I had a difficult evening last night and my cousin made me feel like crap when I talked to her on the phone. She wants me to broach the subject with the kids that their Dad is not "coming home" in the sense that they believe after deployment. She said I am setting them up to be hurt and the kids will blame me for that hurt. She just kept hammering on me until I told her I had had enough and I got off the phone.
I called a dear friend from church and she and I spent a couple hours on the phone. She has been firmly convicted that DH will be coming home and that my marriage will be restored. She is the littles' bible study teacher and the girls had told her that their daddy moved out. Over time, as she and I became friends, she has gotten the whole story of my situation. She received this conviction before we had become good friends, and has stood strong in prayer with me over this since last summer.
SMW, Yes, I have reading along, cheering and praying for you and your family. Do you really know what the outcome is going to be at the end of the deployment? You know the drill - not in your control. So you need to prepare. This is when the Stockdale Paradox worked for me: Be hopeful until the end but confront the brutal facts of your current reality. The end of the deployment isn't the end. No outside person knows what is in DH's heart right now. Both your cousin and dear friend are part right for now. You are using timeless values to persevere in your journey: patience, prayer, strength and virtue. Oh yeah - grace and dignity. I will pray that the Holy Spirit moves in DH. You are handling it. Cheers Coach
M22,H45,W45 S21/18D12 Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties and at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
