meeting bubba gump..

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.
Phillipians 1:3

Seven years ago we became eligible to PCS.. If you are in the military you know that a PCS is a major pain in the butt and selecting your choice of assignments is a migraine waiting to happen. Considering we were leaving the armpit of America and I had begged, literally begged for a year and a half to leave, I didn't really care where we were going. Anywhere was better than where we were.

I had a few requests and they had to be met. They must be met.

- The town must be more up to date than 1989. I know that makes me sounds like a snot box, whatever. I came from the big city, that I loved and moved to 1989. I could settle for around 2002.. but we had to surpass the 1990s.

- We had to have a Target and a Gap. If we had nothing else, I could survive with those two stores alone to shop in and order everything else online. Nothing but walmart but 18 months nearly killed me.. Driving 90 minutes to Target? For the birds.

- No snow. I had decided that I liked southern weather and was done with the cold.

- No tornados. Spending the night before I had Bella and a few other run ins with the sirens was enough for me. We'll revisit this later..


We studied and studied, the available jobs and "the list". I was in the States, Jason from Iraq. We finally narrowed it down and made our selections. Fort Campbell, Fort Benning, Fort Campbell again and Fort Bragg.

We waited anxiously to find out where we would move next. I was so excited I couldn't stand it.
Jason checked his email over and over again waiting for the assignment to come through. It didn't. One day his telephone rang, it was the assignments officer. "What do you think about Alabama? To an aviation unit?" What.the.crap. Jason is not even a pilot. We wanted to go to Alabama about as much as we wanted to stay in Arkansas.

The Army clearly doesn't like us although I have serious doubts that they like anyone..

I remember sending out the first email to my friends letting them know I was moving to Alabama. Roll Tide. War Eagle. What in the world did that mean? Blissful ignorance in those days let me tell you. You're going to go live with Forrest Gump. Oh dear Lord.. Are you going to come back here with an accent? I doubt it..

We arrived at the end of May, I was pregnant with baby number two and sweating out of my own skin. Seriously, the humidity somedays reached 90%. Ninety percent. And the allergies. They call this death valley and they aren't kidding.. there are months I can't even breathe through my nose. Jason left four months after we arrived and I raised two babies in a place that I could honestly have taken or left. No sign of snow though and still no sign of Forrest Gump.

Jason's first boss's wife was a lovely lady who continuously went out of her way to make me feel welcome and accepted and loved by all things Army. The life of a typical army wife is just not my style, I am up to my eyeballs in preschoolers.. And I get hives at the thought of meeting new people. You can believe me or not, it is true. Still, Lydia was persistent and continued time and again to ask us to visit their church. I always smiled and said I am sure it is lovely place but we aren't looking. She kept asking. I kept saying no thank you.

When Will and Amelia were both babies, I enrolled Bella in a gymnastics class. She went once a week and loved it. After much discussion, Jason and I decided that she would benefit from starting preschool also. I asked a few ladies at gymnastics for recommendations for school. And what did they say.. Lydia's church. That I had politely and persistently declined to attend. It was as if God was speaking to me.. We visited. We visited again. I never felt unwelcome because I wasn't Baptist. For 1.5 years we visited that church before joining. I needed to know in my heart that it is where I belonged. Without a doubt. I needed to know it was my church home.

A month ago, Will had his tonsils removed. We were in the hospital for 9 hours the first day. Our pastor and my friend sat with me during the surgery. I received texts and phone calls to check on us throughout the day. Friends spent the night with us the first two nights we were home. When we went back to through the ER because of complications, I was met there by my friend and our Pastor. Visitors came every day to sit with us, visit with us, bring us food. Text messages, telephone calls and emails. Food to the house. God speaking to my heart.. this is where you belong. This is why you are here. I never would have gotten through that week without so many of you..I never would have survived that in DC. It never would have been like that anywhere else. I know that.

There are days when I question the decision that Jason and I made.. to split up our family. There are specific reasons behind our decision. Medical reasons particularly. Two kids with asthma that are in and out of the ER, with no family near us again. It was hard. We know we made the right decision but still, I somedays have my doubts. The day of Will's surgery, we found out that Jason will be deploying for the fifth time. I heard God speaking to my heart again. This is where I wanted you to be..this is your home.

There are days that are longer than others. The road is often more uphill than down. And that's okay. While sometimes I think an easier path would be nice, I know that it doesn't do anything to build character. It doesn't do anything to teach us about ourselves. We learn about who we are and how to survive when we are faced with difficult situations. I don't know everything but I know this, we are survivors.

We have been here six years now and I am so thankful for my home state. I even converted my drivers license and residency two years ago. Huge for me because I still claimed Ohio even though we left years ago. It was huge. It was me finally admitting that we would never go back like I had always thought and hoped. It is okay. I am at peace with it. It is better this way. If you ask my kids where they are from, they say Alabama. They have even on occasion said War Eagle and Roll Tide. I try not to throw up when I hear it. We are Buckeyes, driver's license or not. I hear them speak and smile. I don't care who you are, there is nothing better than a southern accent. Especially on a toddler child. It literally makes my heart smile. Last year I saw my Ohio friends for a girls weekend, I hadn't seen them in a year. We went to Nashville so I'm going to blame the fact that we were still in the south but they said "do you hear your accent?! I love it!" I most certainly did not. But oh well..I'm surrounded by it so I suppose it is only a matter of time. I think of my pastor and what he says, "I'm not from Alabama but I got here as fast as I could." I think we'll stay awhile..I'm still looking for Forrest Gump after all.