Okay, here is the skinny.
After nearly two years of waiting for a decision- during
which the Lord has taught me lesson after lesson about dependence, faith and
hope, the Navy got back to me today.
They have decided to medically separate me with
severance.
My awesome Lieutenant (LT Chase) called me today to tell me
about it. Also, I will have up to
90 days to actually separate (which is exactly how long I would be out of the
country on the race). She and I,
and my dear friend Dharma who flew up to be with me this week, all had
chills. The Lord truly provided-
and I think that it is only in hindsight that I will be able to understand His
purpose for it being quite literally in the 11th hour.
A part of the paperwork will be me deciding if I would like to stay in the Navy for 30 or up to 90 more days. (The minimum is 30 because that is how long it will take for all of the paperwork to be processed. Often, at the Command’s discretion, they will approve up to 90 days (especially in cases like mine where I am being “involuntarily discharged”) to find a job/place to live, etc.
But here is the bad news- my commanding officer from Ohio
e-mailed me to say that in light of that decision, he could not authorize me to
take the 90 days of leave since I would be extending my time in the Navy purely
to go on leave. This means that unless he will change his mind and authorize the leave, I will not be joining my team in Cambodia. He sounded very final and official about his decision. But you and I know about my pinch hitter.
My plane ticket to Seattle is for next Thursday morning. And even though the Navy is saying ‘no’, I just don’t believe that the Lord has brought me through all of this just to leave me here. I’m not some brainless nit-wit. I do understand that the likelihood of this working out is very, very slim.
So, tomorrow morning at the medical board liaison (Mr. Wiles- also an awesome guy- who has been praying for this situation every step of the way, FYI) will be calling my commanding officer to try to explain to him that I can either be in the Navy and sit here at my mom’s house (or there in Ohio) for 90 days, or I can in the Navy on leave- trying to do something good for the world, for 90 days.
Today, for the first time in a long time, I saw some
sunshine poking through the clouds… and I am afraid that the clouds will close
back up and leave me in the dark again.
But I am choosing faith. I
am choosing God. I know that He
has chosen me and He is FOR me.
So tomorrow morning (well, all day, actually),
I NEED YOUR
PRAYERS
Please pray for Mr. Wiles as he speaks to my commanding officer. Pray that God’s will be done in this, and that glory will come to Him no matter what the decision is. (No, I still don’t have a backup plan, but I will STILL be praising the Lord even if I am left behind on this journey.)
I will keep you posted of what happens in the days to
come. 11 Days until Cambodia….
