A Gift...

Yesterday was my birthday. Pretty uneventful day... we're in the heat of 4th quarter and it's getting really, really ugly around the office. For my birthday my supervisor gave me 2 new projects worth about $600k. Hooray! (said with extreme sarcasm;) Anyway, I came home from work and as usual, stopped to get the mail on my way in only to find a package from my mom and Justin. Both of these packages had been mailed on Thursday so the fact they got here so quickly was a miracle and a true act of God... He knew it was going to be a hard birthday alone. So I found some incredibly sweet cards in the boxes, including one from my husband that made me cry (in a good sort of way). Later that evening I was blessed by 2 good friends who had me over for a birthday dinner. Such examples of God's love and true friends.

Today I got up early (at least by my standards) and headed in to work again only to continue to have 4" stacks of paper dropped on my desk. You would be amazed the loud "THUD" such a thick stack of papers makes when it lands on your desk! Around 10am I got a call from the Disability Office at the Naval Hosptial. We've been waiting for 6 weeks for my PEB (physical evaluation board) results to come back... this ultimately determines when I will be able to join my husband. In other words... THIS was the phone call we've been waiting for. The Chief started to tell me my board results over the phone... UNFIT for continued Naval Service, 30% disability rating. This was exactly what we have been praying for. This was the results we desired/needed so that I could get out and move to California. I got off the phone, started shaking and sobbed. Shock. Relief. Joy. I couldn't believe this. I drove over to the hospital and got the official results which I sent to my lawyer... because if something seems too good, it likely is, right? He called me back and said "This is the best results we could have hoped for. This is a gift." Yes it is...

So... what does this mean? Tomorrow I accept the board results and select my discharge date of 60 days from today. The irony is, 3 years ago today I was commissioned in the Navy. What a sense of humor our God has! I still can't believe the whole ordeal is over. I'm going to be a civilian... a stay at home wife... a wife who gets to greet her husband when he comes home with a clean house, dinner cooking (too bad for Justin) and a hug. We can't wait! This truly is a gift from God...