We made it home just a few days before Halloween. I'm not a huge fan of this holiday but it's always fun to have an excuse to gather together with those we love. We dressed up TWICE this year. Friday: bb was a ladybug and kk was a race car driver // Saturday: both kids were pilots. It was ridiculously cute.
After Halloween, we packed up our candy and what felt like our whole house and headed a few hours out to an Air Force base where KK had an appointment for his initial flight physical.
( I wrote that a while back but the story kept unraveling. I finally sat down in our long road trip today to write this ...)
I've been meaning to update since thanksgiving. I'd like to blame the busy holidays but I think if I'm being honest I'm avoiding it. The entire process is so hard on my heart. First there is the Air Force side that is just so process driven as we push hard to cross every "T" and dot every "I", sprinting to the finish line fight against time for KK's age waiver but also the social aspect of it all. Preparing my heart to be a single parent for a while and acquainting myself with how people ( myself included) guard their hearts from disengagement.
Part of the contingent job offer to be a pilot in the Air Force is a flight physical. They want to know he is in optimum health before they invest millions in training him to fly. We were well prepare for that. Kris has definitely done more than his fair share of physicals, all with out a hitch. We were not concerned. We booked a room and hauled the family out on the 3.5hr road trip to do several days of appointments. Maybe a first clue that things were going quite as expected should have been the massive storm that seems to follow us everywhere we go or even the fact that they scheduled his first appointments on a "wingman day" where most of the base was shut down for training/ team building. They did dilate KK's eyes which rendered him useless for DAYS! ( you should have heard the whining about how he is "blind" ha! Know your audience! I had little sympathy and may have laughed a little too hard) The other big thing that happened was he did not pass his hearing test. It was a huge blow. It felt as if our sand castle had washed away in one swift wave. That first day they tested him twice BOTH not passing. He has had his hearing checked many times and never had any issue. When he finally made it back to work ( due to his dilated eyes! ) he met with our units flight medicine group to retest thinking maybe is was a faulty machine or human error... Anything. Huge relief as he passed and qualified in the highest tier of hearing standards. It was noted that there was very slight hearing loss in one ear. This passing report was sent to the original flight dr and passed up the chain to get approval. It felt too easy but we were just happy to be back on track as days tick away towards KK's impending doom...I mean 29th birthday!
We had hoped to get an approval right away. I'm personally eager to be in the land of stability and out of limbo but it seems we continue to make out home in the "in between." Just before thanksgiving, we received a call that his medical clearance was flagged and kicked back for more testing. This time KK went alone as the soonest they could get him back was the same day we had planned our 5 hour road trip for the holiday. My poor husband ended up driving 11 1/2 hours that day. AGAIN, he passed,just as before, with just slight hearing loss in one side but still in the highest tier of standards. They had decided to mark it for a waiver -not that it would hurt his ability to fly- but that they wanted it checked yearly to assure nothing was changing and there were no underlying conditions causing the hearing loss. At this point we expected it to take a month to get approved and to get orders cut for officers school. We were also advised to move forward and to plan to be in the mid Jan class.
It's very hard to continue to prepare for separation , moving, finances of leaving and what not with no sure thing. No guarantee that of where we'll be or when. YESTERDAY, we received a call that AGAIN the medical was kicked back. This time they wanted to test to be SURE there were no tumors causing this ever so slight hearing loss. Again, we dropped everything to drive out and test. You will be happy to hear that there is absolutely no evidence of any tumors. AGAIN, his passing tests will be submitted for approval with just a few short weeks left until this class. He does have a slot on hold for him but the recruiter admitted today that she's in the process of figuring out what it means if his misses the deadline.
Here's the thing, we serve at the mercy of the King.Our creator. The one who holds the world in his hands and the inventor of time itself. His plans are perfect and his timing supreme even when it doesn't feel like it to us. We will continue put our trust and hope in Him alone. I can not count the vast quantity of times in our life that Gods plan was better/greater than anything we could come up with on our own. His timing is perfect.
Please pray along side of us as we petition for swift movement in the AF approval process but also if that is not His will for peace in our hearts as we wait.
