Tuesdays are supposed to be my day to work. My mother in law comes over to watch Solomon so that I can (ideally) go to her (adorable) cottage in Fairhope, sit on the porch, and get in a few hours of uninterrupted work done. That's what I'm supposed to do. But here I am, three hours after I left my house, and I still haven't tackled any of the tasks in my queue. I can't help myself! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and this inviting outdoor lounger is WAY too comfortable to be used as a work chair.
In my defense, I did spend and hour and a half looking at some rental options down the street. Like I mentioned in my last post, Jude and I are in the process of renting out our house so that we can move closer to his parents in Fairhope and I can have more hands on help with Solomon when Jude is away at boot camp and A-school. We have a contract with the property management company sitting on our kitchen table waiting to be signed, and yesterday someone from the company came by to take photos of our home. The only thing we are waiting for is for Judah to pass his medical tests at MEPS in Montgomery on Thursday. He passed the ASVAB test (military entrance exam) with flying colors- a 92 to be exact- and I wasn't surprised one bit. Technically this score qualifies him to work any job he wants in the CG, although when his best friend Aaron asked what job he will do "now that he's qualified for whatever job he wants," Judah replied, "Real men cook, Aaron. Real men cook." So Jude's scores didn't really change anything other than help to confirm our suspicions that there truly is "nothing that he can't do," and consequently, further solidify his "golden boy" image. :)
On Thursday Judah will call me on his way home from Montgomery and let me know what happened at MEPS. If he passes, then essentially he is "in" with the CG and the rest is just a matter of paperwork submissions and security clearances, so I will call the property manager and tell him that we are officially "on" for putting our house up for lease. With a click of a button we'll be up on the Realtor MLS listings. If for some reason Judah doesn't pass then we just know that God has closed this door, we regroup, and make a plan B. :) Either way, I feel like I'll be okay, and I think Jude feels the same way, too. There are positives and negatives with every option here, and ultimately- it's in God's hands anyway.
As is expected with any big change, I will say that we are both feeling a little bit of apprehension. When Judah told me today that his recruiter called and confirmed his appointment with MEPS for Thursday I asked him how he was doing about it. He told me that he's doing okay, but he has had a couple of moments of, "Wait- what am I doing? Do I really want to do this?" We talked, and it seems like this little bit of apprehension boils down to two things: his age and the fact that he'll be gone for five months from me and Solomon. His age is a factor because, statistically speaking, he is old to be enlisting in the Coast Guard. He's 29 (30 in November), and the average age of newly enlisted recruits is 23 years old. Not only that, but the Coast Guards cut off age is technically 27. The only reason Judah is getting in at his age is because he fits a very specific set of requirements and has a very specific skill set. It's almost a given that he will be the oldest (by at LEAST 2-3 years) at boot camp and most of the guys will be 6-10 years his junior. He'll have to keep up with the same physical stamina and energy level of guys still roaring on the adrenalin and testosterone of their young twenties. We all, of course, have no doubt that he can succeed (with flying colors) at boot camp, but his unique situation is something to be considered.
I don't know what to tell him about his apprehension of leaving Solomon and I for such a long time. Right now Judah is working and in school full time, so his schedule leaves him very little time off. It is very difficult for us to schedule family time or a night for us to go out on a date, however, he still comes home every night. Even if he is gone all day and evening, I still know that I will see him at night, and Solomon will see him in the morning. I don't like the idea of him leaving for five months either (especially at Solomon's age now where doing something new every day!), but I just keep telling myself that it's temporary. Also, it won't be five months straight, as we can see him for a few days after his boot camp graduation, and then come visit again in the middle of his A-school training in California. Unfortunately, we can't communicate when he is in boot camp (the first phone call home is a whole five weeks in- YIKES!), but we can talk on the phone when he is in A-school, and schedule daily Skype sessions. I'm sure there will be hard days, but if we keep busy, it will fly by and before you know it we will all be together again.
I'm glad that we are both thinking through this decision thoroughly, and it is a blessing that Jude and I have learned to communicate well enough to comfortably dialogue about our concerns and fears. I told Jude that if he decided today that he didn't want to do this, I would completely support him and I really mean that. I just cautioned him that we shouldn't back out because of fear. Fear is never a good reason to turn from change. He agreed. Right now we are still "fully in" our decision despite our apprehension, but I encouraged Jude to spend a lot of time in prayer- especially in the next few days of important decision making. It goes the same for me because Jude and I are a team - either both in or both out. If we don't both have complete peace about it, there is no point to keep moving forward.
So, today, we wait and just keep trusting that God is in control. Tomorrow will bring whatever tomorrow will bring. In the mean time, I will keep dwelling on the verse which says:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
-Proverbs 3:5-6
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