I'm (Zak) embarassed I missed an anniversary a couple days ago. I have been planning on marking Monday, May 4th for quite a while, and then the day came and went and I totally forgot about it until now. Two days ago was supposed to be my last day in the Navy! Back in 1999 I enlisted for 6 years, and then in year 5 of that original enlistment I reenlisted for 4 more years. May 4th was intended to be my last day. That's the date on all my paperwork, our base stickers, and the expiration date on our military IDs. From July of last to year until Monday I should have still been wearing my uniform, saluting, shaving, and dealing with sailors.
I wanted to mark May 4th so I could look back at everything that's happened from the time I really did get out of the Navy to the time I should have gotten out. It's been an amazing 10 months! During all this time that I should have still be in, we have moved to Portland (as non-military a place as you can find!), became ministers at a church, had another kid, finished almost an entire year of grad school (just 3 days shy), and even got commissioned as an officer back into the Navy! What a huge difference this time has been.
I can't help but wonder how many things would be different if I hadn't been released early and I did just get out of the Navy on Monday. Would everthing happen exactly the same way as it has, just 10 months later? Or would things be totally different? Obviously it's impossible to know, but we do know that God has been doing some amazing things in our lives these past 10 months. What an interesting journey.
So, so long (again) Navy! See you in a couple years.
