I have been absent from my blog lately and here is why:
We are a (very proud) Navy family and we have only PCSed (relocate) one other time. The one other time we moved to Houston, TX about 7 hours from home. We were only gone for one year and my husband was picked up for a program in the Navy where he was able to finish out his schooling in college as a nurse. So after one year of being away we got to move back to our hometown where our family's live and where we grew up.
It took John almost 3 years to complete his degree and we were to PCS to Virginia. Close to his completion we were told that if we wanted we could stay where we were for another 3 years as John would only have about an hour commute. Needless to say, we have been extremely blessed, this is not typical for military families. My kids got to grow up for 6 more years with grandparents and our church family.
We found out that we would indeed be PCSing to Virginia for real this time. Only about 14 hours from home. My heart was sick. However, despite the sadness we know that this was the will of God, and where we were supposed to be coming. We decided that we were going to buy a house. So 2 months before we drove up to meet with the realtor and see some houses. We had been searching for weeks and found about 20 homes in the neighborhood we wanted and the schools that we wanted. When we sat down to meet with her the day before going out to look we found out that about 15 of the 20 homes were already under contract! I was thinking what do we do now!
We go back to the hotel, PRAY, and we did another search. We came across a house in our price range with 5 bedrooms. There were no pictures of the inside only the outside. I told my husband, John, I don't care it is in our price range and it would mean that each of our 4 kids could have their own bedroom. Something my 11 year old had been praying about for a few months because she was tired of sharing a room with her sister!
The next day, we found out we could see the house, and we did. It was absolutely perfect. It had EVERYTHING we had prayed about in a home that we wanted. A fenced backyard for our kids to play in and the dog to be able to run around in, an office space for my Beachbody business, did I mention 5 bedrooms, a closet that was big enough, and lastly a jet spa tub (yes I prayed for that!!!). I didn't need to see any other house, this is the house that I wanted!
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| Living Room |
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| My office |
God is so wonderful and amazing in the ways that he works for our good. I never imagined that we would be able to have something so nice, but he worked it out. We came home with a renewed peace. I held on to that peace until we moved. Moving was so much harder then I thought it was going to be. I thought I was prepared to leave home and move away from all that we had known. BUT I was so wrong. I wasn't prepared for the loneliness that we would feel. I have still been holding on to God's promise that he is guiding our path even if it has been with one finger and I don't feel it, everyday I say I have faith in you and your will. Because he has been with us every step of the way.
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| The Kitchen |
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| The Backyard |
I have been missing because I had to do some soul searching and come out of the fog of depression. I had to get back into the word of God again so that I could feel at peace again. I had to make sure that helping people lose weight and gain financial freedom was something that I could do still. A friend who has been also going through some troubles posted about them and she had some beautiful words of wisdom. Sometimes the best way to help yourself is to help others! With that this is where I have been, but I am back and ready to help!
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| Fountain in the backyard |
Are you a military family facing your first move or your tenth? I would love to hear from you and any advice you may have for me or just to connect with you! Shoot me a message at
fitnic13@aol.com or find me on
facebook.com/nicolemcduffiesfitness.
Nicole McDuffie
Independent Beachbody Coach
