Is The Grass Really Greener On The Other Side?

Have you ever caught yourself thinking is the grass really greener on the other side? Today as I went on my run, I could not help but to reflect on all of the beautiful places God has so richly blessed us to live. Being married to a Marine, there have been many places we were told to go to that was not always our first choice, but would find ourselves moving there because we had written orders to be there. With every new place we'd go through the same motions. Finding new housing, looking up schools for our children, and learning to make new friends while trying not to forget about our old ones. All along encouraging one another that the sacrifices that we make as a family for our country are worth it and reminding our children and myself that my husband their daddy is a one of a kind Marine that we love and support through the good times and the bad times. Although some our stations were not our first pick, we have yet to be put somewhere that we just do not like. In fact, we fall in love all over again. Making moving to the next place so much more difficult. The day has finally come that our oldest child will now ask "why do we have to move, why can't daddy serve and then come back to us at this home?". " Why don't my friends have to move and their daddy leave for a long time?". " My life would be better if we were like some of my friends." We knew this day would come and I just gently remind her that the grass is not always greener on the side. Every family has there own struggles and joy and we have our own too. This is the place God has intended for us to be and because we serve him first, we follow where he leads our life. For us that means being a military family that has to move and be flexible.

Sounds good, right? Except at times I find myself questioning our place and having similar feelings. It gets old trying to make every new house a home, not knowing where we are going to retire, making new friends, will my girls get to graduate from the high school they start. Will my husband come home safely from each deployment. The list of questions could go and on, but then I stop and look around like this morning and I appreciate all of the things my God HAS provided me to see and do. The countless friends and memories we have from all over and the endless love that my man has for this great country. Then there is peace.

Some days I sit and dream about the other side of the grass and how it might be greener. We will have our retirement and benefits, our children will be grown, I will have the house that I have dreamed of from southern living, and the permancy of knowing this will be my last earthly resting place. However, in my heart, I know I will long for those days of being busy with my children, watching my husband fly home in an F/A-18, Having sleepovers with best girlfriends and their kids while our husbands were deployed, being able to go to any new base and immediately have a friend from the past, hearing my children's heart felt prayers for God to bring daddy home safely, the dog barking, bike bells ringing, children playing in the street and seeing God's beautiful creation from ocean to ocean, mountain to mountain.

So I ask again, when is the grass greener on the other side? My answer is, the grass is greener in the pastures in which you are living!