muscat). That wasn’t on any list and Josh has been wanting to move to Abu Dhabi for years. Germany?!?! There wasn’t any Germany job . . . oh, they put him in a job that was outside of his region of expertise. What!?!? We could have done that! Why would he be considered when all we’re getting is, “No!”? Bitter pills, indeed.
Then begins the second guessing: “Should we have pushed harder, jockeyed more, not settled for our “safety school?” Would that have made a difference? The truth is that we have known from the beginning that God’s will trumps the will of the Marine Corps. If we were intended to be in any of those places, we’d get orders there. I don’t know how people can do a 20 year career without faith in God’s provision because if my faith depended on the government deciding what was best for me, I would have lost it a long time ago.
So we wait in peace. With just a hint of bitter “what ifs?” at the back of our throats. We are human after all.