Is Daddy going to be safe?

This morning we had to go over to the Air Force Base to work out details of our move. Lucy had to go with us because she was home sick today. While we were getting our passes at the gate she whispered to me "I don't want Daddy to die in the Navy". That hit me pretty hard. I pulled her up in my lap and asked why she thought that. I was already tearing up. Then she told me it was because of the movie we watched. The one with the man that turned into a fish and had silly glasses. The Incredible Mr. Limpet. At first I had to laugh because that was so far from what I expected. The concern she has, though, is real and not very funny at all. Several people have asked me about the risks and dangers that Kevin might face in the next few years so I thought I would try and explain what we feel and to have something to look back on in case we forget somewhere along the way.
I will never promise my kids that nothing bad will ever happen to us or them. There is too much bad out there for that to be true. I will tell them that we will do everything we can to keep them safe and for us to be safe. Kevin will be stationed with the Marines and as we heard last week most Marines will end up in Afghanistan sometime in the near future. He will go wherever his unit goes. Among the list of men and women that have died in these most recent wars, none of them have been Chaplains. When he is deployed he will have someone with him that is armed to protect him. He also has to stay in the most safe places because he can't carry a weapon and would be a liability. It is obviously a dangerous part of the world but it is also a place where people like Kevin are needed. We can't make promises we can't keep and life in general is a risk. My kids aren't promised health. I'm not promised safe trips to the grocery store. What can be promised is love. So we are going to love each other through all of this. And, as Randy Harris suggested last Sunday, we are going to choose joy in the midst of terror. We choose not to be scared of life. We choose Joy. Now, hopefully we can get that message across to our kids successfully.
On a much lighter note, but the reason for the conversation this morning, here is a clip starring the great Don Knotts.

So.Cal. Ya'll!!!!!

We'll be heading to Camp Pendleton in April. Kevin will be serving as Chaplain with the 1st Marine Corps Division. Never in my life did I think that we would be doing this. It's going to be serious business but hopefully that laid back Southern California charm will rub off on us. Plus we'll be so close to Legoland. What could be wrong with that?

Welcome to the Boat Club!

As of Friday night we are officially in the Navy. Kevin took his oath and it's official. He's now Lt. J.G. Kevin Wilkinson. It's a little strange that he can be an officer before he goes to Officer Development School or has a uniform but, hey, we'll take it. We should find out this week where we will end up. Exciting times in the Wilkinson house!

November It List

Owen: making duck noises, Scooby Doo, starting every sentence with "I'm gonna tell you...." and bananas.

Lucy: hairstyles, saying the word 'hairstyles', drawing pictures for her friends, following the rules at school, Taylor Swift and playing in her room with the door closed "no boys allowed" style.

Jenny: getting ready for my final Abilene yard sale, learning Navy lingo, NCIS (we are finally on season 6) and Sookie.

Kevin: running, Wii Sports Resort, Chaplain books, Bobby Bowden debates and dreaming of living on a beach soon.

*This is for journaling purposes and is not intended for punctuation scrutiny.

Kevin's Patriotic Birthday

We've been trying to get our kids excited about the upcoming changes by talking more about the military and what soldiers do. We have also spent some time talking about important people and buildings of our country after Kevin made a trip to the Pentagon. All that talk must have made an impact because the kids chose to make Daddy a flag cake topped with army men and Lucy insisted on buying him a Commemorative Barack Obama puzzle that says "Yes We Can". Just listening to her try and say his name was worth buying the puzzle. After our cake we played our new Wii Sports Resort game. Lucy really got into canoeing because she fell off of the chair trying to get around a corner. I was sore for two days after from frisbee and basketball. I always forget to stretch before playing fake games. Lesson learned.

We're Back.....and we're in the Navy!

After a nice long break from blogging, I am back with some big news. Kevin is now officially going to be a Chaplain in the Navy. He will be starting his Officer Development/Chaplain school in January. He'll be gone for 12 weeks so during that time we will be staying with my parents in Oregon. We have no idea where we are heading to in April but hopefully we'll know by December. As we said goodbye this weekend to some friends moving to Peru, reality started to sink in a little. So for now I am happy, sad, happy, sad, happy, sad. We are very excited about our upcoming adventure but we really love Abilene. We've had the most amazing group of friends and the best church family ever. I'm not saying goodbye yet. Not just yet.
I'm going to start blogging again because I really liked looking back over my past posts like a journal and figured this would be a better way to record what we are doing. I also think that we might have some interesting stories come up that facebook just wouldn't be able to handle.
That's the quick version.
Here's a treat.

Hiatus

I've been in denial. Facebook has killed my blogging. I realize they are totally different and each have their place but Facebook has more instant gratification. I may not keep up the blogs anymore but I am not ending it either. So I officially declare a blog hiatus and encourage those two of you out there to get on facebook.