Temporary duty (TDY) and deployment are two events in our lives that bring about some adventure. These trips are all-expense-paid business trips for my husband in sometimes remote locations. For us at home, the adventure is not in the travel but in the staying.
Craziness happens every time he leaves – he really has missed a lot over the years.
He has just recently returned from a TDY, one in which he was gone less than a week. We dropped him off at the airport on Friday morning. Friday night my dinner cooking skills caused quite a bit of smoke in the house. I turned the vent fan on, proceeded to open every window downstairs, and began to fan the ringing smoke detector with the dish rag. In the midst of this, I hear our sweet daughter yell from the dining room to “get down!” as she low crawls her way across the floor. Within seconds, both kids are down and informing me that we may have to vacate the house. Great.
We did eventually sit down to an edible dinner.
Saturday evening, we had a big storm come through which knocked out the power for about six hours. We had dinner (cereal) by candlelight and read books by flashlight. We went to sleep all in mommy’s bed till the electricity came back on and I realized some sweet child had been messing with the light switch. Many lights were on including the one right by my bed.
By Monday evening I had cut my finger with a knife and broken the pot to the coffeemaker – a tragedy in itself. Thankfully, we picked Kyle up on Wednesday evening relatively unscathed from our adventures.
Things happen like this every time he heads out – craziness, I tell you.
On some days it becomes a little challenging, but I have learned to laugh. What satan sets up to fill me with fear and discouragement, actually ends up bringing me back to my Savior again. I am reminded that I cannot do this. I cannot shield us from all the things in this world, but I can use these times to focus more on Him and enjoy the memories we make.
I am thankful for these moments – when I can laugh at my children as they low crawl through the dining room (and know this is one of those stories they will tell for years – much like when I set Cinderella on fire, but that story is for another time).
So does craziness happen in your world too and if so, what do you do with it??
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).
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