Goodbyes are not really my thing. I cry when I even watch someone else have to say goodbye!
This week, we took Matt to the airport and said goodbye. Goodbye, not because we wouldn't see him again, or because it was bad. Goodbye, because the guy that we dropped off will never be back. He will be way different when he returns.
Don't get me wrong, different is good. BUT.... when you love someone and love who they are, and don't know for sure what "different" will look like... or what has to happen to him to create different... it's a bit of a process.
The good news is that our soon to be Marine is SO... excited. He has wanted this for a long time, and had a peace and calmness to him. He knows it will be hard, no doubt about it! But... he also knows that this is what he wants to do. For the first time, it's what he wants and is totally committed to. Not what he's willing to "try".
Matt is a great kid. So often I think of those going to the Marines as "needing" to go. He didn't need to go. He could be successful at whatever he put his mind to. But he chose to go. Because it's a dream of his. I'm not sure what God puts in those who desire to serve and protect their country, and more importantly their family, but Matt definitely got a good dose of it.
So, we stand in prayer. Specifically we are praying the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation over him. That God would protect his heart and his mind. That the things that need to be transformed within them to make him into his likeness, that God has planned for him, would be transformed, but that doubt and fear and the ugliness from Satan shall not pass!
To those of you who join us in prayer, thanks. As a parent we always want to help our kids in any way we can. As a step-parent, it's not only wanting to help Matt, but also Tom. Watching a dad process this and aching for him in a different way is a totally different experience. The countdown has started, and SOON, we'll have a Marine in our family!
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