What A Year!

The purpose of this blog is to keep all of our faithful friends and family up to date on The Coffey House.  God has richly blessed us with such an amazing support system.  As we trust in God on this journey, it is our hope that you may be encouraged to see that He is truly one you can trust in too.  This blog will give details about Travis' life as a Navy chaplain and my life as a Navy spouse, as we both strive to serve the people that God puts in our paths.

As of January 3rd, Travis has been serving as an active duty Naval officer for one year. But, we started  this new journey in 2005 when Travis felt the call into the military chaplaincy.  At that time Travis was serving as a  youth pastor at New Covenant Church in Middletown, Ohio. The next year we left Ohio and headed southbound to Morganton, NC.  Travis had been accepted into a Master of Divinity program at Gardner-Webb University and would start his first semester in the fall of 2006.  While studying at GWU the Lord blessed us with the wonderful opportunity to serve at Drexel First Baptist Church.  For 4 years Travis worked as a full-time student and an associate pastor until he graduated from seminary in May of 2010.  That summer Travis decided to put in his application to the United States Navy Chaplaincy Recruiting Office.  After lots of paperwork and interviews, Travis submitted his application packet and was invited to come to Washington, DC and attend the CARE (Chaplaincy Selection Committee) board interview at the Pentagon December 7, 2010.

Travis flew back home to Drexel that day and where we waited and waited, expecting an answer and divine confirmation.    Finally, later that week we received the call and Travis had been selected to be commissioned as a Naval officer.  He was to report January 3, 2011 in Newport Rhode Island.  He had less than 3 weeks to resign his position at our church and pack out his office and board a plane to ODS (officer development school) for 5 weeks.   We spent those few weeks enjoying the holidays with our families.  Soon after that Travis heard from our detailer where he had assigned us our very first duty station.  Travis called me at work and told me we were moving to Iwakuni Japan.  I said "I-wa-what?".  So, our Christmas was bittersweet because we all knew that we wouldn't be together next year.  He graduated from ODS on February 5 and boarded another plane bound for Fort Jackson, South Carolina where he would attend Chaplaincy school for 7 weeks.

I was so excited.  This opportunity meant that I would be able to stay at home with Adelynn.  My last day of work at Grace Hospital was January 7, 2011.  I jumped head first into the military world.  Since we were moving overseas, our household shipment would take 6-8 weeks to arrive.  So, to guarantee that our shipment would make it we were "packed out" (military term for moving company packing your entire home in 3 days) on Feb 24th.  This meant that while Travis was in training in SC, I was supervising our home and watching everything we owned being loaded into crates. Afterwards, Adelynn and I went to my parents house to live until he graduated from the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center in March.

Our PCS (permanent change of station) was originally supposed to be April 6th.  But, the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March pushed us back.  In fact, for weeks we were not even sure that we would still be able to go to Japan.  The three of us lived together in a hotel on base at Fort Jackson, SC after Travis graduated from chaplaincy school.  We then learned that Travis had been approved to report to Japan but dependents were not approved yet.  So, Adelynn and myself went to live with my parents, again.  We stayed there for 12 more weeks until we got approved and ready to travel.  Travis was able to come back to the states for a training conference around the same time as our travel date, so we all traveled together and arrived in Japan on July 28th.  Finally, we were all together, in our new home and in our new ministry.

The last five months here have been life changing.  Not only have I moved away from everything and everyone that I know, but, I have also entered the new world of the military.  I have been overwhelmed with their love and acceptance for one another.  My military family is like none other.  We are all over here serving our country in our own ways.  While our spouses wear the uniform, we are keeping our children and home together.  We rely on each other to keep us strong and to keep the faith.  My view of life is much bigger and involves a lot more trust.  Japan is truly a beautiful country and you will never meet more friendly people.  The Japanese culture is fascinating and we explore every chance we get.  

This entry is only a taste of our journey.  We invite you to come and experience with us this life we call the "Navy Chaplaincy".  God is opening doors for us here.  He is at work with the Marines and Sailors and families here with MAG 12 and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.

Allison