Only five more days to go with the Wives of Faith Twelve Days of Christmas Blog Carnival! Today we’re talking about what we want for Christmas, and I’ll admit that this is a pretty easy one for me to respond to because what I wanted for Christmas, I JUST got!
Yesterday, after being gone for 3 months, my husband came home. As military wives, we tend to apologize to other wives when our husbands aren’t gone for the longest amount possible (like 18 months) and we almost offer an attitude that we don’t deserve to miss them just the same (even though we do). But as I tell those wives, time apart is time apart. Marriage is designed for us to be together so no matter the time frame, being away from each other is still a lesson in love and patience. So yes, while 3 months was definitely not anything like the 10 months we went through with his first deployment, 3 months is still not without its challenges:
- It’s 12 Sundays of being by yourself at church, sitting on the “spouseless” row of your Sunday School class;
- 90 days of being both mom and dad to your child with no help in making lunches, doing homework or story time for bed;
- 90 nights of sleeping by yourself, wearing socks since he isn’t there to keep your feet warm;
- 2,160 hours of staying focused on the task at hand – to do what needs to be done;
- 129,600 minutes of remembering this is just (yet another) season;
- and if I’ve done my math right (and that is always a big if when it comes to me and math!!) 7, 776,000 seconds of asking God for his help in everything I needed to do.
That has to be the biggest blessing of all. I wrote my book, GOD Strong: A Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Guide after my husband’s first deployment and it is really about the lessons God taught me during that time, a time where for most of it, I tried to be strong on my own. But during this time of being apart, I was able to apply those lessons and noticed the difference in my spirit, in my attitude and in my life and my family’s life. I slept better, I focused better, and though I still missed my husband and had a couple of those down days we all experience, my emotions were better. I focused less on myself and more on God and His plan for me and for my husband and son during this time of being apart.
I don’t believe life ever gets put on hold; if we feel like that, chances are we’re not paying attention to the lessons God is trying to teach us, the training He wants us to undergo. To me, deployment and TDYs can be like exercise boot camp for our souls. If you’ve ever done a “boot camp” at your local gym, you know what I’m talking about. Those instructors can be tough, and the camp itself is grueling and can make you want to quit. But when you keep going, when you keep pushing, you find yourself stronger at the end of it. More determined once you’re done. More committed and confident that you’ve come through something that’s made you better as a result. Deployments and TDYs can be similar and the instructor of this boot camp is God and He doesn’t want us to take our eyes off of Him.
I know this wasn’t much of a Christmas post, but it’s what was on my heart to share today. If you’re struggling with a deployment or a TDY right now at Christmas time, let me encourage you and remind you that you’re not alone. And you don’t have to be strong on your own. Take a minute to share with God whatever is hurting you or bothering you today and ask Him to intervene. Ask Him for His strength. He will give it.
“God said this once and for all; how many times have I heard it repeated? Strength comes straight from God.”
- Psalm 62:11.
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What an incredible gift! Every deployment is a challenge in some way regardless of length or location. Blessings to you and your family this week!
Welcome home, Cliff!