365 days I have been officially waiting for Trenton Chaney. My best friend, sweet heart and love of my life.
And since he is scheduled to come home September 24th of next year I have less than 365 days to go.
(Happy Dance!)
Anyway, I'd be fooling you all if I said I was 100% perfectly happy today.
I mean, I am, but there is a bittersweet feeling tied with being done one year.
For one thing: The knowledge that it has been exactly one year since he held me in his arms, touched me, or kissed me is very surreal, and a little depressing. BECAUSE THAT"S SUCH A LONG TIME!!! And I would by lying if I said I was ok with that. Because, I'm not. But I am, because he's doing a good thing. Yet, that doesn't mean I'm entirely 100% happy about it.
I mean, saying he's been gone 6 months, or even 11 months since you've seen him doesn't make it seem too bad. I mean that's a fairly small number, and the idea of it being long (especially since time has flown by) really doesn't occur to you until something (like the year mark) smacks you in the face and says. "GUESS WHAT? You still have a year left before you can kiss him again"
Gee, thanks Reality, I appreciate the reminder.
The other bittersweet part is the realization that he's halfway done. And having the opportunity to see how he is on a weekly basis forces me to realize that he LOVES his mission and he would probably stay there a lot longer than two years if he was asked too. So the idea that he's halfway done on this end makes my heart ache for him. Two years, really isn't that long of a time to immerse yourself into the society you're called to serve in and try to teach those people about the truthfulness of God's plan and how it applies to every living person on this planet. I really wish I could know what he's thinking or feeling right now, maybe that would make my attitude a bit better.
(Although, in my defense, I am sick today so, yeah, I'm going to be a bit grumpy)
Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% supportive of his mission. And anytime I catch myself wishing him home I feel a little (well, a lot) guilty because I know that not only is he supposed to be there right now, but it's selfish of me to wish him home. I'm an adult, fairly independent, going to school, I should take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of me right now. Yet I feel that Heavenly Father understands. We love our missionaries, and we do miss them a lot while they are gone.
I am grateful for the mission, I really am. And as difficult as it is knowing that I still have 12 months until I will be able to see him again, I secretly look forward to the next year and wonder what I'm going to learn and what experiences I will have. I guess the silverlining in this cloud is that I don't have ANOTHER 365 days yet to go, and I actually have 363. That's two whole days less than most people have to do. I'm such a lucky girl to get that opportunity. Not to mention, Trent spoils me by making sure i get a letter each week from him. Even though he is busy as District Leader and Training. Even if it's a couple of paragraphs, he makes sure I get something, so, I really don't have to be too upset because I know he loves and cares for me. And I know I love him very much and that I need to stick this wait out. Trent brings something different to the table than any other relationships have for me. He truly loves me and accepts me for who I am. He listens, gives advice, and never fails to remind me that i am special. So yeah, find the silver lining.
Maybe that should be my motto for the next 12 months.
I like it!
And you know what? I may not even be able to be in Ohio when he gets home. But someone will most likely have a cell phone and even hearing his voice in real time will be awesome.
SO, here's to the next 363 days. I can do it, I know I can. Especially if I have the Lord on my side. :)
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OK: For those of you who read this looking for the package, here it is.
Since I didn't have a lot of money (and since I'm not super crafty) I didn't go all out on this package. In fact, It probably only cost me about $20 to put it together and send it. So, here is what I did:
Second, what I did was write him some open when letters:
DISCLAIMER: the way I did this took a bit of time so if you do it the same way plan on taking quite a bit of time to write them.
Anyway, I found this list on one of the many waiting for a missionary pages I'm on and pulled from that a bit.
So, there are several on here that may or may not apply to you and your missionary. I also had to use my scriptures as a resource for other topics I used. Such as, when Satan is getting you down read Moses 1. (I picked select verses that I wanted to emphasize for his letter) And then I focused on reminding him that my missionary is a Son of God and Satan want's you to forget that. etc. etc. One other fun thing I did was find several sections of scripture in the Book of Mormon relating to politics because Trent loves Politics. And the way I wrote the letters was almost as if he had told me something he was struggling with and I had instantly replied with my advice and scriptures. I also used excerpts from Conference talks and even "The Continuous Atonement" by Brad Wilcox to add to my advice as well. Unfortunately, I ran out of time so, I wrote several letters like that, and the last letter I wrote down several individual topics with relating scriptures he could look through when he is needing some spiritual assistance. BUT you know your boy better than you think, thinking over the past year I was able to come up with a few extra topics that I had recently read about or I knew he had struggled with in the past year.
The final thing I did was post on his facebook asking his friends and family to give him short messages of encouragement and advice. I didn't get a lot of response that way, (unfortunately) and what I would recommend is contacting people directly. I then wrote down on note cards what they said, and put them in an envelope so he can carry them with him if he wants too.
Then when it came to shipping, I went with a small flat rate parcel (not a box) which those allow you to ship as much as you want at a specific amount, it doesn't deal with weight. And that cost me about 5 or so dollars to ship it.
So yeah! There's some short ideas if you're wanting to do a year package on a budget. Comment with any other ideas below that you would do as well for those who are trying to get some ideas themselves!
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