Bubble Smubble

So Josh came home from work on Wednesday and told me all about a meeting he had with the colonel that day (who from this point on will be referred to as Col. H). Apparently it was a long discussion about how long we've been in Germany, and what all Josh has done since arriving here five years ago, and how Josh is currently in his second command, etc, etc, etc. Col. H talked abut how he realizes it's time for Josh to go and he's been thinking about it for the last month or so, but he just didn't know what to do.

You see, the guys leave for training the first two weeks of June. The second two weeks are block leave, then all of July, and August, and the beginning of September will be time spent in the field, training, again. Col. H's main concern/point was that whoever went to the field with the guys this summer is the one who should deploy with them whenever the next deployment gets underway. Which, is totally understandable, and a very good point. And since Josh is the current commander of the battery, and since he'd be the one to go to the field with them, he'd HAVE to be the one to deploy with them. All of this we had kind of figured on our own, and we were preparing to get stop-lossed and have Josh deploy for a year...again.

Then the conversation turned to Josh's options once he deployed. Those options were 1) keep his command the entire time they're gone - not a good option in any one's opinion; 2) Josh would change command after a few months and then get a staff job down there and finish out the deployment with the unit - okay, and most likely what would happen; 3) Josh changes command after a few months, then gets to leave and go to the career course - obviously our #1 choice.

And that's where we were on Wednesday. As we bathed the boys that evening I teased Josh saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if Col. H called you tomorrow and said, 'Hey, you're changing command next week'?" And oh how we all did laugh. Even Zeke.

Here's where I'm going with this...Friday, two days later, Josh called me around 9:30 or so in the morning. He was supposed to pick up the boys from me around 4:30 so I could go help out at a PWOC outreach event without having the boys to worry about. Then he would take them to the Hail & Farewell he had to go to, and use them as an excuse to leave early. Score! HOWEVER, he called me and said, "I can't pick up the boys tonight. I have to work through dinner." I asked if everything was okay and he said, "Yeah. (pause) I'm changing command in two weeks and I'm going to be going to the career course." WHAT?!? Yeah. Apparently, Col. H decided that it's now or never to get Josh out of command and has chosen to go for it.

Now, before you all ask, we don't know anything else yet. We don't have a class date yet. Col. H is still working on one, but it'll most likely be in September, as originally planned. I would like to thank all of you who prayed for us and this situation. God is truly working right now. I would ask that you all continue to pray for Josh these next few weeks as he tries to do an entire change of command in, oh, two weeks. I'm not planning on seeing him much until after Memorial Day. Maybe you should pray for me too that I don't kill one of the boys before then. Just kidding.

So there you have it. We are no longer "on the bubble". We are (eventually) on our way to Oklahoma. Jim and Joni, I hope you're ready for this!