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Jacob has been done with the military for two whole weeks now! It's hard to believe that that phase of life is over. Our life has revolved around it for so long! The military has dictated where we live, when we can be together as a family, when we can go on vacation, even how often Jacob needs a haircut for over 9 years! We have moved our family 10 times, and spent a total of 30 months apart from each other. The military has been good to us too. We've stretched and grown in ways I didn't know were possible. We've seen new places and met lots of new people and made lifelong friends. They've paid for all of my babies and cured me of holding on to too much stuff.
I have been in heaven the least two weeks having Jacob home. It's been more than just having him at home though that has made me so happyhappy, it's been the knowing that he can't ever get deployed again! Also, knowing that we may live here long term. We've never lived anywhere as long as we've lived here so we've never put down very deep roots. Knowing that we could possibly live here a long time really changes how I view things. It makes me want to make more friends and put more effort into my friendships. It makes me want to find a way to be more involved in my community. It makes me want to help my kids find friends. It makes me want to hang pictures on my walls and plant flowers in my yard. It makes me want to make Portales truly feel like home.
I never realized that knowing that everywhere we lived was only temporary affected my mind set so much.
Knowing that we are going to be calling this home for a while longer has affected us another way as well. Right now Jacob and I are starting the process to be able to become a foster family. That will be a huge change for us, but I'm super excited! I've always wanted a big family with lots of kidskids, but that wasn't in the cards for us which is okay. I'm happy with my three angels I've been blessed with! But I also feel like we could bless the lives of other children as well. I've felt for a wood that foster care is something I needed to do and we are finally in a position where it's a possibility. We meet with a social worker in our home next week.
The only constant thing in life is change. I'm glad that the changes for our family are guided by a loving Father in Heaven who knows what we need more than we do.