A New Season

It's been a year since I last posted on our family blog and so much has happened!  In January 2013, I wrote that I thought 2013 was going to be a year full of potential.  It was all that and more.  In the Fall of 2012 my husband began taking the steps to enter into the Chaplaincy Program of the United States Army.  That process took almost 9 months, a time well like pregnancy where hopes and dreams of a new life builds with anticipation.  We decided not to share details online until Guido was accepted into the program.  In April 2013 the military board met to decide on the applicants.  In a time of downsizing in the military, the Army is only choosing the best of the best.  There were only a handful of candidates who made it, and Guido was one of them.  From that moment on life seemed to throttle forward so fast, I still don't know how I survived the whole ordeal. 

The ordeal being Guido leaving me for 3 months for basic training.  I was tasked with taking care of all 5 kids by myself and packing up our home for our eventual move out of Alabama to Missouri.  By the time we were ready to announce leaving to our close friends, time slipped by even quicker and we were celebrating Guido's graduation.  From graduation we traveled straight to our first assignment waiting for us in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

And so here I am in March 2014, feeling like I can finally take a breath and relax.  It has been such an adventure to get to this moment.  We have been so extremely blessed in the journey to get here.  The parsonage in Alabama sold instantaneously, and while we could not move to where Guido was for training, the new owners of the house allowed us to live there for 6 months free because they said they wanted to bless us.  We didn't have any income for the month of Sept. and the money we had saved for this time went on uniforms and supplies for Guido.  As an officer he does not get reimbursed fully for his uniforms. But God met our need and provided everything we needed and more. 

So I am back now online, ready to record the next chapter of our lives.  The kids have all gotten bigger and smarter, their transition to army life has been good.  Our neighborhood on post is full of kids and all around us are other chaplain families with the kids the same age.  Life feels blessed.