A Little Life Update: Patience + Perseverance

Photo: Author

Just a little life update today.  The past month John and I have both been buckled down and working like busy bees. It has been nice to stay put in Pensy for a while and dig into both our work and friendships here. That being said, I am headed home at the end of the month to Boston, which I cannot wait for. Also, John and I are both so looking forward to heading up to Vermont for Labor Day with his family.

John finally started Primary a few weeks ago, and has been working his butt off in ground school. I can’t even begin to explain how proud I have been of him and how hard he has been working. Needless to say, this has been a very different experience so far than API, for which I think we are both hugely grateful. He has been spending about 75% of his time during the week on base, so I am getting used to him being gone again during the day. While I do miss him, towards the end of his time waiting to start Primary we were both beginning to crave more structure in his schedule. He had his start date pushed three times, which was a bit frustrating, and resulting in four extra weeks of waiting around. That being said, this type of thing is totally standard for flight school so we weren’t completely caught off guard by the wait, just frustrated.

One day in particular I was working from home and John had just found out that his start date had been pushed yet again. He had just gotten back from the gym and lay down on his back on our living room floor to wrestle Flynn. I lay down next to him with my legs up against the wall. We lay like that for a while, discussing various disappointments and frustrations in our current moment, as we both felt at a bit of a standstill—John getting antsy to start his next phase, and me feeling like I was having trouble gaining traction in my writing and editing. Out loud I tried to think of what joys God could have for us in this time of waiting. I came up with this list:

• John had one more week to study.
• Because of my somewhat open schedule I had time to spend with him.
• We could make the most of it and do some fun and spontaneous things (like take a day trip to Destin)
• Flynn had one more week of undivided attention
• I had another week home with my husband

We didn’t know what the purpose for that time was, and still haven’t totally figured it out. One thing I have figured out, though, is that we, as young 20-somethings trying to start our careers, are definitely learning and cultivating patience and perseverance. Every once in a while we get caught in moments where it feels as though we are spinning our wheels in pursuit of our dreams. In those moments, though, I am learning that it is so good for us to come together and support and encourage each other, as well as talk realistically about what we can do better or differently right now.  We can’t read God’s mind or foretell the future. All we can do is live in the moment and make the most of it. This is Navy life, and beyond that this is just life. This is the hurry up and wait. But as John reminded us both that day—soon enough there will be days where all we wish for is to be lying together (somewhat pathetically) on our living room floor in the middle of the day, shooting the breeze. And soon after that, there will be days when that is not even an option, when John is away and I am alone on the carpet.

Fast forward three and a half weeks and John has started Primary. I have made some cool and significant strides both career-wise and blog-wise. Now, having transitioned into a busier moment, we are grateful for that time. We must be grateful for this time. Always. It is a discipline this, embracing the present, taking it a day at a time. But I believe this is where God meets us, this is where Jesus is, not in the next big thing, and not in the past.  My heart will learn this over and over again—our peace is in the present.

Thanks for reading today, friends. As always, I am so grateful for you. 

xoxo,

Emily