If your spouse or someone you know has been deployed recently, the stress of this situation will resonate with you. Jocelyn Green speaks directly to the wives of deployed seamen, marines, airmen, and soldiers, through the experiences of their spouses. This book is not “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 or three years? How can I be sure that God has a purpose for my life that’s 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.
The highly anticipated sequel to award-winning Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives Regardless of whether her husband is currently deployed, a military wife needs spiritual reinforcements and biblical ammunition against the enemy’s attacks on her faith and hope. Faith Deployed…Again is for every military wife who wants more encouragement, who wants to deploy her faith—put it into action—again. Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives is filled with wisdom and insight from more than twenty-five Christian wives, representing every branch of the military. It explores how the Bible relates to a variety of topics including marriage, deployments, self-care and care-giving, reintegration, combat trauma, parenting, frequent moves, daily perseverance, prayer, spiritual warfare, serving the Lord, and more. Each devotional is based on the unchanging character of God and the anchor we have in Jesus Christ offering encouragement, strength, community, and hope to the heroes at home. Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives includes a bonus section of devotions written by and for Blue Star Moms. And a free online study guide is available at FaithDeployed.com.
Currently, more than one million military wives care for their families and their homes, often while their husbands are deployed out of state or overseas for months at a time. These women can experience a roller coaster of emotions including disappointment, loneliness, and fear. Sara Horn, the wife of a navy reservist, understands the challenges these women face. She knows how to talk about faith and spiritual truths through the filter of military life. In her encouraging book, Horn shares her personal stories, as well as wisdom and anecdotes of other wives from all branches of service. She reminds readers that: God is in control. You can have joy, no matter what. Superwomen get grace, too. God knows where you hurt. Horn's reliance on Scripture and confidence in God's comfort during difficult times will remind military wives they don't have to be an army of one when they are God Strong.
“Running away from God doesn’t work. I had tried.” —Roger Benimoff As he left for his second tour of duty as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Roger Benimoff noted in his journal: I am excited and I am scared. I am on fire for God...He is my hope, strength, and focus. But not long after returning to Iraq, the burdens of his job–the memorial services for soldiers killed in action, the therapy sessions after contact with the enemy, the perilous excursions “outside the wire” while under enemy fire–began to overwhelm him. Amid the dust, heat, and blood of Iraq, Benimoff felt the pillar of strength he’d always relied on to hold him up–his faith in God–begin to crumble. Unable to make sense of the senseless, Benimoff turned to his journal. What did it mean to believe in a God who would allow the utter horror and injustice of war? Did He want these brave young men and women to die? In his darkest moment, Benimoff wrote: Why am I so angry? I do not want anything to do with God. I am sick of religion. It is a crutch for the weak. Benimoff’s spiritual crisis heightened upon his return home to Fort Carson, Colorado. He withdrew emotionally from wife and sons, creating tensions that threatened to shatter the family. He was assigned to work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he counseled returning soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder–until he was diagnosed himself with PTSD. Finding himself in the role of patient rather than caregiver, connecting as an equal with his fellow sufferers, and revisiting scriptural readings that once again rang with meaning and truth, he began his most decisive battle: for the love of his family and for the chance to once again open his heart to the healing grace of God. Intimate and powerful, drawing on Benimoff’s and his wife’s journals, Faith Under Fire chronicles a spiritual struggle through war, loss, and the hard process of learning to believe again.
Lance Corporal Bekah Shaw joined the United States Marine reserves to help support herself and her son when her ex-husband, Billy Roy, decided they were no longer his responsibility. But when her team is activated and sent to Somalia on a peacekeeping mission, Bekah struggles with being separated from her son and vows to return safely. Once a successful Somalian businessman, Rageh Daud has lost everything. Determined to seek revenge on the terrorists who killed his wife and son, he teams up with a group of thieves, killers, and others displaced by war. Despite his better judgment, Daud becomes the protector of a young orphaned boy—who becomes a pawn between the warring factions. To defeat the terrorists and bring peace to the region, Bekah and her team must convince Daud that they are on the same side.
Personal stories, practical ideas, and checklists help readers know what to expect, how to prepare, and how to personally grow as individuals and families. Updated second edition includes new information about longer repeat and multiple deployments, self-care and wellness, and stories and examples from recent conflicts.
Though the Road is Long, You Don’t Have to Walk Alone There’s nothing easy about having cancer. For most people, cancer is a hard, reluctant journey through rugged, unfamiliar terrain. Ultimately, however, there are really only two ways to face cancer: in our own strength or with the help and strength that God supplies. Strength for the Cancer Journey provides empathetic, daily reminders that God is present for anyone facing the challenges of cancer. Each of these thirty devotionals draws upon anecdotes and insights from God’s Word to help readers invite God into the realities, uncertainties, and frustrations of their cancer experience. While cancer is a journey no one wants to take, no one ever has to walk that road alone. This devotional book will help both patients and caregivers to engage deeply with God, gaining new strength for the cancer journey.
"The American Dream is founded on the ideals of equality, opportunity, and fair play. These are moral reference points for Americans, matters of conscience. History has shown us time and again that these ideals are motivating. My own life, and the lives of millions of Americans through generations, has demonstrated their power. We need to stop confining our ideals to national holidays and static monuments, and bring them back into our conversations and our politics. We need to let them lead us to the right choices and away from the wrong ones. This is the essence of patriotism. As we decide what kind of country we want to live in, it is time for America's true patriots, by whatever political label, to shape the fate of the nation." Faith in the Dream is a short but powerful eBook and a call to action by one of the nation's most inspirational public figures, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Our country is at a critical crossroads and Americans of all political persuasions sense that something significant is at stake. In this first-of-its-kind eBook, designed to launch a nationwide online conversation, Governor Patrick shows how and why the American Dream itself--the ability of future generations to inherit a country and a life better, more prosperous, and more progressive than that of their forbears--is today very much up for grabs, and what we must all do to restore it. The challenges are daunting, but we cannot sink into anger, defeat, or despair; we must rise to the challenge of protecting the American Dream at all costs. Governor Patrick offers us a path for the future that is built on the best time-honored values of our past and on the powerful role that citizens can play when they come together in support of the common good. Rather than attack government, give up on it, or take it for granted, Patrick heralds our responsibility as Americans to reclaim it, and demand that political leaders stay true to our country's most fundamental values. Capitalizing on the power of our digital age, Faith in the Dream serves as a launching point for a new nationwide dialogue with readers, who are encouraged to share their thoughts and success stories at www.faithinthedream.com regarding what they, and other advocates and leaders they know, are currently doing to improve their communities and country. Offering a modern twist on the time-honored tradition of political pamphlets and perfectly timed for this election season, this is a must-read book--and a stirring invitation to participate--for anyone who cares about the fate of our nation and the sanctity of the American Dream.
Putting on the Armor is an excellent 7-session study for new and growing believers seeking practical application of personal spiritual disciplines in order to defeat the enemy in times of temptation.
Tour of Duty: Preparing Our Hearts for Deployment - Member Book is a Bible study for Military Wives. Participants will join together with others who have a common thread--husbands who are being or have been deployed. This study helps wives deal with the emotional twists and turns they may not be ready to face. It will point them to God, and participants will learn how to lean on God and not carry so much of the weight that is so often placed on them. These women will learn to practically find their hope in Christ alone. Military families like to be prepared--they plan, they strategize, they organize. But whether they're active, National Guard, or Reserve, when deployment comes, all the planning in the world can still fail when it comes to their hearts. Tour Of Duty is an excellent starting point for military wives to get connected with others in the military community who share this common thread. Women facing deployment can learn how to lean on God and come out of it confident in the knowledge that God is with them, He loves them, and He has not abandoned them. This study, with weekly homework, can be done individually, but it is better suited for a group setting where women can discuss their personal experiences. Sessions: 7 Chapters (8 group sessions) Chapter 1 The Road Less Traveled Chapter 2 Walking on Water Chapter 3 Embracing the Detours Chapter 4 The Desert of Enough Chapter 5 Mountain for One Chapter 6 Facing the Giants Chapter 7 This Is Your Time Bonus Material: The Emotional and Spiritual Stages of Deployment For Churches: Ministering to Military Families Features: Includes leader helps for group sessions Contains extra features/helps for military wives A CONNECT resource
