Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Blessings in Disguise

How great is technology?

We can now keep track of people hundreds, even thousands of miles away. I have been so blessed to be able to hear from my soldier on a semi regular basis. We can send emails, instant message each other,and he can call me whenever he gets a chance. I often get to hear his voice and his sweet laugh. I don't even mind the little delay on the phone. Sometimes I can wake up to see his kind and loving words on my computer screen. Thanks to technology, our relationship had continued to to grow. Our love has remained strong. We have learned to communicate even better. We have learned who we are as individuals and as a couple. We have seen what life is like apart, and we have decided we do not like it.

But in addition to keeping my relationship strong with my soldier, it has given me a great opportunity to build friendships with people I otherwise would have no chance to. These friends have lifted me up in a way I have never felt before and I am so lucky to have them in my life.

I have been able to keep up with other blogs of people in a position much like mine, and I know they are a big reason why I can breathe a little easier. These women help me to know that I am not alone. It is really cool to see similarties between me and these complete strangers! If you don't follow many other blogs, I suggest you seek them out. And if you do follow more blogs (or if you keep up with my blog but aren't an official follower) leave me a comment and let me know of these blogs! I am always looking for more.
I was introduced to a particular blog a few months ago by a good friend of mine (I'll talk about her next!).  I have read her posts about her husband and her children and I feel like I am peeking in on her life and almost get to know her personality and her family. The writer from To Love A Soldier opens her heart to all of her readers and her posts are both comical and soothing.
We have posted comments on each other's blogs a few times and she has always been very encouraging. Tonight, as I was out walking some nature trails with two of my girlfriends, I got a message on my phone. It was from her! She was online and saw I was logged on my email from my phone. She said she just wanted to check in on me and see how I was doing. How sweet was that? I was really happy to hear from her.

I have a dear friend who is a fellow Army girlfriend (well-- technically she is a fiance now!). I have written about her a few times on here before. Although she lives in Texas and I am still over here in Georgia, we have developed a great friendship. I wouldn't be able to make it through some days without her guiding me along. She always knows the right thing to say to lift me up.
Our friendship started a few months ago after our (then) boyfriends introduced us to each other one weekend. We then began to communicate via facebook and then exchanged numbers. At first, we would only talk when we had a question or comment about our Army men. Then over time we began to learn about one another and now I consider her a very close friend and someone I can always talk to (about anything!) and she will always be there to listen.
Whenever one of us is having a bad day, when our situation seems to be too much to take, we complain to each other. I don't know about her, but she is usually the very first person, and sometimes the only person, that I talk to when missing my soldier becomes too hard. I lean on her a good amount and she is always there to prop me back up.
We both had a few rough days at the same time last week and we were trying to be there for one another, but we both just wanted to vent with and wanted someone cry with if need be. And sometimes, that is all we can really ask for; to have someone there who understands and is dealing with the same thing.
She sent me a text message this afternoon which brought tears to my eyes. The encouraging words were something I really needed to hear, so I thought I would share them here in case someone else could use a helping hand tonight.
I've been thinking about you and hope you are feeling better. I am in the middle of this Army wives book and read this and wanted to share it. "It's hard not to struggle sometimes, to be 'Army Strong'  and get through it all. But that's not what God wants for you. He says to you, 'Cate, it's okay to be weak today, I will be strong for you. Just wait on me and stop trying to hold yourself together. Let me help you. Let me be with you. Let me love you.'
These words felt so powerful to me. I feel so much better now. I know with friends like her, I can make it through anything.

In this crazy life we lead, we need people to support us. I have found an amazing group of girls who I would otherwise not ever know. We need each other. We may not have our significant others with us to talk to every day, but we always have each other. We understand what the other is going through and we can offer support based on our past experiences. In the end, that's all we really need: someone to show us the love we need, whether it is our friends or complete strangers we have not met and might not ever meet. How lucky am I to have these people in my life? We all have a special bond between us that can never be taken away. We lose the ones we love for an extended amount of time, but we gain strong friendships with people we would otherwise not know. And that just might be our little blessing in disguise.

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