My husband, Floyd, and I met in England. I was an A1C (E-3) in the United States Air Force, and he was a Tech-Sergeant (E-6). He arrived on base in January, 1979 (seven months after I got there). We started going together in May, and we got married in August. (Short courtship.) The following April, our son, Toby, was due, so I had to decide if I wanted to stay in the Air Force. The military offered pregnant women the opportunity to be honorably discharged if they wanted to pursue motherhood full time.
I had prayed and trusted God’s guidance, and He had opened some amazing doors for me to get into the military. But I was still a babe in Christ and not mature enough to seek God’s direction in all my decisions. So without ever consulting God, I got married. Floyd was a believer of like faith, so I certainly wasn’t unequally yoked. But with the coming of a little one, I had a decision to make. Do I serve out my full four-year enlistment or do I request an early discharge?
Floyd said we should pray about it. So we did. We both prayed earnestly, seeking God’s wisdom and direction. I didn’t want to get out, but I didn’t know if I could take care of a baby and work full time. However, as much as I loved the military, the Air Force was about to make some demands of me that I couldn’t accommodate, and God let me see them.
- I had to retain an on-call baby-sitter because I never knew when the base would have an exercise and I would get called at 4:00 a.m. Exercises were routine, and when we got called, we had to report to our duty section as soon as possible. So I had to arrange for someone to care for my baby not only while I was at work, but when the base went on alert. (The base daycare center didn’t open until 6:30 a.m. and I wasn’t permitted to take my son to work with me.)
- I had to sign a commitment saying that my service to my country came before my family.
- If our country should go to war, I had to send my son back to the United States with someone heading that direction and trust them to deliver him to my parents in California, who would raise him (whether or not they were equipped to care for him) while I was off somewhere serving my country. (Hopefully, the person who left England with him was someone I knew and trusted. I might be handing him to a total stranger.)
I loved the military, but God’s decision in this matter was as clear as when he opened the door for me to enlist. I felt Him directing me to get out, so I did. I worked right up until my due date, being honorably discharged six days before our son was born.
Floyd is now retired from the Air Force, and I still love the military. My dad was retired Navy, so I got my first military ID card at age ten, and I’ve had one ever since. But the most cherished time of my life, was when I traded in my dependent’s ID card for active duty. And what a wonderful experience I had to see the hand of God working on my behalf as He opened doors that I couldn’t haven gone through any other way.