More Chaos and Stress, or maybe less...

God is most certainly good. Don't let anyone or anything convince you otherwise. My family and I have spent the last 4 days researching and exploring what will be our new home, San Antonio, Texas. We are excited about the move, and terrified all at the same time. But maybe some of the "Chaos and Stress" that comes with the PCS won't be as intense as time grows closer. I have worried and prayed about where we will live and where my two boys will go to school. I have spent countless hours researching and planning. I have talked for endless hours with family and friends about all the pros and cons of each choice. I have beat this dead horse until there is nothing left to beat. All the while praying that God would show me, very clearly, where we will live and what school choice I should make for my two blessings, Josh and Zack. God has very certainly, and repeatedly I might add, assured me that He has a plan for us. I am not always good at remembering that God has us all in His hand, that He alone has a plan to prosper us, that He will not forsake us. He has (as always) held true through this adventure. He showed me the house we would rent and is holding me up while I investigate the school options. There is still chaos and stress ahead of us, but not as much. There are still choices to consider and decisions to be made, but now there are fewer. I still have much that needs prayer, but I have much for which to be thankful, and I am thankful. VERY THANKFUL that I have continued to feel God's guiding hands even during times of doubt. God is not just good, He is GREAT!!

PCS - Presently in Chaos and Stress

"PCS" in army lingo means permanent change of station, or at least I think that's what it means. I think it SHOULD mean "Presently in Chaos and Stress". That way whenever anyone asks what's going on and you reply - "We're 'PCSing'" - they immediately know that things will not be done on time, to completion, or even with any sense of normalcy. In other words, chaos is our status and unless you're here to fix that, move back before you get hurt in the crossfire. And yes, my husband, our two boys and I are about to PCS. It's been long awaited and very welcomed as our new orders will get him out of the current cycle of year long deployments. After 3 tours in Iraq we are ready for a break, and I know my boys are ready to have their dad around for more than a year at a time. However, no matter how "welcome" the PCS is, it always comes with chaos and stress. That's where we are...chaos and stress. I've been praying daily for the grace to get through each day and more so to get through this move. It's the first big move we've made in a long time so there's lots of things to do... closets to clean, maintenance issues to resolve, records to get copied...all while "normal life" continues to tick by. That's just on this end. Then we've got to find a place to live, schools for the kids, doctors, hairdressers (one of the most difficult things to leave if you ask me), dentists, music lessons, little leagues.... the list never ends. BUT... today I forgot to pray. This isn't unusual for me. I very often get up and start my day without first thanking God for giving me another day. I am ashamed to admit it, but I can easily get through a day without giving God a second thought. It is one of my many spiritual weaknesses. And today God called me on it. Usually in this level of stress my husband and I would be at each other's throats on a regular basis, but I've been sporadically participating in the Love Dare (not how you should do it, but I guess some is better than none) and I have been better about daily prayer, even multiple times through the day. When I failed to follow that path this morning God reminded me with a simple little blow up between my husband and myself - over NOTHING. The blow up was truly meaningless. It's even over, almost as quickly as it started. The Love Dare helped with that. I had the grace to bite my tongue and not pick at a laundry list I usually have tucked away in a back corner of my brain for just that special occasion. I think my husband did the same. He went to work, and very soon after I had a text message - "Love you..." Guess God was tapping me (us) on the shoulder to remind me what I'd forgotten, and that He'd been there to help manage the "Presently in Chaos and Stress" so far and He wasn't going anywhere. We have a trip planned for San Antonio soon to work out some of these details. I pray that I will remember to pray throughout the trip and the rest of the "PCS". I love my husband and I love our military life, I'm just not so thrilled with the chaos and stress it creates sometimes.