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busy days are here again

Army life comes with seasons of busy times and down times.  Alabama was an incredible 5 months of down time (minus the c-section, new baby and broken elbow!).  Chad's days were short, he had no other responsibilities and I had no Army commitments.  Fort Drum has been a different season for sure.  Being in command brings loads of responsibilities not only to Chad, but to me as well.  Obviously we are still young in the Army, but I think this will be one of the busiest seasons of life.  In a time when our Army responsibilities are high, deployments are often, our kids are small.  I am learning now, more than ever to depend on the Lord for everything - strength for every day, patience with my kids,  peace, protection for my husband and comfort beyond what anyone else could give.
 I take incredible pride in serving a long side my husband to help Army families.  I care about these families, just as much as Chad cares about his soldiers.  So few people know the stress Army families deal with and anything I can do to help them through this time and support them, is what I try to do.  I am also really getting into my triathlon training.  When the stress of life builds up, pounding out time on the treadmill, bike or pool has been great.  I have also had the opportunity to get involved at church.  The ability to run sound/video equipment is normally always a need in any church.  I have been happy to serve in this way and also filling in on piano when I can.
However in the midst of all this, I try to step back and realize the preciousness of these days.  No matter how busy I am or how many deadlines and I make or miss...my girls are only going to be small once.  They will only crawl up in my lap or want stories read for a short moment. Chad and I only get one chance to help mold them into young ladies that will love the Lord.  I pray that I can find more balance in my life.  That I will close the computer more and ignore my emails more often.  I have an incredible sense of obligation to anything I am involved in and don't know how to do things half-way (besides maybe cleaning my house...!:)  I'm terrible at saying no and want to do everything beyond expectations.  I don't want my kids to remember me investing time in everyone else but them.  I want to be an example of serving and putting others before myself, but not at their expense. While my balance may not be completely off, it could certainly use some readjusting.

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