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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Ryan Came Home! Soldier's Homecoming!


Feb 19,2014 He’s in the states!

11 months down and only 1 week to go!!!!!!!

My head is filled with sooooo many emotions!!!

Happy, excited, impatient, anxious, hopeful, reminiscent…. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t focus on anything except what it’s going to be like to have him home… FINALLY!!!!!!

What will I say, What will I do, will I kiss good, will he think I look just as beautiful as when he left, what will he be like, am I going to cry?! What will it be like????!!!!

I went from being 20 to a 5 year old within the hour of hearing he was back in the states…. For 11 months I have been waiting, counting down, & planning in my head how my reunion with him would be        and it’s FINALLY ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!!  It’s been tough and long, but honestly I am so thankful that God chose me to go through this journey with Ryan and allowed us to stay together. He has blessed us with such a beautiful relationship and I can honestly say that Christ has been the absolute center of it. By the grace of God we are together now and closer than we ever could’ve been by flesh alone. It was definitely a blessing in disguise.  God has blessed me with such a loyal, wonderful godly man and he is definitely more than worth the wait!!!!!

 

 

February 21,2014    12ish pm Homecoming!

My hands were shaking and my chest was broke out in red splotches(like it always does when I have anxiety or am nervous), I was holding my welcome home sign, that I spend late hours at night making, that quoted our song : Waiting For Superman, “Talking to angels, counting the stars-waiting 4 my superman.”  If you know Ryan, that song was perfect for us because he is OBSESSED with superman.:)

Me nor Ryan’s mom got to sit at the gate he was getting off at like everyone else because, the flight attendees said there were too many families up there and we would all have to wait in the baggage claim unless only 2 of us wanted to go by ourselves. It didn’t seem fair to the rest of the family and friends ,who came to see him as well, to  be left behind . We decided to stay and endure the longer anticipation so we could all embrace the moment together.

We lined up. Family in front& friends in the back. I chose to be the very last person in line because I wanted to embrace everything, and secretly wanted the longer hug and kiss.;)

As I stood there waiting ever so patiently and praying, I had a gentleman holding a camera tap me on the arm, “excuse me ma’am, I was listening to you and a lady talk about how y’all were needing pictures of your soldier’s coming home?  I was supposed to do another couple’s pictures, but she got to go up and wait at the gate and I wasn’t allowed up there, so I’m down here with no one to photograph. Would you like me to take them?- They’re free!”   I almost cried out of so much joy built up inside than I knew what to do with. Here was going to be one of the best days of my life, a blessing from God, and ANOTHER blessing with this photographer! Coincidence?No, I know it absolutely was an intentional gift from God! As we took some snap shots before seeing Ryan, I heard cheers from upstairs-My heart is pounding at this point! I see soldiers coming down the escalator with crying family and girlfriends clinging to their arms. Ok, now it’s my turn-Where is MY Ryan?!?!?!  Soldier after soldier after soldier….THEN ….I SEE HIM!!!! Goodness, that escalator was SO slow! First the embrace in hugging his mom, then his brother, his dad, and- wait…. he’s coming towards me? But I’m not next in line! Ryan skips everyone else and comes to ME!!!  As he comes closer I see those big brown eyes with tears rolling down his face. His faded haircut, his pink cheeks(they flush when he gets mad, or upset…this was a rare moment of when they were flushed because he was emotionally happy)  , those pearly whites in the smile that reached his eyes. Hugging me so tight with his arms around my waist, the tears started to flow! He smelled like a brand spakin’ new army uniform! We looked into each other’s eyes and had our first kiss in 11 months. “we did it”, I whispered in his ear,” we made itJ After that was a blur, I was on cloud 9. On the way home, all I remember is thanking God for EVERYTHING and clinging to Ryan’s arm ever so tightly as I laid on his shoulder on the way home. 

11 months of heartache, crying, keeping busy, always waiting on the call, obsessing over care packages, skype dates, praying, and anticipation. It was worth it…why? Because God promised me that everything would be ok. Ryan and I dated for 3 months before he deployed, I didn’t want to be a military girlfriend, I didn’t want to go through a deployment. But as I prayed day in and day out, God revealed to me that Ryan was the man He had for me at that time. I was fearful for my future but lovingly I obeyed. We not only survived during a deployment, but by the grace of God we grew closer together and to Christ. We did a weekly bible study over the phone. Tried our best to pray together every night( we were fortunate, most deployments don’t allow you to talk but a few times a month-if that. God knew what He was doing and we were & are so blessed), We encouraged each other  to take up our cross everyday.

 “ If it wasn’t for God’s mercy and His grace, there’s no way we would be standing in this place, and because He has been faithful every step along the way, here we are…Together.”  And  now ,that’s our new song,  Together by: Steven Curtis Chapman. God is good ALL the time, and ALL the time God is GOOD!



 
 

 

My advice to you, the girl in waiting:

For the ladies going through a deployment right now, waiting on your loved one you either have or will have days where you ask yourself “is this going to be worth all the tears and all of this heartache?” . The answer is “Yes”!  And no matter how much you plan in your head how his homecoming is going to be it’s more than likely not going to be like you planned but it will still be one of the best days you wll ever experience in your life.  One thing I was really nervous about was if I remembered how to kiss…. Rest assured it all comes back as soon as you see him! J

When my soldier was back for only two months and it felt like he never left…. “we went through a 11 month deployment?!”  yep!  And we are more in love than we were when he left!!! Stay strong, and pray on!!!!

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