The News Just Came In

Sam will not be losing his job! This year anyway ... for the foreseeable future this will be a yearly thing in the Coast Guard until they have axed enough people to satisfy the demands of President Obama. We are thrilled it's not us but feel deeply for all those dedicated service men and women that are now scrambling to try and figure out how to support their families in this economy. Sam knows many of them and it's somewhat of a blow to know you're the guy that's safe and your buddy isn't.

This journey has given us an opportunity to take a good look at our life and we will be making some big changes in the next while. When you realize that job security is suddenly a question it's easy to see different paths and we have chosen one. So, after much thought, study, prayer, and communication, here's the revised Lockhart plan:

1- We are buying a house and settling down right here in good old Wisconsin. For so long we have dreamt of getting back to Alaska. It's where Sam's legal residency is and where we started our life together. We both love it and have done everything in our power to get back there. Alas, it is not meant to be, at this time anyway, and we have come to terms with that just recently. Sometimes it takes a while to hear what it is the Lord has been trying to tell you. We both feel such peace about settling down here for the next 5-10 years it's undeniable and such a blessing. This all comes just in the past 3 or so weeks and was really so sudden for both of us that it doesn't seem real sometimes. We are really in love with a certain house at the moment and are taking the time today to fast, pray, and really ponder if this is what the Lord wants for us. It's kind of funny because it goes against all that we set out to find in a home, but we can't deny feeling like it's where we are to be, and boy does that feel good!

2- Sam will be retiring in 2012/13 (unless the Coast Guard kicks him out first). He is set to transfer out of his current job and go somewhere else in 2012, but he has the option to ask for a 1 year extension. So depending on what happens with the extension (and of course the job cuts) he'll put in to retire before they would transfer him again.

3- Sam is starting back at good old Carol College (possibly Concordia Universtiy) to finish what he started back in ancient days and complete a Bachelor Degree in Education and History, with a Math minor or major, depending on how intense he decides to take it. Then it's on to his Master's and possibly Doctorate to become an amazing teacher of all things actually true. He toyed with the idea of going into Constitutional law and getting involved in the political scene, but decided he'd much rather teach the rising generation and give them the tools they need to remember America for what God intends it to be. We are also toying with the idea of opening our own private school.

It all sounds so neat and tidy right here like that, but it really has been a grand upheaval for us and it's nice to finally feel like we are on the down slope of this particular climb in the roller coaster of life. Other than the fact that we will likely be moving with a beached whale pregnant me, or a brand new baby, and this is the first move the Coast Guard will not be swooping in to handle, we feel pretty great about things and are certain we are in for some grand and amazing adventures here.