Celebrate Your Season!

I chose to spend part of this day at a place where I experience the most peace. This is a substitute for the actual place. This is the best that I could do in the Atlanta Georgia area😎. Yes, I'm an ocean girl and it's perhaps the greatest thing that I've missed.... Being able to get to the ocean within 45 minutes or less. But where there's a river ultimately there's an ocean. Sometimes our journey does not always take us in the path we desire to go in, but it is our journey. We have to always do the best we can with what we have and where we are and be thankful for each and every moment that God chooses to give us

The fact that you woke up this morning is a beautiful thing and as long as you keep waking up every morning, you have an opportunity to be who you were meant to be. We get so caught up in the noise a busyness of our lives that we forget to take the time to just be still. We forget to take the time to resurrect those forgotten hopes and dreams. Stop, be still, listen to your soul, and then be who you were destined to be.

I have been fortunate to have the experience of living outside of the United States. Now don't get me wrong, I love American soil! My experience outside of the country has always been enlightening. Different, customs, cultures, routines, religions, races, and community dynamics are evidence that we must embrace each other as members of the same tribe, mankind. Yes, some countries refer to their families as their tribe. Even though we reside on various parts of this planet, we all basically want the same thing, love, and a good life where we can raise our families. We are all more alike than we are different.

So, when you are an officer's wife and he takes command, guess what that makes you? Yep! Whether you want it or not, like it or not or even know what the heck to do with it or not, YOU....are the Commander's wife and First Lady, if you will, by default.

Those were the most formative years of my life because I learned my greatest lessons. I learned leadership and what it meant to lead others. Leadership is service to others. Leadership is being supportive of others, and in this case, especially your spouse. It is being a solid foundation encouragement and assistance to others regardless of how you feel.

I learned courage and grace under fire. I learned which fork to use (LoL). I learned, the hard way, what inadvertently happens when you lock your knees while standing for the traditional toasts that often occur at military formals before the command is given to "gentlemen, seat the ladies." (LoL now.... but NOT funny at the time). I learned strength, I learned perseverance, and I learned endurance.

I believe being a military spouse separates the women from the girls. It is not an easy life, but it is a rewarding life, and I would not trade it for the world. The sisterhood of military wives, both past and present, is a bond like no other because unless you live the life, you cannot understand the sacrifice.

To my Army wives both past and present as well as all other military services, we indeed are strong. We indeed are one. Strength under fire!

Multiple deployments, especially to hotspots and war zones, can take its toll on the family, the marriage, and the soldier. I consider 9/11 the first day of the rest of my life...... little did I know that at the time.

I treasure my years as a military spouse. I am enormously proud to have been called an Army wife for 23 years.

As I continue this journey called life, some thoughts cross my mind about the following:

1."Never ask a woman her age" 2. "You should dye your hair; it will make you look younger"

To those two statements my response is:

1. I am soooo thankful to live long enough to be approaching the next season of my life. We all have trials, tribulations, life struggles etc. We could hold a contest to see who has had the worst of them. However, for me that is irrelevant. The relevance for me is that God brought me through, protected me and spared my life during certain seasons of my life, in order to bring me to this season of life. So, I proudly and boldly embrace living long enough to see another day.

2. I have earned every single strand of gray on my head. LoL! for me, it is a symbol of endurance, it is a symbol of wisdom learned through life's journey, it is a symbol of the fact that I still have hair in the first place. LoL. Also, women tell me to dye it... Men tell me they love it! There is wisdom in listening to our men! They see us differently than we see each other and ourselves. They see the natural parts of our beings and not what we cover up in an effort to reach the definition of beauty that we have evidently placed on ourselves. Men please correct me if I am wrong. Ladies, please listen if they say I am not. Ladies, you may find yourself realizing you don't have to do all you do to attract or keep a man. Don't get me wrong, take care of yourself! Be your best self. Just be your natural you.

“Celebrate the things God gives you in your winter season of life. Flourish! Embrace life itself!........Live!............unless of course.... you prefer the alternative”