A Week of Christmas – Day 2: Faith Deployed
The winner of the One Thousand Gifts giveaway is Shawn, who wrote, “I am grateful for skype and to be able to ‘see’ my husband often from a warzone. I am thankful he has taken the call from God to serve the soldiers in the US Army (he is a chaplain); to futher the Kingdom and to care for their well being, and their souls.” Congrats, Shawn, I think we all know just how you feel!
To kick off this season of giving and thanksgiving, we are giving away one prize every day for the first full week of December. For our second prize, we are giving away the books “Faith Deployed,” and “Faith Deployed…Again,” by Jocelyn Green! I’m really excited about this giveaway; it really encapsulates everything Christian Military Wives and Wives in Bloom stand for.
Book Description: “If your spouse, or someone you know, has been deployed recently, the stress of that situation will resonate with you. Jocelyn Green speaks directly to the wives of deployed seamen, marines, airmen, and soldiers, via the experiences of their spouses.
“This book is not a ‘ten easy steps’ for a painless life, instead, it is a collection of devotions that squarely addresses the challenges wives face when their husbands are away protecting freedom. Challenges like: how does a military wife maintain a strong sense of patriotism without allowing her country to become an idol? What good can possibly come from moving every two to three years? And how can I be sure that God has a purpose for my life that is as strong as His purpose for my husband’s? The foundation of this devotional is the unchanging character of God and the anchor of Jesus Christ, even amidst the shifting circumstances of a military family.”
If you’d like to win, all you have to do is leave a comment answering the question: “What helps you through a deployment?”
Please, just one entry per person. We have to approve each entry, so don’t worry if yours doesn’t show up right away, we will update throughout the day.
No entries after 11 p.m. eastern time. Winners for all giveaways will be drawn at random.
Tomorrow we will announce the winner, as well as the next giveaway!
There is no doubt that my faith has helped me through this year’s deployment but my fellow military sisters have given me the strength and encouragement to soldier through the myriad of emotions and problems.
While my husband was deployed I found strength within. Taking time to pray when I was able to take a walk or before I went to sleep at night. When the day was quiet and even when it wasn’t.
When my youngest daughter was getting ready for communion we all had confession. When I went to talk to the Father. His penance was to go out to dinner and a movie with some friends and come back to let him know how it was. It took me a little longer to get it done but I did and it made me feel better.
I felt like having my Faith, be it prayer or talking with the Father helped me. Especially when I felt alone.
The body of Christ helped me through deployments. (Hubby is now retired.) Also reaching out to others in the body to get the focus off of me.
We haven’t gone through a deployment just yet, but will experience our first one sometime next year. I have been “gathering intel” on how other women get through deployments and my stragegy is to be in constant prayer, surround myself with godly, encouraging women, and to find fun activities to look forward to instead of just dreading the deployment.
Definitely my parents and sister have helped immensely. Even though they live one state away, they visit probably once a month, or my son and I go there. They are there for me 24/7, especially because I have health problems, and sometimes have trouble. I am also in a Women’s group at church, and they are very supportive. I know that my prayers and those of others have made a huge difference. When I am worrying in the middle of the night, I find a devotional, or repeat a Bible verse over and over, and can feel the Lord protecting my husband, and reassuring me. My husband is in the Guard, so there aren’t any military people in our community, so no one really understands, but the support is helpful.
What helps me get through deployments is God and my 4 beautiful children. I have a wonderful church that is always there for me and God’s grace to see me through, even in some of my “not so shining” moments. My husband is so supportive and my kids are so loving, I can’t ask for much more in life to get me through the rough times deployments bring….ie…the holidays without my husband home.
During deployments my church family has helped me the most. The men step-up to help with things I can’t do around the house and also help with my son. The ladies keep me on track by checking in with me to see that despite my sadness, I keep in the word. They give me free time by watching all my kids and also take me out for adult time.
Having my church family has been the biggest blessing I could have hoped for during deployments.
What helps get me through deployments is God-loving faithful friends. It was always helpful to have someone – a lot of the times it was a CMW person – to pray for you and let you vent and give you good sound advice.
And babysitters! Lots and lots of babystitters!!!
My dogs help me get through, it is also nice to have our families nearby to visit,praying helps a lot of the time too, also good to have other navy wives to talk to when things are rough.
Being surrounded by a group of loving, caring people has been such a great help through deployments. It has been humbling to let others care for me when I want to be able to do it all on my own, but what a sweet encouragement it has been to let people help and pray with me. Many relationships have been deepened as a result of this.
Skype is great, texting and picture mail is wonderful, but the bottom line of knowing that God chose my husband for me and that He designed my marriage allows me to focus on my God given calling – to be the best military wife I can be so that he has strength coming from home. I know this strengthenes him and his faith. (thinking about the homecoming helps a lot too – they are SO amazing!)
What gets me through a deployment, especially through the holidays is positive thinking, faith, skype and future thoughts! I also thank God everyday that he stays safe, because it is one day closer to his return. Lastly I stay in touch with his family and mine and make sure I see them and update them all on how he is doing.
What helps me through a deployment is knowing that I don’t have to go it alone — God, friends and family are there to provide assistance — now just to ask for it