Life Lately: PCS Change

We had originally wanted to stay at Fort Leonard Wood after my husband’s five-month course was finished. We wanted to stay because this is the closest we’ve been to family — only five hours from mine, and seven hours from his. We wanted to stay because I was pregnant, and we wanted to be close to family for the pregnancy and birth of our first child.

As many of you know, we lost that baby as we PCSed here. That didn’t change our desire to stay put though. Our top two choices were staying here at FLW or moving to Fort Knox, as it would also be a close option. We made our list, sent it off to branch, and waited to find out where they would send us.

As many of you also know, we got orders to Fort Drum, New York. I was not happy. It was not at all what I expected. We wouldn’t be staying. We wouldn’t be going to Knox. But over time, I began to accept it. In fact, I was looking forward to seeing a new area of the country. I was looking forward to visiting the northeast states I’ve never been to before. I was excited to visit Canada and find a new house we could call home.

We began looking at houses in New York, marking our favorites so we could look at them in person in July. We scheduled the packers and movers with the transportation office. They were to arrive June 27. We called our rental agency and signed the papers to get out of our lease here at FLW. Everything was set.

And then Travis called me…

In the middle of the day, my phone rang. When I answered, Travis asked if I was busy because he needed to talk to me about something important.

Cue nervousness!

That’s when Travis told me we may be able to switch assignments with someone else in his class — someone who was supposed to stay here. Someone who wanted to go to Fort Drum.

I was shocked. We had one day to make our decision. I hung up the phone, shaking my head in disbelief. I prayed that day. I weighed the pros and cons. I journaled about how I was feeling. Travis and I texted back and forth as we thought of both pros and cons to staying.

When he got home that night, we talked about it more. And we both agreed we wanted to stay.

The next morning, they called the branch manager. And then we waited. We waited to find out whether we were moving or staying. And I prayed a lot that God’s will be done, and that I would be OK with whatever happened. I tried to tell myself that I would be happy with either outcome.

The next week, we got the news. We are staying at Fort Leonard Wood. We will be living in Missouri. We are not moving to New York. And even better, we are able to stay in the house we have now because the rental agency hadn’t set up new renters yet.

I’m still a bit shocked that we aren’t moving. I just marked “Movers!” off my calendar. I can fully unpack now. We went out and bought flowers so we could work on the landscaping. I planted herbs. I will be able to see the beautiful view from our dining room in the fall! I will easily be able to go home for events like weddings and holidays. Family can easily come visit us.

What’s really neat to me is that God knew this all along. He knew we’d be staying. He knew how much it broke my heart when I found out we were moving to New York. He saw the tears. And yet He knew we’d get to stay just like I wanted.

Perhaps He saw the desires of my heart. Perhaps He wanted to surprise me with something sweet after all the heartache I’ve experienced this year. Perhaps this is a little gift from Him. A ray of sunshine.