Moving is one of the top five stressors in life: death, divorce, moving, major illness, and job loss.
For military folks, moving is a fact of life. Any woman associated with the military is all too familiar with this catchy little phrase, “Home is where the military sends you.”
Moving is a lot of work.
In the military, we call moving a PCS, which stands for Permanent Change of Station. The stark, official sound of a military acronym makes PCS sound like just another day at the office. In reality, a PCS involves a tremendous amount of work, research, purchases, decisions, as well as a good deal of emotional adjustments.
My last move.
I remember sitting in a Smooth Move class in preparation for our last move from Okinawa, Japan to Virginia. Sitting in a stale conference room with two dozen other families, the reality of change sank in and I could nurse my denial no longer. It was really time to leave. (Insert emotional hissy fit here).
After receiving tons of information about everything move, the mad dash to schedule travel plans and packers began. Nowhere in the meeting did they address the issue of I don’t want to move…again. I like it here, and I want to stay!
- There were no classes called, “But Moving Makes Me Crazy.”
- There was a distinct lack of any handouts entitled…”Saying Goodbye to Friends You Love.”
- There were no orders that address fitting a major life transition into your schedule.
That is not what these briefs are for. These briefs are all about housing checkouts, travel allotments, transferring medical regions, and household good shipments.
The paperwork is the easy part…it is the heart-side of moving that is much harder.
[tweetthis]I’m grateful God gives us strength to meet every challenge…even the challenge of moving.[/tweetthis]
For the remainder of this post, join me at Planting Roots. Enjoy!
If you know someone who is moving this summer, please share this post.
I’m sharing this bloggy space with these lovely communities today: Testimony Tuesday, #JoyHopeLive, #RaRaLinkUp.
So glad you're here. I help busy women—gals like you— build healthy habits for living well with biblical wisdom and practical steps to deepen your faith, increase your hope, and thrive in your purpose.
I remember all the moves I had to make while serving in the Navy. The most difficult was from Hawaii back home to RI. I made so many life long friends serving in Paradise. I miss seeing my peacock friends that greeted me when I came home from a long deployment. Many of the wonderful people that I served with in paradise are still my friends. I am praying for all those that have to move. May God take care of every detail for them
Cherrilynn, thank you for your service! It was such a pleasure to meet you recently. Friends that become our support system help each place we go become home. Blessings,friend.
I needed this today. God gives me strength, and really actually carries me, during these moves. It’s something totally out of my control but God’s got it under His control. Love that about Him, and am so grateful He is my Rock and my refuge!!
Amen, Sister–well said! I’m excited for you and your family with this new opportunity, AND I’m grateful you’ll still be close by!
Great message, Ginger. This creature of habit has a newfound appreciation for you, as well as other military families. There’s no doubt God will use this word of encouragement to bring much comfort to those facing moves in the near future. Blessings! And congrats again on your 1st place win for blogs at Blue Ridge. Well deserved, my friend. 🙂
Thanks so much, Cathy. Congrats to you as well. It was such a pleasure to see you again at Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference!
Ginger, I have a dear spiritual daughter who just moved – again. As I read your post it reminds me of her downcast heart as she and her family headed to North Dakota. It also reminds me to be thankful for the sacrifices our military and their families make for our country. Thanks friend. And, thanks for your visit to my little spot on the web today. Glad I stopped over here too.
Thank you so much, Carmen. I appreciate your thoughts. Though moving is hard, God opens many new opportunities in those new places. I always enjoy visiting your site!
This time of year is so hard. We are in the midst of saying goodbye to good friends and I always dread it. Thanks for linking up with #JoyHopeLive Hope to see you again tomorrow