March 10

We've been in California two weeks now, and I'm amazed by how quickly we're settling in. We rented a great house last week that has everything we had wanted (minus the furniture, which won't be here for another few weeks... we're sleeping/eating/watching TV on a mattress on the floor until it arrives...). 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a great backyard for Samson... It's a mile to the beach, 10 minutes to David's base, 20 minutes to downtown San Diego, and a bike ride to Mexico.

Everyone keeps asking me to post photos, but I can't bring myself to post photos until we have furniture. "Just show us the outside then!" everyone says. But seriously, I can't show you the outside without backing it up with photos of the inside or else you'd think we live in the g-h-e-t-t-o. Houses here are just like that- terribly ugly but somehow charming as the flaking stucco and 1970s RV-esque design are overpowered by palm trees and blue skies.

We've been making friends thanks to a great church we found (Kaleo Church) and my one friend Allison from UGA who has been phenomenal about helping me network. We've hung out with David's buddies a lot, but we're impatiently waiting on some friends like we have back home (don't think we'll ever find friends like that!!) But I am going to a Bible study with some Navy wives to do some more friend shopping tonight, so wish me luck...

So now what you really want to hear about: David's training. He's in his second week of Indoc (basically the intro class), and he's starting to get to the good stuff. Last week he had a mile swim in the bay (in wetsuits since it's so cold!), an intro to the obstacle course (where he passed all obstacles- only half the guys can say that!), and a five mile beach run in boots and camis (where the instructors made them get in the water mid-run just to make it even more miserable... imagine running in wet boots!) They also had their first experience with "surf torture"- laying in the breaks of the cold ocean with arms linked to the other men, waves crashing in your face. This week he has more swims and beach runs, and they will be introduced to the infamous surf passage, which involves taking small inflatable boats into the ocean to work on teamwork. Rumor is that BUD/S (the reeeal training) starts in two weeks. Guys are already dropping daily, and a handful of David's friends have been "rolled" (pushed back to another class) as they wait to have eye surgery.

Here's our cool story for the week: We woke up last Sunday a little discouraged and overwhelmed. We prayed for God to keep giving us signs that we're doing what we're supposed to be doing and that we're not doing it for any wrong reasons. Later that morning, we met a guy who just made it to the SEAL teams- an officer with a personality a lot like David's, who was really open to talking about his experience. After a good conversation, we went to take my friend Allison to a house down the road, but remembered that our backseat was full of suitcases... so I drove Allison home while David waited in the parking lot. The same SEAL he had just spoken to walked up to him and said, "I feel like I need to tell you something else..." (At this point, David was thinking it'd be some lame Navy rule like: "Don't tell anyone we talked"...) Instead, he said, "I have a lot of respect for anyone who joins in a time of war. And I need to tell you that the SEALs need good men." So we took that to be our sign that we at least need to keep moving forward, confident that God has a bigger purpose in what in the world we're doing out here...

So we ask that you pray for a few things for us: good friends, safety as David trains, and continued reassurance that we're in the right place.

And then we also ask that you book some plane tickets and come stay with us (Air Tran is running some great specials right now!!) :) I just spent days painting the guest room for you!

February 26

I must admit… I think I am actually going to enjoy commuting here. Our drive from Imperial Beach (where we will be living) to The Naval Amphibious Base is about 12 minutes up the Silver Strand Highway- a road planked by green plants and families biking with their kids, with the bay on the East side and the Pacific Ocean to the West. It’s a bit more scenic than 285.

Now granted I’ll be making this commute every morning at 4am… until we buy David a car. But waking up to drive him should keep us on the same schedule (going to bed at 8 each night and up by 4), and it will keep me on a closer schedule to my Atlantan home-base (we’re three hours behind you guys!)

I made the drive again today as I went to look at more houses, and I had an overwhelming sense of peace and excitement (yes, those two can happen together). It was 75 and sunny and I was driving next to the ocean with my windows down, thinking that it really wouldn’t be so bad to call this place home.

There is an overwhelming sense of patriotism here, and I am so proud of my husband for serving the way he is. There is also an overwhelming sense of …doom, I think… as we see guys in the BUD/S program now, waddling across the road (running almost 10 miles each day leads to waddling if you’re wondering) just to get their lunch. We saw the remnants of BUD/S class 275 (David is 276) waddle across the road yesterday in their brown shirts, meaning that they are graduates of Hell Week. And we look at them and think: Who of David’s friends and classmates will be there in two months, with brown shirts and camo fatigues and the numbers “276” stenciled to their big green helmets?

David had his first day at the BUD/S compound today- just checking in and processing (of course he’s been there over 12 hours, but that’s just government efficiency for you). His room has an ocean view and is literally beachfront, and he shares it with three other guys. We think he’ll be able to stay with me some during the week and definitely on weekends, but we’re not getting our hopes up. Our focus is on his training now, and we are just thankful to be in the same state!

We found a charming house that we are hoping to move into early next week- it has three bedrooms and a huge backyard for Samson. I affectionately call it “the double wide”, but David says we can’t move in if I keep calling it that. So now it’s “the house on Emory Street”. It’s about a mile to the beach, and you can see Mexico from the roof.

It is even stranger than I imagined being so far away from home, but we are both excited and thankful to be here. Despite the quizzical looks we keep getting when I order sweet tea at dinner, say “yall” in conversation or explain that our dog is a “coon hound”, I think we’ll fit in just fine.

We’ve already found some amazing spots to take our visitors (like the incredible Asian bistro we discovered last night or the runway on base where jets fly in and out), so start planning that vacation to sunny California!

6 Months Later...

...and everything has changed! Wow, we never thought we would be where we are now, but we have definitely enjoyed (and learned lots) from this ride.

When we left Chicago in February to head west for BUD/s, we had to keep any info about it off a blog and in private emails instead. Now that we are no longer in the program, I wanted to upload my old email updates here as a way to keep everything chronicled. This has definitely been quite the journey, and I have loved looking back at these posts and emails to see what all we have learned.

Wanderlust

“The American Dream is made up of many elements, not the least of which is wanderlust. Our country was founded and populated by generations of people searching for new experiences and filled with curiosity about what could be seen on the other side of the mountain.” -Melissa Chewning

My mom wrote this in an album dedicated to my dad after they drove from Stone Mountain, Georgia to the West coast in 1985. I made this trip with them (my mom was a few months pregnant with me), and I am amazed that I will be making a similar trip in just a few days- this time as an adult with my own husband, and this time with no intention of turning around when we hit the Pacific.

It is a surreal and incomprehensible idea, leaving your home. I’ve been away from my husband for five months now, with most everything that I own either in storage or being lived in by strangers. This makes my upcoming trip to rejoin my other half seem more like a homecoming than a move away. But I still can’t get my head around leaving my friends and family and the city that I’ve known since birth.

David and I have always struggled with The American Dream- what it is, why we fight for it, why we want out once we get there. I will say that my mom nailed it with the “wanderlust” idea; I think The American Dream ends when you achieve it. When you can dream and hope and plan… that is The American Dream. That’s what is amazing about America- that you can dream.

I am surrounded by a group of friends and family here that do nothing but encourage me to dream. And as we move three time zones west, we know that nothing will change about these relationships but the circumstances. These are relationships are rooted in something stronger than the Navy and larger than 2000 miles. They are rooted in Christ.

So I will leave the South tomorrow to see what’s on the other side of the mountain. And while we are excited to fight for a country that fosters dreaming and while we are enthralled with the wonder of this adventure, we rest in the comfort of knowing that no mountain can separate us from what we have here at home.

NEW Address

Here is David's new address. He can now get packages, so I'm sure he'd appreciate any snack food, magazines or books, etc. Or just an encouraging note!

SN Murray, David T E3
320A Dewey Avenue
TSC/BEQ 534 Room #104
Great Lakes, IL 60088

Graduation

David is officially a SAILOR! He graduated from bootcamp on Wednesday November 26, and we got to spend the remainder of the week together. He will stay in Chicago for another 12 weeks (but will be HOME for Christmas!!), and then it's hopefully off to San Diego...

Last Letter

This time next week I will be in Chicago with David!

I got his last set of letters today, and I thought his last letter in particular was quite amazing. It's long, but it's worth reading. His wisdom is incredible, and I am so thankful that his time in basic has been spiritually fruitful if nothing else!

November 16

"I was praying this morning while taking a shower (which is the best part of the day), and I realized the summary of the whole military experience up to this point. Paul talks about how our lives are not our own. I think this is the key to everything. Oswald Chambers also talks about this same topic a lot too. Most of my time I worry about what I think is best or what I want for our life. However I don't think this is the right mindset to have. Our lives no longer belong to us. We must submit to the plan God has set before us. This does not necessarily mean God doesn't care what we want. In fact, our lives ultimately are far better off in Christ.

The vital thing to remember is that it may not be easy, but we must let our lives be run by God. It makes it difficult to try and figure out what we should do next, if all we have to go on is what is best or what we "want" to do. Inevitably we will choose the easiest route if left to ourselves. However when we must make decisions but we do it with the larger picture of God's plan in mind, it becomes clearer not easier. Often this requires a lot of sacrifice. Think about it like this: Is God's plan really so small that it is deterred because I get homesick? I doubt it. Instead I think God will grant the strength to accomplish His plan.

This whole concept is something I really struggle with. It is very hard to submit my entire life to God. It is risky to lay our life out there for God to do with what He wants.

Sometimes I feel like our situation is similar to Jonah's in the Old Testament. God has called us to do something that at this point I don't "want" to do. So we could run away from it. However in the long run Jonah running off did not pay off. Short term he didn't have to do what God asked, but the result was that he brought calamity to himself and those around him. The better thing is to be obedient from the start.

I feel like we have just walked through a dark time, and now I am praying that we will come out of it soon. God breaks us to help us learn. It is necessary, but I am ready for us to be restored. As long as I am at bootcamp (away from you) I will be broken, but when we see each other again restoration can begin. So that is my prayer, that God will start the re-building process. That way we are full of strength to take on the next challenge."