Comfort During Times of Hardship

Sometimes life stinks. Bad things happen, frustrating things happen, and things that just don’t make any sense happen. For some people, life stinks because of the consequences of a poor decision on their part. For example, I would assume that being in prison stinks, and the vast majority of people who end up in prison are there due to poor decisions to disregard the law. For other, life may stink due to a decision that someone else made that impacts the person even though they personally did nothing wrong. For example, if a wife is doing everything right (not saying she’s perfect, but you know what I mean), and the husband cheats on her. She didn’t do the action, but she is hurt by it. Other times the pain and hardships are due to the fact that we live in a world filled with war, strife, sickness, and death. None of this is a new thing. Hard times have been happening ever since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden (a result of their actions – it hurt them in the short term, and the rest of the world in the long term).

The Bible is full of people who endured hardships, and like us, some responded well and others not so much. In 1 Kings 18-19, the Bible tells the story of Elijah. 1 Kings 19:4 says, “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”” Elijah was a prophet of God, yet he was feeling so down that he asked God to just let him die. He had done the right things and obeyed God, and as a result of his obedience, he ticked off the King and Queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel threatened his life, and that’s when he ran to the wilderness and wanted to die.

King David was a man after God’s own heart.  Before becoming the king, he was a shepherd. He was ridiculed by his older brothers. King Saul, who was king before David, tried multiple times to kill him. He lost a child as a punishment for his sin with Bathsheba. (At the time when the child was conceived, Bathsheba was married to someone else. When Bathsheba told David that she was pregnant with his child, David had her husband killed.) Later on, another son of David’s revolted against his father and caused David to have to flee. Some of the hardships were consequences of David’s actions, but some were completely out of his control. David wrote much of the book of Psalms and in Psalm 28:1-2 he wrote:

1 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:

Do not be silent to me,

Lest, if You are silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my supplications

When I cry to You,

When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

In Genesis 37 and 39, the Bible tells of Joseph. Joseph’s brothers were jealous that Joseph was their father’s favorite son from his favorite wife and sold him into slavery. He made the best of it and worked hard and became the head servant of Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife made improper advances and Joseph didn’t just tell her no, he ran from her and the temptation that she offered. She was not happy about being rejected, so she lied to her husband saying that Joseph had been the aggressor, and Joseph was thrown into jail.

In the book of Job, Satan was talking to God about Job. He accused Job of being faithful to God only because his life was going well. God allowed Satan to destroy all of Job’s possessions and kill all of his children. All that Job had left was his wife and a few friends. Eventually all of them turned on Job. Job 2:9 says, “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”” He lost everything and his wife told him there was no point in him living anymore. He refused to curse God, but thought that death would bring him relief from the pain. Job 6:8-9 says, ““Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

9 That it would please God to crush me, that He would loose His hand and cut me off!”

The prophet Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. This book was a poem about the pain he felt about the destruction of Jerusalem and God’s punishment His people. He wasn’t one of the ones that turned away from God and worshipped idols. He obeyed God, yet he was punished for the sins of the people. Lamentations 3:6-8 says:

6 He has set me in dark places

Like the dead of long ago.

7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;

He has made my chain heavy.

8 Even when I cry and shout,

He shuts out my prayer.

17 You have moved my soul far from peace;

I have forgotten prosperity.

Life was difficult for Jeremiah, and he felt like his prayers weren’t being heard.

While Jesus was on earth, some of His friends were three siblings – Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. While Jesus was ministering elsewhere, He received word that Lazarus was sick and dying. By the time He got to Bethany where they lived, Lazarus had been dead for several days. John 11:21 says, “Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”” She knew Jesus could have healed him, but now her brother was dead.

Those were people who were prophets, people who were close to God, and personal friends of Jesus, yet they struggled just like we do. I would guess that everyone could relate to at least one of them. We’ve felt like peace was hard to find. We’ve questioned if God is even hearing out prayers. We’ve done the right thing and obeyed God, but hardship has still come into our lives. Those closest to us have turned their backs on us. We’ve been betrayed and stabbed in the back. We have questioned why God, who is able to heal or prevent tragedy, allowed loved ones to die. We’ve been in dark places and questioned if life is even worth living anymore. The people in the Bible experienced times when life was hard, and thousands of years later, we’re still having similar experiences. Thankfully the Bible tells the full stories of the people I used as examples. The hard times were just part of their stories, not the end of them.

God sent an angel to minister to Elijah and feed him. Then Elijah went into a cave, and God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but He was in none of those. Then He spoke to Elijah with a still, small voice. He told Elijah to go down off the mountain. He brought Elijah a helper in the ministry and told him of others who still followed after the one, true God. Elijah had previously felt alone, but God filled that void. Jezebel’s threat to kill Elijah never came to pass, and both she and Ahab were killed. Elijah, however, never died. When his time on earth was done, God sent a chariot of fire to take him straight to Heaven.

David’s life story was one of highs and lows, but even in the midst of the hard times, he clung to God’s promises. Psalm 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.” Earlier in the same chapter he begged God not to be silent and to hear his prayers, and he was comforted and acknowledge that God gives him strength and protection. The book of Psalms is full of passages that bring comfort in difficult times.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even when we are the most broken inside, He restores our souls. When we’ve messed up, He forgives us. Yes, there will still be consequences for our actions, but God will be with us and will not give up on us.

Even in jail, Joseph still trusted God. He worked hard serving the other prisoners and found favor in the eyes on the jail keeper. He could have curled up and had a pity party about how unfair his life was. Most of what happened to him wasn’t his fault, yet there he was, a slave in jail. But then it all turned around. God used something as commonplace as dreams to get Joseph out of jail. Next thing he knew, he was the advisor to the Pharaoh of Egypt. From a slave in jail to 2^nd in command in Egypt because of dreams. God can use anything, no matter how small or big, to take care of us. The story doesn’t end there. A horrible famine came over the whole region and because of Joseph’s wise, God-given advice, Egypt was prepared for it. People from other countries came to seek food, and Joseph’s brothers were some of those people. He could have been bitter at them or even had them killed, but he chose to forgive them and help them. God used Joseph’s trials to bring him to the place where He needed him to save both Egypt and his own family, but none of that would have happened had Joseph not trusted God even when he was in some of the worst circumstances.

Job did not listen to his wife and friends who gave him bad advice. He acknowledged that even though bad things had happened to him that God was still good. He also prayed for the friends who had given him such a hard time. God eventually restored everything he’d lost and then some. He had more children and his wealth was doubled. That isn’t to say that if we’re going through tough times financially that God will make us rich. The Bible never says that. It does say that God knows our needs and will take care of us. Like Job, our lives may not always make sense. Bad things happen, our health fails, and our friends turn out not to be as good of friends as we thought. We may not understand, but we can trust that God has a plan and can work things out for His purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Lamentations 3 did not stop with Jeremiah being hopeless. The situation for his country was dire, but He knew that God would never abandon them. Lamentations 3:22-26 says:

22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

His compassions never fail. I hope in Him. What a comfort to know that God will always take care of us. Even when things seem bleak, He is in control and is compassionate and merciful.

Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother when Jesus arrived. Even though they wished that Jesus had arrived sooner and healed their brother before he died, they still trusted Jesus. Jesus ended up raising their brother from the dead. Even before raising Lazarus, He told his disciples that He was glad that He had not been there so that they could believe. The disciples had already seen Jesus heal people, but this was the first time that they would see someone come back to life. Jesus showed them that He had power over death itself. While we may not have our loved ones brought back from the dead, if they believe in Jesus and his salvation, death is not the end. John 11:25-26 says, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”” 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 says, “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” We may not understand why God chooses to take our loved ones when He does, but we have the hope that we will see them again one day. Yes, here on earth there is a hole in our family or circle of friends where that person used to be, and that hurts. Like Mary and Martha, we prayed so hard and had faith that God could heal a sick relative, but they died anyway. Did God not hear our prayers? Jesus heard the prayers of Mary and Martha, yet he allowed Lazarus to die. Their plan was not His plan. It’s hard when the answer to our prayers is “no”, but we can trust that God has a plan even if we don’t understand it. We mourn the loss of a loved one when they are taken to Heaven, but compared to eternity, our time on earth – and our time without the loved one here on earth – is relatively short, and then we will be together again in a place with no tears, no loss, no sickness, and no death.

I’ve been through difficult times in my life. Times when I couldn’t see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. I’ve asked God why He allowed people I loved to die, why He allowed things to happen to me and to people I love, why He put me in circumstances that I didn’t like. I’ve been in dark places like Jeremiah talked about in Lamentations 3:6. I’ve cried myself to sleep. But through it all, God has been faithful. In the Old Testament, when God would bring His people through difficult times, he would have them erect a monument so that when later generations saw it, they would ask why it was there and would hear the story of how God took care of His people. We can’t always control what happens in our lives, but we can control how we respond. When hard times come, we can either become bitter or we can look back and see how God has comforted us and provided for us in the part. We can trust that he will do the same in our future. Looking back on my life to this point, I can see the times when God brought me through the tough times. No, I don’t always respond as I should immediately, but I come around after I’ve had time to process things. Psalm 30:5b says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Hard times come and happiness comes and goes based on external circumstances, but joy is something God gives us that even the worst circumstances can’t take away unless we let them. My friends, I pray that you choose to hold onto that joy and not to let bitterness take hold and steal that joy. God is good all the time and has a plan for your life, even when things don’t make sense, and even when life hurts.

A House and a Home

Yesterday, I attended a planning meeting with the Space Coast Paratroopers Association regarding the joint effort with the city of Palm Bay in the Homes for Warriors program. This got me thinking about houses, homes, and the difference between the two. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a house as “a building that serves as living quarters for one or a few families.” While similar in nature, the definition of a home is different. When I think of the word “house” I think of a building with windows and doors where people live. When I think of the word “home” my thoughts focus on something less tangible. Yes, the house where I reside is my home and it is a very tangible thing, but the building isn’t what makes it a home. Home is somewhere where I feel comfortable. I can be myself. A home is full of love. Being with family is part of what makes it a home – not to say that a person who is single, has no children, or other relatives can’t have a “home”, but not all family is biological, and not even always human (pets can be part of the family too). Before moving back to Florida, “going home” meant that I got to spend time with my family.

Another part of “home” is not just the house, but the city or area. When we went away to college, I never said “I’m going to Palm Bay for the weekend.” It was always “I’m going home.” It was the same way after Justin and I got married and we lived in Georgia, Germany, and Maryland. Yes, we had a place where we resided at the various duty stations, that held all of our belongings, but Palm Bay, FL was always home. Georgia came pretty close to feeling like home, but we knew our time there was temporary and it’s hard to get too attached to somewhere when you know that you’ll be moving, and the more attached you become, the more difficult moving will be. Among Army families, I’ve often heard the phrase “home is where the Army sends us”. I never quite felt that way. Yes, my home is whatever place Justin, Corey, and I are together, but some of the places we lived, I just had a hard time feeling “at home” in. After living so close to D.C. for 18 months, I fully realized that I am definitely not a big city girl. I will never feel comfortable or at home with so many people, so much traffic, and such a fast paced place. It’s just not who I am, and that’s fine. Not everyone is meant for big city life.

One more type of “home” for me is my church home. Other than 3 ½ years when I was away at college, I regularly attended and was involved in the same church from the time I was 5 or 6 years old until I was nearly 25 and moved due to marrying Justin and living where he was stationed. In the years that I was in college and the years since Justin and I got married, I have visited many churches and have regularly attended several. When we were looking for a church in Georgia after moving back from Germany, we visited several and none of them were quite what we were looking for. Both Justin and I both wanted to find something like our home church in Palm Bay. We were getting discouraged, but at the suggestion of a friend, we tried one more. We walked in the door, and it felt like home. No, “feeling like home” wasn’t a main qualification, but we were also pleased with the quality of the preaching, the music in the service, and the children’s programs that the church offered. There was even a small orchestra which got me excited because I had really missed playing my saxophone when we were in Germany. That became our church home away from home, and I am thankful for that. Now we’re back in Palm Bay and back at our home church. There are a lot of new faces, but also a lot of familiar ones that I’ve known most of my life. In many ways, it feels like we never left. It still feels like home, and the people of the church still feel like my family. It makes me so happy to watch my son as he now can grow up in the same place as I grew up surrounded by some of the same loving people who have known me since I was his age, and plenty of others who I’ve come to know over the years since then.

On the day that Justin was injured, aside from my concern as to his welfare, I had a million other things running through my head. The Army does a lot to prepare soldiers and families for reintegration after a deployment and arrangements and standard protocol should death occur. There is basically nothing explained regarding severe injury. One of my big concerns would be where we would go (after Walter Reed…which I also was unaware of how long that would be) and what we would do. I figured that with losing his legs, Justin wouldn’t be able to stay in the Army, so without the only career he’s really known since he was a teenager, what would happen next for our family? While the immediate questions were answered and the timeline at Walter Reed a lot longer than I’d originally thought, things weren’t quite as pressing, but those concerns still lingered in the back of my mind. Then came the first time we went back to our rental house in Georgia with Justin in a wheelchair. That experience brought up a whole new list of concerns. Finding just any house or apartment wouldn’t work. We would need something accessible which our rental house was far from. Things we had never even thought about (like bathroom doorways being narrower than bedroom doorways) were now something we had to work around. Matthew 6:25-30 says, ““Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” I knew that God had a plan and that he would take care of us, but having the knowledge of that and being able to hand those concerns over to Him without taking them back to worry on them some more is a lot easier to say than do.

About 8 months after Justin was injured, we received a series calls that changed everything for us. After Justin was injured, his aunt, Michelle, agreed to be the contact person if people contacted the local newspaper (which had run a few articles about our situation) wanting to get ahold of us or pass along information or encouragement. She called us and told us that our local congressman’s assistant had called her wanting to know if we wanted a house in Palm Bay – our hometown. We told her we were interested and got a call from the congressman’s assistant who gave our information to the people with the city. Then we got a call from Bob with the city of Palm Bay explaining things. The city had acquired some foreclosed houses and they wanted to give one to us mortgage free. I expressed my concerns regarding Justin’s accessibility needs and Bob told me that all the house would need to be fixed up and that the city would make it accessible in the process before handing over the keys to us. Wow. I’m still in awe over how everything just seemed to fall into place. Talk about an answer to prayers I hadn’t even thought to pray. At that point, I was praying that God would heal Justin’s legs so that he could walk. I was praying for short-term things and thinking too far ahead was scary, so I tried not to think about it. I figured we would end up putting our stuff in storage and staying with family for a bit once we were done at Walter Reed. We’d have to find the right house and use Justin’s VA loan to buy it, then use the VA grant to get it adapted, but then there were the concerns regarding how to pay the mortgage. God had bigger and better plans than I had even considered.

So, what does this house mean to me and my family? Having a mortgage free house is a huge financial weight off of our shoulders. Accessibility is also a huge deal. It’s not just a matter of convenience, but it’s a safety issue for Justin as well. At our rental house in Georgia, Justin’s wheelchair couldn’t fit through the bathroom doorways, so we had to put a rolling computer chair in the bathroom. He would transfer from the wheelchair to the computer chair (which didn’t have any sort of brakes). This was a scary process at times. He didn’t fall, but he came close a few times. Once on the computer chair, he would use the counter to roll himself to the toilet (which didn’t have any grab bars, so transferring to and from the toilet and computer chair was sketchy). If he took a bath or shower, once again, the transferring to/from the computer chair was an issue. We made do during the brief times we were there, but having a house to come home to where he doesn’t have to make do make his life, and in result my life, much easier. The house has helped us get back into our community. We’ve reconnected with friends and spent time with family in our house. For our son, for the first time in his life, he lives near his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and two of his cousins. He’s able to have stability in his life, and he’s thriving. He’s had friends over to our house to play and makes plans with various family members. What does this house mean? It means we’ve come home, and we’ve been enjoying every day of being home.

The house for us was the inspiration for the Homes for Warriors program. They’ve already presented two other houses to wounded veterans and their families, and there are more in the works. Not all veterans (wounded or not) have the same kind of community, family, and church support that our family has. I’m so proud of the city of Palm Bay and all the businesses and volunteers who have shown such support for my family and other wounded veterans. I’m excited for the future Homes for Warriors recipients that they will soon have forever homes. Most of them aren’t originally from Palm Bay, so they will be making a new home for their families. I hope they love it and feel as welcome as our family does.

If you live in the Palm Bay, FL area, please consider being a part of this wonderful program and help welcome these wounded veterans to their new homes. Check out and “like” the Space Coast Paratroopers Association page as they post updates on volunteer and donation opportunities.
https://www.facebook.com/SpaceCoastParatroopersAssociation?ref=br_tf

2014 - a year in review

I was looking back through my posts in 2014, and it was a really eventful year for my family. We started out the year in Florida and then travelled back to Maryland (while Corey stayed in Florida) so that Justin could go back inpatient for yet another surgery which ended up not happening because Justin had healed up so much over Christmas. While he was inpatient, he got the PICC line removed after having it in for 99 days to deal with staph infections. Once Justin got out of the hospital, we celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary. Then we headed back to Florida for convalescence leave. While we were on leave, we were able to take Corey to Disney for the first time. Justin was also able to go hunting in GA on the way back to MD.

Then came February. Talk about an emotional roller coaster. I went to my first caregivers’ night out. Justin finally was healed up enough to get his second leg and start walking for the first time post-injury. Then we got a call asking if we would like to be given a house in our hometown. Talk about an unexpected blessing. I kept waiting for it to fall through because it seemed too good to be true, yet, here I am, sitting in it. Then came my birthday…I wasn’t ready to go from a 20-something to the big 3-0, but ready or not, it happened. We were able to go skiing – Justin in an adapted form and Corey for the first time. Things were going great (other than me turning 30 lol) until Justin’s orthopedic surgeon decided that they needed to do the flap surgery after all and back inpatient Justin went. After the excitement of him finally walking after 8 months, the setback was a huge disappointment.

March started off with Justin in the hospital. Not long after midnight, on the day that Justin would have the flap surgery, my 3^rd nephew was born. Justin’s surgery went well, and while he was in the hospital, we met President Obama. Before Justin was released back to outpatient, they taught me how to give him blood thinner injections. He was not fond of this at all, and we learned that it was better for me to give them to him when I wasn’t stressed or frustrated. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but I guess I wasn’t as gentle when frustrated…oops. I guess I don’t have a future in the medical profession. Lol

In April we were able to travel back to Florida for convalescent leave again. On our way down, we spent some time in Georgia. While there, we went over to some friends’ house for dinner one evening. After dinner, the guys went out front and Justin miscalculated how steep the end of their driveway was and ended up falling nub first out of his wheelchair. He was still on the blood thinner, so there was a lot of blood, and we were concerned that he might have messed up the skin flap. We called an ambulance and they brought him to the military hospital where the ER docs got in touch with the surgeon at Walter Reed on how best to treat Justin’s wounds. Thankfully it ended up being okay in the long run, but Justin was in a lot of pain and bruised the end of his residual limbs. We were also thankful that we didn’t have to return to Walter Reed right away. While we were in Florida, we got to visit what would become our new house for the first time. The house that we saw looks nothing like the house that we’re living in. A lot of work went into making this house our home and making it accessible for Justin. A little over a month after the big skin flap surgery, Justin stopped taking all of his painkillers. From that day on, it was just one medication for nerve pain (which he has gradually stepped down the dosage), vitamins, and the occasional Tylenol. He did this on his own and felt so much better and stronger without all the side effects that came with the narcotics. After we were back in Maryland, Justin was able to participate in a fly fishing tournament through Project Healing Waters. He didn’t win, but we all had a great time.

In May, Justin was finally healed up enough from the flap surgery to start walking again, and he’s been on the go ever since. He almost never uses the wheelchair outside the house anymore and if he’s wearing pants, it’s hard to tell that he’s wearing prosthetics. It was a long 11 months getting him to that point, but he never gave up.

In June, Justin participated in another fly fishing tournament. We also celebrated his first “Alive Day”. Rather than calling it the anniversary of the injury, at Walter Reed, they refer to it as an Alive Day – celebrating the fact that they’re still alive in spite of whatever injuries they sustained. We also enjoy a visit from Justin’s Granny, sister, and cousin without Justin spending any of the visit in a hospital bed (other times they’d been up were when Justin was inpatient). This was just a fun visit to celebrate the Alive Day. We were able to take them fishing, see some of the monuments in D.C., and overall just enjoyed spending time together. Also in June, Justin was able to play his first round of golf post-injury and walked his first post-injury mile. It was a good month of milestone accomplishments!

In July, Justin was able to do his first post-injury ruck march. He was setting goals and achieving them and wasn’t letting anything or anyone slow him down. In the middle of the month, Corey and I went down to Georgia to pack up the house that we’d been renting. It was very bittersweet. We enjoyed living in GA, and we loved the church we attended. But the reason for the packing was because we were signing for our house on August 1^st. We were about to become first time homeowners and have a permanent residence (though it would be months before we actually lived in it due to still being at Walter Reed). Justin’s Granny came up to help me pack. Then some soldiers from Ft. Stewart helped me load a POD. It didn’t all fit, so we had to rent a Uhaul and move the rest a few days before our signing day. Right before the trip to close out things with our rental and receive our new house, Justin got his first set of carbon fiber sockets which fit him so much more comfortably than the plastic ones. We also were visited by one of my sisters and her family and I finally got to meet my newest nephew. On our way to FL to finish our move, we stopped in GA to pack the rest of our stuff in the Uhaul and Justin was able to go to Ft. Stewart and do PT with his guys. Another of his goals that he was able to accomplish. Then we went down to Florida and with some help (mostly from strangers), we unloaded the POD and Uhaul and unpacked our house. From the time the POD was delivered until we stopped unpacking/assembling/hanging pictures, it was approximately 36 hours. Not every box got unpacked (and there are quite a few that still are waiting to be unpacked), but it was as good as it was going to get.

Then came August 1^st – the big day. Our signing, ribbon cutting, welcome home, open house was overwhelming. It was amazing to see how many people came out to show their support for our family. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay in our house for very long before we had to head back up to MD to continue Justin’s rehab. The rest of August was pretty busy filled with a golf lesson, Corey starting kindergarten being homeschooled, Justin rock climbing in physical therapy, another fishing tournament, and Justin getting running legs. We also celebrated Justin’s birthday and my sister and her family came back up for a visit. My brother-in-law had gotten some tickets to a college football game held in Baltimore, so he and Justin went to the game while my sister, Corey, my sister’s two boys, and I went to the National Aquarium (also in Baltimore). We all had a good day and enjoyed the visit.

In September, we were busy with fun activities nearly every weekend. We were able to attend/participate in a fundraiser held by a friend of ours to benefit one of our favorite non-profits. Justin flew up to Michigan to go fly fishing for salmon. This was his first time catching salmon and he had a great time…though for him, he’ll have a great time fishing anywhere for any type of fish. I was able to go to another much needed caregivers’ night out. Justin also went on a deer and pheasant hunting trip. He had a wonderful time and was able to get a 10-point buck (which was quite tasty and will look nice on the wall of the “man cave”).

October was another busy month. We went to the National Apple Festival in Pennsylvania. It was a great day to be outside and we found some really cool crafts, ate some tasty treats, and brought home some apples and fresh cider that I used to make my homemade apple butter. The next day, Justin’s Granny and cousin came back up for a visit. We took them to Gettysburg and enjoyed a concert on the Walter Reed grounds. Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band puts on a great show! My sister and her family also came for a visit and we went to the National Zoo with them. Justin got a pair of feet with robotic, battery operated ankles. They’re a lot heavier than his other sets, but they made it easier to walk on uneven terrain. The Lieutenant who was with Justin on the mountain the day he was injured had been transferred to a unit in D.C., and we were able to meet up with him and take him fishing. A few days later, we headed to the Eastern Shore of MD for the Heroes Haven hunting trip. As always, we had a great time with our friends in Sharptown and were sad when the long weekend came to a close. The following weekend, Justin had another pheasant hunt. This time, Corey and I were able to join him (not to hunt, but to observe and take pictures). Then we headed back down to Florida to get Justin’s Army gear to turn in. Justin got his official ratings and things were starting to move quickly toward Justin retiring from the Army.

November started with us still in Florida. We were able to vote in person in the mid-term election. For Justin, this was his first time voting in person since joining the Army. As soon as we voted, we hit the road to head back to Walter Reed. November was filled with a lot of stress and frustrations as we battled through red tape, packed up our apartment, and got paperwork signed. I was able to go to one last caregivers’ night out. Then on November 25^th, we packed up our truck and left Walter Reed for good. While it was a huge relief and excitement to be able to finally move on to the next chapter of our lives, it was bittersweet leaving behind some amazing people who made the past 18 months a lot more pleasant than they would have otherwise been. People who, for some, were going through similar struggles and understood ours. Others were volunteers with various non-profits who had been with us from the beginning encouraging us, showing so much support, and becoming our friends. Walter Reed held some very painful, difficult times for our family, but the memories I choose to remember the most vividly are the ones of good times with family and friends. The times filled with laughter and fun with people we care about. After a couple long days on the road, we made it home the night before Thanksgiving. We enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch with my family and dinner with Justin’s family. I had a great time Black Friday shopping (which now seems to mostly be on Thanksgiving evening these days) with my mom and checking off quite a bit of my Christmas list of gifts for our families. Then we celebrated Corey’s birthday on both Friday with a special lunch with Granny and dinner with friends and Saturday with a joint party for him and my niece who also turned 5.

Then there’s December. At the beginning of the month, we were treated to a fun concert featuring the Band Perry courtesy of the American Security Council Foundation. From the day we arrived home until now, we’ve hardly been home. Justin’s spent a lot of time fishing and enjoying the Florida retiree life. We’ve reconnected with friends and spent time with family. We’ve even gone to the beach and went swimming…yes, swimming in December. That’s the Florida life. On the 23^rd, we attended the candle light service at our church. On Christmas Eve, Justin officially retired from the Army. We went up to the local Air Force base and got Justin his retiree ID card and my retiree dependent card. Then we went to lunch at my parents’ house followed by supper at Justin’s parents’. Then on Christmas day, we were back at my parents’ house. Another busy week followed ending with a nice New Year’s Eve with my parents and some of our friends.

Now it’s January. Hard to believe 2014 is over and we’re on to 2015. If you’re still reading this post, you saw a small glimpse of our 2014 adventures. I’m excited to see what 2015 has in store for our family. If it’s anything like the last month has been (though preferably a little slower of a pace), it’s going to be an amazing year! Yes, Justin’s injuries and resulting additional needs make some aspects of life more difficult, but he doesn’t let what many would see as disabilities slow him down any. Our life is far from perfect, but it is definitely very blessed. I hope you all have a wonderful 2015!