Remembering...

Joel got a letter from the US Army today informing him that he is officially OUT of the military! After we left Hawaii he still had to serve two years in the inactive ready reserves (IRR)--that has just been completed. Hurray! While we are breathing a big sigh of relief, it did make me think back to our military years and all of the memories. What a HUGE time in our life. Amazingly, as most of you know, we spent his whole enlistment in Hawaii. What I think of most, even more than the beauty of Hawaii,are our adventures together, the friendships God blessed us with, how we grew together through tough times (like when we first got there and had no friends, no family and were parched for fellowship or when he was deployed for 8 months-YUCK), how we grew individually with me finishing college and getting my ESL training and Joelie in his career and leadership skills, and our spiritual growth as we teamed with our closest friends in ministry with the youth at our church. So many sweet memories. In so many ways that whole time period seems like a dream and yet there were so many raw, real life moments that I wouldn't trade for anything. Thanks be to God for that time in our life, for keeping Joel safe, for providing for us, for abundantly blessing us with friendships and adventure and love for each other. The journey continues....