Perseverance

Eight months pregnant and standing at her door on a cold January evening, I had no idea the lady about to open the door would be one of the most wonderful ladies I would ever meet.

I stood there with my husband and a casserole. My husband had called earlier and said we were going to take dinner to a family who had just had their first child. That encounter changed my world – even when I was pretty hesitant to show up on this unknown person’s doorstep (which is exactly why my husband was with me).

Beth is amazing. Since that cold January, I have had two children and she has had two more. Our families PCSd together one time and even shared a hotel and a list of rental houses. My daughter has thrown up on their dining room floor (during Beth’s birthday party), Beth and her family celebrated my child’s third birthday with her while we were at the hospital having the second child, we babysat their motorcycle for a couple of years of an overseas tour, and we have celebrated many holidays together because we have truly become like family.

Military life does that – it takes people who have no relation to you whatsoever and makes you family. Beth and her family are just that to us.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Beth attended college for Human Resource Management. She graduated with more than a degree, though. She was a brand new 2LT in the U.S. Army. Thinking she would be working with numbers in some big accounting firm in Pittsburgh, God apparently had other plans.

Beth met her wonderful husband while they were both stationed in Korea. They later were able to enjoy a wonderful all-expense-paid trip to Iraq together and then settle down in the comforts of the 101st Airborne Division. This is where I met Beth.

She was still on active duty. But not long after their first child was born, she headed home to be a mom. Beth has always amazed me. The challenges of military life bring out a strength in her that leaves me completely in awe. She perseveres at times I would be wanting to go berserk.

Case in point: They got orders to Korea a few years ago. She was expecting child number three prior to PCSing. The orders were cut and they started the process. She had child #3, but they had to wait for his birth to acquire his passport, which put her leaving behind her husband. They prepped everything and planned to see family on their way to the other side of the world.

Then they got a call – her mother-in-law had some very serious brain issues (possibly stroke), was heading into surgery, and may not make it. Beth, without blinking, planned for her and her hubby to head for the in-laws, let John stay till surgery was done, and then go on ahead while she stayed to help in-laws and wait for a passport. She did so – with amazing grace. About three to four weeks later, Beth flew from Seattle to Seoul with a two-month-old, three-year-old, and five-year-old and arrived there with her sanity and grace intact.

She is amazing. This is just one of her many feats as a military wife. Her husband would attest to such. We have all been through similar things, but I personally have to go berserk at least once or twice in the process. Beth perseveres.

At first though, one might think her active duty time makes her capable of such, but I have personally seen the Jesus that lives in her. HE is who gives her such ability and allows her to use that to encourage and challenge others in their spiritual walk as well. Her heart? to minister to military wives especially those who have a difficult time understanding some things that may be going on with their spouse. Her active-duty time allows her some unique insight and her heart of love allows her to share.

These days she is preparing for a move back to the States – hopefully less eventful. She loves and invests in three beautiful children and still remains the amazing wife to the man she married (he could attest to this). She also knows the importance of meeting and growing your military family – sometimes God uses them in ways we never expected. Beth is a perfect example.

Verses she lives by? two in particular.

Psalm 46:10 “Be STILL and know that I am God.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

Who has amazed and challenged you by their perseverance as they continue to walk the path God has set for them – even on those most difficult days? What have you learned from them?