“...for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27)
It's amazing the difference one single choice can make in your life. I also love how good God is at preparing you to make choices that will allow Him to bless you.
I never intended to be a military spouse. I was actually adamantly against it. When we were dating, I told Ted that wasn't an option. I would NOT be married to someone in the military. I hated the idea of the government being in control of my life: where I lived, when I got to see my husband, etc.
Ted, on the other hand, has always wanted to join the military. He nearly joined multiple times before I met him. He was actually training to join the Marines when he broke his hand in a bike accident and, as a result, decided to go teach English in Russia, which is where he met me.
Both of us, over the years since we got married, just assumed the other person would change their mind on the subject. Ted assumed I would decide the military wasn't so bad after all and let him join eventually, and I assumed he would see that the military wasn't a good fit for our family and give up his dream of joining. From time to time the topic of the military would come up, and we would both discover in surprise that the other person continued to feel the same way about the issue as they had before: Ted was still interested in joining, and I was still against it.
When after several of these conversations I realized that even with the passing years Ted’s desire to join the military had not diminished, I reluctantly agreed to let him apply for an officer position in the Navy as part of his job hunting activities. I was hugely relieved when he was offered and accepted a civilian job before completing the Navy officer application process. I figured that would be the end of Ted’s pursuit of the military as a career.
Then Ted’s brother began talking with a recruiter about joining the Army National Guard. In my mind, it made way more sense for Ted’s brother to pursue this course than Ted, because Ted’s brother was still in school and could get some free training and experience and additional schooling paid for by joining, whereas Ted already had his degree and a good job in his field--what did he have to gain? Besides, I had always thought the National Guard sounded like the worst possible option: why would you give the government control over your life when they aren't even providing you with a full-time job to pay the bills?
Then at a family party I was part of a conversation with Ted’s brother that God used to shift my perspective on what joining the National Guard could mean for Ted and our family. We’d had a lot of financial difficulty since I quit my job to stay home after the birth of our first child, especially that first year after Ted graduated. We were making more money now with this second job, but digging ourselves out of the debt we’d gotten into that first year after having a baby seemed an impossible task. I didn't regret choosing to stay home with my child, but I didn't know how we were going to improve the financial situation that choice had put us in.
While talking with Ted’s brother, I suddenly saw joining the National Guard as an opportunity for Ted to get a second part-time job to supplement our income that he would actually like and be excited about and that wouldn't conflict with his full-time job (except in the case of deployments, which his full-time job was required by law to be okay with and not punish him for). Of the two sacrifices, I realized that I was way more willing to have Ted get a second job and increase our income that way than I was to get a job myself and put my children in daycare. And if Ted was going to get a second job, the National Guard was the obvious choice, since it would be something that he would feel added meaning and fulfillment to his life, not just increased the burden of providing for his family.
Suddenly I found myself being the one suggesting that Ted look into joining the military (more specifically, the Air National Guard). This was so out of character for me, I knew it was God who was inspiring me to suggest this course of action. During the time that we were pondering this option for our lives, Ted and I were able to visit the temple. During that temple session I felt like God went through and addressed each of my biggest concerns about taking this step. I knew He was encouraging me to go forward with this choice and to trust Him to take care of me and my family.
Ted joined the Utah Air National Guard last April, and that choice has made so many blessings and miracles possible for us. Getting out of debt now seems like a real possibility rather than the impossibility it seemed to be before, and it's all a result of this one choice God guided us to make. It took many years of preparation, especially emotional preparation, for me to be ready to make that choice and to handle it well, and God was kind enough and knew me well enough to take the time to prepare me to make that choice so that I could receive the blessings He wanted to give me. I am so grateful for His wisdom and His desire to bless us with what we need when we seek to do good and to follow His will in our lives. I love how much more perfect His plan always is than my own.
