Scarlett lay staring at the red glowing numbers in the darkness. Three -thirty a.m. glared back at her screaming silently, “You have only 3 more hours left with your husband before he leaves!” Her heart sank as she took a deep breath trying to hold back the tears. She knew if she cried now, she wouldn't stop. Besides, she had to pull it together and be strong for her husband and children. After all, she was an Army wife! "Suck it and drive on" was her motto through deployments. Deployments were a way of life, inevitable, an almost dreaded sentence if you will. Scarlett just wanted this day to end. The next 15 months needed to fly by! Silently, she told herself, “The sooner he leaves, the sooner he gets back!” However, no matter how many times she repeated this, she knew that it was never easy to say good bye and let her husband go. Her job was to try and mottle herself and her family thru the next few hours with a face of bravery.
Brett, interrupted her thoughts as he turned towards her in the bed. “You okay?” he asked. She swallowed hard before answering, “I will be.” She said quietly. Brett wrapped his arms around her. She snuggled deep into his chest. She could hear his heart beating as he held her. The tears began to fall and she quietly said a prayer asking God to please not let this be the last time he would hold her. Her emotions began to flood out of her. She almost felt guilty at first because it was Brett who had the right to be scared, after all, he was the one going to war in a foreign country! But for some reason all she could do was be selfish. Brett stroked her hair and wiped her tears as they fell. He said nothing and that was exactly what she wanted to hear, nothing.
As a military wife, I have lived this scene on a few occasions. It starts with the months counting down once the orders for deployment have come in. Then comes the weeks and finally the hours. You begin to go into what I call "stealth" mode or survival mode because you have to. As military wives we are thrown into the unknown and expected to deal with it, but let's face it- it's not fun! My advice for those of you facing a deployment is to trust God to see you through it, ONE DAY AT A TIME!! Trust Him with your emotions and know you are not alone. You will survive. Realize that your sacrifice means a lot and it effects more people then you realize. Sometimes we can get so focused on our circumstances that we lose sight of the importance of the bigger picture. You are helping change lives! There is always a greater work at hand!
Jesus had a Kingdom mindset. He understood that His daily circumstances were just a small piece of the puzzle. He knew His purpose and was able to embrace it and know that His sacrifice was greater then Himself. We too need to come out of our circumstances and "Arise!" For those of you facing a deployment and are in the midst of one, thank you for your sacrifice! Please know that you are not alone. My prayer is that God will comfort you in those lonely nights, long days with the kids and more so on those days you need your husband's love. I pray that God will meet your daily needs and then some:)
Be strong and Courageous!
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