Feeling Blessed at the Beach

We have lived here in Florida for close to six weeks now, and honestly the time has flown by! We are almost completely settled into our house and are becoming more familiar with our surrounding area.

This afternoon we decided to enjoy the nice 80 degree weather at the beach, which is a short 15-30 minute drive from our house, depending on which beach we choose. The water here is absolutely breathtaking – aqua blue and crystal clear! The sand is soft and white and adds to the beauty. Since we came from North Carolina, where neither is really the case, and loved the beaches there, you can imagine this is like heaven! Today we chose the first public beach we came to on Okaloosa Island, so it isn’t too far into the tourist areas and it isn’t exclusively military (which is another option here….).

I enjoyed the first 40 minutes or so of our stay relaxing in my beach chair and reading a book, while Drew kept Houston occupied. Then a group of four military wives, alone with their children, claimed their spot about 8 feet away from me, completely within hearing distance.

If you know me even a little bit, you know that I am very selective in which military wives I socialize and associate myself with. Just because our husbands work together, doesn’t mean I want to or have to be your best friend. I have very good reasons for doing this, although it may come off a little snobby to some. I choose my friends based on similar interests and values. There can be far too much competition and cattiness in groups of women, neither of which I have a desire to take part in. Also, if you know both of us as a couple, you know that we don’t usually advertise the fact that my husband is in the military. It’s his job, not the only thing that defines us….

As I was reading, and involuntarily eavesdropping to their conversations, several topics really started to bother me. The discussion started out with one of them asking if another’s husband had made it to the next promotion level yet. (Competition….) Rank is a tricky and tacky subject matter, in my opinion. I listened to them gossip about their husbands’ duty assignments and coworkers’ wives for quite a while….

Then one of the other women, who moved here from the same place in NC that we did, started whining about being here. Now this may come off as hypocritical on my part, since I have done my share of complaining about the circumstances. However, most of that stemmed from the fact that I moved here and set up ALONE  (which we found out isn’t nearly as easy as you might think). A hormonal woman in a completely new place, without her husband’s help in dealing with the military issues, is allowed a few breakdowns.  Anyway…. Her main complaint was that all we have here is the beach. She misses the shopping we had in Fayetteville and the surrounding areas in NC. This I found to be comical! I will admit there are a few stores Fayetteville had that I truly miss (Hobby Lobby, Salon Centric, and Babies R Us), but those stores are only an hour away from here, in Pensacola, and there are so many MORE stores within a shorter distance! There is a mall in Mary Esther that is much nicer, in my opinion, than Fayetteville. It has almost all the same stores, and I wouldn’t be afraid of a shooting in the parking lot on Black Friday!! There is a pretty big outdoor mall in Destin with variety I would equate to Raleigh, and whatever you can’t find there is located just a little further at the outlet mall in Sandestin. So I am not sure exactly where she shops, but that was definitely an entertaining complaint.  A few phrases came to mind as I listened to her….Bloom where you are planted. Look on the bright side. Make the most of every situation (or in her case duty station!!).

Then the conversation turned to one of the women who was noticeably far along in her pregnancy. They started discussing baby showers and family members who would and wouldn’t be coming. I listened to this woman complain for quite a while about her husband and mother-in-law. She told the others her mother-in-law would be coming to visit and started listing off everything that drives her crazy about her being there. I won’t go into great detail, but this particular complaint hit close to home for me. Granted, we all have troubles with our in-laws and even our “blood” family, but that’s what makes a family normal! I am actually very sad for my mother-in-law because she won’t be able to come down after Cameron is born. Since I don’t know when or even IF we will get to visit Wyoming this year, I have no idea when she will even get to meet her new grandson.

So, to wrap all this up, my point was that today I was feeling 100% grateful for everything in my life right now. A positive attitude can totally change a person’s perspective. Of course most of you have heard me complain about the weird military rules here we aren’t used to, the higher cost of living, etc, but now that I have opened my eyes, I am realizing what a blessing it is for us to be here. We will only be here until the end of the year, but we’ve already made some great new friends, we found a wonderful church to worship with, and we are getting to enjoy, in my opinion, some of God’s most beautiful creations! I intend to make the most of the situation God has put me in! I know sometimes I probably sound just like those women at the beach, who had virtually nothing positive to talk about, but it’s my goal to live my life with a smile and a cheerful heart. I want people to remember my laugh, not my scowl!

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18