Positively Alene

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one army wife – then and now.

I have to say a huge “Thank you” to our troops and their families currently serving! My prayers and heart go out to you. You are the backbone of this country. God bless you all and the USA!

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I haven’t been addicted to a weekly show since “Dallas”. That pretty much dates me, I’m sure. But have you seen the show “Army Wives” that comes on Lifetime? I love it. It takes me back to the days of being an Army wife and the protocol that went along with the territory. So the show is a little far-fetched, but it is still good!

Looking back on my years as an Army Officer’s Wife, I don’t know whether to cringe or laugh hysterically. I find myself doing a little of both, as well as thanking God that my hubby didn’t walk out on me in his frustration.

Just to give you an idea of what God was working with when He began to make me over — here are a few snapshots. It’s not pretty.

These scenarios scream bad attitude!

– getting so many tickets in Germany that the Commander threatened to take my husbands license away (who ever heard of such? I do the crime – you pay the time.)
– bribing the German politzie not to give me a ticket so the Commander wouldn’t take my husbands license away (bribing the law? Yep I did it!)
– answering others with “I don’t have to do that, I didn’t sign the line to be in the military.” (I guess I forgot that whole 2 becoming 1 thing! Total bad ATTITUDE.)
– meeting a Commander and having hubby squeeze my hand so hard so I wouldn’t say anything because THIS Commander had reprimanded my husband for not following “proper” protocol to save five people who’s boat had sunk in the worse storm of the century in 1993 (Didn’t he need to hear what I had to say about his attitude? Oh, and I didn’t know where my hubs was for three days.
– failing to stop on base and sign in visitors (ok – just stupidity)
– being pulled over on base by four patrol cars for not signing in visitors (embarrassing the children who were in the car)
– having guns drawn on me for the obvious stated events (back to bribing?)
– you get the picture . . . and yes, I really did them all . . . and more.

There is something encouraging about looking back at years gone by.

You see the growth and changes you’ve made. You see the bad attitudes that have softened, the stubborn issues you’ve let die and wild hearts that have been mellowed. I was and am a mess. Thankfully, God is still working on me.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
I am being made over each and every day. HALLELUJAH!
I’m so thankful for that, but I’m amazed at how having your old self exposed in public speeds up the process.

Happy July 4th. I love this country!

I love our military too – although my above actions don’t seem like it.

So will you please love those military families around you and give extra grace to that Army wife who doesn’t have a clue!

 

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Comments

  1. Oh friend I too DVR this show. Your post though had me cracking up! I’m glad you made it through all of those events to share with us now! I have 2 friends whose Army hubbys will be home “soon” from Afghanistan! I am so excited for them! Luv ya!

    • Love it when our troops come home! Love the hearts of those men and their families. If you can be at the homecoming, be there!! Love ya back.

  2. Sorry for the hard to read post. I tried to fix the spacing forever and finally just gave us.

  3. Alene I adore you :)

  4. OMGracious! It’s a good thing I was never a military wife and we never lived on base together. We would have been trouble! We did almost move to Germany for a year at one point… we got divorced instead! :-)

    I watch Army Wives without fail the first few seasons, but I stopped at some point. I keep meaning to catch up on NetFlix.

  5. I’m so far behind on my reading, but had to chime in on this post — LOVE ARMY WIVES! Sarah got me hooked, seeing as how she’s “dating with intention” her 2nd Lt and may one day be an Army wife herself. When she’s at school, we skype and watch it. It’s one of our mother-daughter guilty pleasures, along with The Bachelor. (don’t judge)

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