It's not a train!

Yes, the light at the end of this tunnel is not an on coming train and this is the first time I have been sure of it!
John and I are going to hand in his retirement papers tomorrow. That means in about a month or so he will be retired from the "The Job". After 20 plus years, most of them spent married to me, it is about time the poor guy gets to get out of something!

There is a website some where that talks about things only a cop's wife would hear. I can't remember where it is (hey, you can google too!) but there were some good ones on there.
Things like, "Honey, can you hold my gun in your purse while we go on the rides?" or "Hon, I'am working late, I got stuck with a hooker. Don't wait up." You get the point?

For years I've asked, "How was your day?"
John, "Good."
Kids, "Did you get to tazer anyone?"
John, "Nope, just paper work."
Kids, "Awe Dad, that's all you ever do! That is so boring!"
John, "Yup."
Of course then I would hear on the news all about some big arrest or some horrific accident that I know he was on the scene for and he just never mentioned. Just another day at the "office".

Now, I am sure you have guessed that I had to marry the strong silent type because he would not get a word in anyway!
But that is also just who John is: Family comes first and work is just what he does so he can spend time with his family.
Even when John has considered ministry, family has always come first. We both live by the rule of five in our priorities:
1. God
2. Spouse
3. Kids
4. Work
5. Ministry
There are times the order has changed temporarily, like when there has been a newborn in the house or someone is sick, but on the whole, that is the order of our lives.

Now that the circle of 8-4/4-12 shifts are almost over, I will have to make dinner every night for the first time in our marriage! When the girls were very little, I could get away with yogurt or cheese and crackers for dinner, at least ten nights out of the month! It was wonderful! How I am going to come up with 30+ meals is beyond me!

Last night John and I walked the dog and held hands and smooched behind the school next to our house. We get to daydream about what's next now and know it is around the corner, not in six or eight years from now.

I kept sprinting ahead of him and he kept slowing me down.

John's friend, Dave, calls it the cop walk. John does not walk to get somewhere, he walks through a scene and looks at what is going on, takes it all in. I on the other hand, walk like a girl who's daddy would speed walk through Manhattan with me putting out fifteen paces to his one!

So I slowed down last night and strolled. Nice for a change. I've learned from John that while we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, truly John fears no evil...and both John and God make me brave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7V5t9ECZXo&feature=related