Basic Training

So far Maggie is doing well in Basic Training. I know Aaron is actually the one enduring the routine of Basic Training for the Coast Guard, but it is a sort of Basic Training for Maggie as well. She and I talked the other day about her response to Aaron’s enlistment and what it could mean for her. He will have a good job with some outstanding options when his enlistment begins to progress. She will be married to a man who belongs to the US government.


That is not often easy and I do not think she fully understands the whole gambit of sacrifices on her part. She, like most young women sees things from a skewed perspective. It is very normal. Now that a wedding is in the offing she would like to make firm plans, print invitations, set the ceremony in order, etc. Maggie, especially, is one who really likes things well defined.

When we were traveling as a family Maggie would always want to know where we were going, how long it would take to get there, what we would be doing each day we were there, how many days we would be there, when we were going to leave and how long it would take us to get home – all before we left the driveway. At six, seven, eight years old she had no real plans of her own, she just liked to have things mapped out thoroughly. That is still her mindset.

In light of that we talked about what it may be like early on in their marriage when he was more responsible to the “call of duty” than to the cares of the wife and home. There will be some great benefits but there will also be some difficult sacrifices as Aaron primary duty is to the Coast Guard. He will have limited options and strict orders to follow. To succeed, he must follow those orders regardless of the objections of his wife.

I think in her Basic Training, Maggie is beginning to understand that for a while she will have to fit into Aaron’s life as best she can while he pays his dues early on in his service. It is our expectation that things will ease up a bit as he serves and the Coast Guard learns the character of the young man they have enlisted into service.

When they are both through with Basic we will know better how things are going to work out. I do know this; I have confidence that the two of them are bright enough and committed enough, to each other and to the Lord, to work it out. What Aaron is doing is only slightly more difficult for a wife to understand than any husband who is committed to the job whereby he earns the money to support his family and the “discussions” that come as he balances his commitment to that job and to his wife and family.

After twenty-eight years of marriage and work, Mama and I still have those “discussions.”