Our Exhausting Journey to Fort Irwin, CA

Hi, everyone! I thought it'd be easier for you to read how our trip was on here where I can think it through rather than relaying tons of details via that have become jumbled in my once-competent brain. =)

Well, we left yesterday (Friday) for the St. Louis Airport at 1:30pm CT with our wonderful friend Emily, who also had a flight that evening. Our flight ended up being delayed about 2 hours because of bad weather in San Francisco--which was where we'd take our connecting flight to Las Vegas. When we got to San Francisco our connecting flight was running about two hours behind as well, which was SUCH a blessing. We then flew out of San Francisco around 12:30am PT, and arrived in Las Vegas at 1:37am PT. For some reason the end of that flight had a lot of turbulence (or at least enough to upset my stomach/the baby), so I was very thankful not to have become that person who throws up on the plane. All our luggage was luckily in tact when we got there, and we then proceeded to the rental car area on a very cigarette-y smelling bus. Once again, I felt very fortunate to not have become that girl that throws up on the bus. After we got off the bus, our bus driver got up and sprayed himself from head to toe in Axe body spray--once again...I was very lucky to not have been that girl to throw up on the airport sidewalk. Originally, we had reserved a rental car but after we got there we figured out that particular place was not open in Barstow to return the car today (Barstow is the closest town to Fort Irwin--about 40 minutes away). So, Tyler went around to a bunch of agencies to figure out what we were gonna do and I sat/stood/stretched with our luggage and tried to think happy thoughts about our hotel room and not traveling anymore for the night. Finally, at 4am PT, Tyler decided it would be best to rent a car and drive it straight through the morning the whole way to Fort Irwin. Yes... a cry fest did almost take place there, but I trust that my husband knows what's best for us (especially compared to a sleep deprived and food deprived pregnant woman). About 2 hours of serious stomach sickness and sleep later- I woke up to a beeeeauuuutifuuuuul sun rise. The scenery was just gorgeous!! We've been told how it's not nice looking in Fort Irwin because it's the desert...but we could not feel more differently about that assessment. It felt like our car had been picked up and placed in a dinosaur movie scene. There was no grass to be seen-- just sand, rock formations, and mountains. We pulled up to our new post at about 7am PT, and it's definitely smaller than Fort Leonard Wood by far. But, we think we're really going to like it here (crossing fingers). We're now staying in a hotel on post waiting for our house to open up, and we're hoping that process miraculously speeds up soon so we can move all our stuff into our new place. Thank you to those who were/are praying for us! We made it here in one piece because of our many prayers and the many prayers of all our dear friends and family to the only One who could be of help to on this crazy journey.

Things That Made Me Happy:
7. Having TV in our hotel (we haven't had one since we've been married)
6. Palm trees
5. Having a bed to sleep in. After a trip like that- it may take a few days of sleep to fully recover.
4. Tyler: "Hey, Katie...You know what? This water probably stays hot."
(This actually made me feel weird for how happy I was when he said that. Our shower in FLW would never be warm longer than about 9 minutes...very frustrating for a woman)
3. Any Jurassic Park reference to our new home
2. Tyler carried about 130lbs of luggage because I physically cannot... that was pretty wild. It, along with a bunch of other reasons in this trip, made me REALLY love my husband more.
1. (As Tyler gets out of the car to check in to our hotel) Me: "Tyler what does it smell like out there?" Tyler: "Sand.......and dinosaur pee."

-Katie

Waiting Makes Your Chest Hair Grow

Okay... so, waiting really hasn't made my chest hair grow (thank GOODNESS...although with all the crazy pregnancy changes I'm going through let's just hope and pray that doesn't happen). Doesn't waiting fit in as one of those classic adages that your mother would say is good for you- just like eating despised foods like broccoli or sour kraut?  Too bad nobody usually sees great immediate results when they eat broccoli or sour kraut or even when they wait...or else everyone would love to eat veggies and smelly things. And if you could see immediate results from waiting there would lines and liiiines of people waiting in anticipation to wait because everyone would know they'd get the result they're looking for.

My generation is the generation fresh out of college and onto careers and marriages or maybe moving back into their saint of a grandmother's basement. All believing college graduates want to know from God is what's next on the agenda of their lives, and when do they get to make their gigantic impact on the world around them. There are a huge amount of books based solely on finding out what God's will is for your life to prove it. But what if God's will is for you to wait? To wait a long time before He gives you that fulfillment to the dream He's placed in your heart?

I was listening to the radio today and a Joyce Meyer sermon was playing (I don't know enough about her to have an educated opinion, however, I do know that she loves God and as far as I've heard what she says is Biblically sound). She was talking about how God gives us time to grow. I was always bugged when I would see huge time gaps in the chronology of people's lives in the Bible, such as Jesus, Joseph, David, and Abraham. Reading a sentence like "he grew" would drive me bananas! I would always think, "That's it?? That's all they're gonna say about it?? What happened in those years?? Shouldn't we know about this??" For example, David waited 20 years after he was anointed to be the next king over Israel to actually become king. 20 years!! Most of us would pack up our bags and quit if we had to wait that long. God had HUGE plans for David, but David had to learn first. If God would have given David all that was promised to him immediately David would've had no time to build his character and life experience. He would've had no time to learn how to faithfully serve God and to do the right thing at all costs (not that he always did). In Joseph's life he was in prison for 13 years of his life for something he didn't even do! I cannot fathom how a person could live that life and continue to be faithful to the Lord, but he did it, and because of that God was able to mold him and use him in unbelievable ways. Abraham was promised a son in his old age, but still had to wait 20 years to actually have Isaac. Wouldn't your hope be dwindling after all those years?

You know, I have dreams of big things I can do for God...but living in Missouri for awhile has really made me feel like the most pointless human being to exist. My sweet husband goes to work for hours that I could never handle to do and learn things I can't understand, and what am I doing that the world could look at my life and think I'm contributing to it? I make dinner, keep the house in order, love my husband when he gets home, attend a Bible study once a week, facilitate a Bible study once a week, visit a BLESSING of a friend once a week, and go to doctor's appointments every few weeks....yep, that's about it. I'm thankful for my life, but I always thought after college God would shoot me off to California and I'd be changing lives through Christ. Now we're pregnant, and expecting our baby a few months after we arrive in California...so how exactly am I gonna change the world for Christ with a baby on my hip? Babies don't exactly make you the most flexible or mobile person God could use. But that's where I need to remember that in my own chronology it would say "she grew." That's it. Two simple words that will make the difference in whether or not I am someone God can use in big ways in the future. I have the option to live how I want and entertain myself constantly when I'm bored or lonely, but God is looking for me to be faithful in the small things and to do the right thing when no one is watching... and that in itself is purpose enough.

Katie

Lazy Woman Woes

Well, this past month has been a difficult one. I knew moving to the mid-west would be a challenge. I knew being an Army wife would be a challenge, as well. But no matter how well you're aware of adversity before it happens- you're still going to have to identify problems and solve them (easier said than done).

I've really struggled with what my purpose is here. I know I'm here to be a support for my husband and being apart for months would have be awful for both of us, but in the hours I spend by myself everyday I just couldn't see much of a reason to do anything. I hate to admit that. Until this weekend, the only real cleaning I did (other than dishes) was when we first moved in. It's hard to WANT to clean a not-so-nice apartment that you know you're just going to move out of in a few months. Plus we have no guests and no babies crawling on the carpet to encourage a good cleaning. I just really struggled with being lazy. Why shouldn't I sleep in till 11am and then do nothing if my husband won't be home till 5pm? In my mind more sleep just made the time go faster. A few times, while trapped in crying conundrums, I told my husband that I wish I could hibernate till November! (sigh) Anyway, I wasn't being the great wife my husband deserved and I wasn't being a willing and Spirit-led child of God.

I was challenged to read James 1 and memorize a verse out of it... the verses that stuck out to me was James 1:14-15 that says, "Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death."At first I didn't make the connection, but after re-reading it those two verses totally changed my outlook. The temptation I was having was laziness, and it was completely because I wanted to be lazy. Lounging around in my over-sized t-shirt and crazy hair absolutely did sound great to me... but at that same time I felt distant to God. Having the desire to be lazy and to coast by until November did cause me to sin by becoming lazy and even more short-tempered than a pregnant woman should be. And while I let that sin grow in me I could feel it's effects touching my disposition, my spiritual life, and also my husband. I've seen over and over in my life that when I'm living a life that has an unresolved sin in it I am just terrible to be around. I don't even like being around me. On top of everything else, I knew I was embarking on facilitating a ladies Bible study and was truly horrified at the the thought because my sin had wedged itself smack-dab between God and I. Death in verse 15 means a spiritual and emotional death...and luckily God reminded me of these truths so that I wouldn't have to suffer worse consequences (i.e. a husband who resents me and a relationship with God that was was nowhere to be found).

I'm thankful that God is good and that He takes care of me. I know it will be difficult to everyday make that choice to be a productive woman, but luckily I'm not alone.

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." Psalm 105:6

Katie

Long Hair, Don't Care

You know something? God IS. He is in everything I do...even if I forget He's around. He's patiently waiting for me to remember to talk to Him everyday. He's involved in every major decision I make...even when I forget to ask Him for wisdom. He loves me with an unfailing, unbelievable love when I decide to run after my own desires and forget what He has done for me. 

I look back on my life and see what a heartless, selfish, miserable, awful, disrespectful person I was and it brings tears to my eyes. I am absolutely ashamed of what a terrible person I was, but what steals the whole show is that I was given the opportunity to get out of that lifestyle and out of that way of thinking. God found ME. Me. One measly little person on a planet with billions of people and He wanted to get my attention. He wanted me to know Him. How could that even be real? How could the Creator of this universe...of the very existence of earth...take an interest in me?

That's why I love God. I love God because He sought me out in my stupid little selfish world- He found me and He wanted me to be His own. People hate God. I mean, HATE God. You mention His name and you can almost see bristles go up. But you know what I say? Who cares. 

"Long hair, don't care," is what I'm saying. What does it matter if I'm in the minority? What does it matter if I don't have all the answers? C.S. Lewis said, "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." Never again in my life do I want to find myself living my life to make other people accept me. That's a seriously life-sucking state to be in.

The world can say what they want...but having a relationship with God has changed my life 180 degrees for the better. I hear the sound of my sleeping husband...would I have been fortunate enough to be married to such a truly wonderful man if I wouldn't have had such a heart change? Absolutely not. The person I used to be wouldn't have appreciated, respected, or loved this man as much I am capable of currently. I feel the effects of this sweet little baby growing in my belly (eh hem, constant morning sickness)...would I have been a good role model and a loving mother to this baby if I didn't have such a heart change? Not a chance. 

It's very difficult to admit (hence the lump in my throat), but knowing how hard it is not to run after all the selfish things I want- I cannot imagine being a good mother without living for God and not for myself. 

I see pictures and remember how much I miss my family back home...would I have been fortunate enough to gain back some of the credibility and respect I lost in their eyes if I didn't have such a heart change? No way. I didn't deserve their respect, and believe me- it was not easy to gain back (and rightfully so).

God is God no matter what is thought, spoken, or blogged about.... and I choose God.

Katie

Transitions o' Plenty

Well, this is my first blog. This is my first post of my first blog. This is my first redundant paragraph of my first post of my first blog.

Uhm, anyway.

I guess I should start off by talking about myself. (That's what bloggers do, right?) Where to start... I graduated from Liberty University on May 12th, my husband graduated from West Point on May 26th, we got married on May 27, and on July 12th we found out we are about 4 weeks pregnant! Oh, not to mention that we moved from our lovely Lancaster County, PA to a not-so-lovely Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri about two weeks ago. Also, we're moving to the Mojave Desert (Fort Irwin, CA) in November. Talk about a life growth spirt! In all that change you'd think that I would be found huddled in a corner rocking back and forth humming Christmas carols. 

However, God has been good to us through all these crazy changes. I mostly feel contentment, which is pretty odd considering we're living in a place where only four phone numbers in my entire phone contact list live within 8 hours of our apartment. (That may or may not include the cable company.) Anywho, I think this blog will be a constructive project for me to work on through all the transitions and strange days to come.

I think that's all I'm gonna write about today... short and sweet.

-Katie