Pastoral Approval

Since I started this journey in September of last year I have wanted to sit down with our pastor to get his advice and guidance on my joining the Marines. Why it has taken me six months to actually do it, I don't know. Maybe I was afraid he'd come up with that final good reason not to go forward with it. Either way, the procrastination ended last night.

Our pastor came up to the house and with our son bouncing around between the three of us like a ping-pong ball I told him of my desires and dreams and asked him for guidance.

He had to think for a few moments and admitted that in twenty years of pastoring he'd never advised a woman, wife and mother on whether or not to join the military.

He asked us a series of questions mostly relating to the care of our child once I was gone and directed a majority of his questions at my husband.

"You've been deployed, I assume," he said, and my husband nodded. "And so you have experienced everything your wife is likely to experience in her career, correct?"

Again, my husband nodded.

"And do you think she can handle it all?"

My husband looked at me and said, "I know she can handle it. Physically, emotionally, mentally. I have no doubt she can do it."

Hearing that made something inside of me blossom with pride, love, relief. There are very few people in this life that I seek approval from and one of them is my husband. While there have been very few matters in which he has disapproved of me I was afraid that this might be one of them. To hear his acceptance and approval spoken aloud to someone other than me and in such a confident tone was like coming up for air after being under water too long. It was sweet and rejuvenating.

After a few more questions from our pastor with satisfactory answers from us my pastor looked at me and said, "I have no reason to tell you not to do this. I mean, what you want is certainly not a sin and as long as your husband is for this and you've made the proper preparations for your son then there's no reason I can think of to tell you no. Keep praying and as long as God doesn't slam the door shut I would say to go forward with it."

Another breath of relief.

My husband equated it to a nice check mark in the "positive" column on the list of positive and negative reasons to join the Corps.

So far we have far more positive reasons than negative.

Next will be a pretty hard one though: our parents.