[…]military men and women and their families will be challenged with unique deployment and re-entry issues. Ilene Stubbs offers suggestions–and the timelessness of God’s wisdom–for managing the process of reunion and readjustment. Normal has changed for everyone. Be patient–it takes time to get into a routine. Soldiers haven’t been on a vacation. Expect your household to be different. Keep life as routine as possible. Take time to re-adjust to one another. Go slowly. Communicate feelings. Anxiety is normal. Discuss frustrations. Accept that we are all different. Initial discomfort in adjusting doesn’t mean your spouse is unhappy with you or […]
[…]If you expect to be miserable and lonely, you will be. If you dwell upon all you think you are missing out on, naturally you will be resentful and angry. Worst of all, if you have children, your attitude will rub off on them, and they will be miserable too. Edwin Markham expresses this idea in his poem, “The Right Kind of People.” In the poem, a traveler asks a prophet in the town he is entering what kind of people are there. The prophet asks the traveler what kind of people were in the town he just left. When […]
[…]and that Jesus Christ expects us to be salt and light in the military commands to which He has assigned us. Ministry of the Line Officer A Christian line officer serves with his or her personnel daily in all kinds of situations. On field maneuvers, in hangar bays and electrical repair shops, on adventure training trips, in professional development classes and counseling sessions, in front-line combat, or in the day-to-day routines of office work — non-believers and Christians work together with the common goal of contributing to the security of our nation. The close relationships that grow out of these […]
by Carol Vandesteeg Many people feel emptiness or gaps in their lives when their families are separated or are in uncertain circumstances. That empty feeling can be turned into something positive. “. . . Times of separation are not a total loss, nor are they completely unprofitable for our companionship. . . In spite of all the difficulties they bring, they can be a wonderful means of strengthening and deepening fellowship. . . We must commit our loved ones wholly and unreservedly to God and leave them in his hands, transforming our anxiety for them into prayers on their behalf” […]
[…]religious practices and beliefs of the people in your unit Is an enthusiastic contributor to the mission and morale of your organization, but one who will let you know when there are problems with its mission or morale. Those are some of the basic expectations that should be met by your chaplains. If they are not meeting those expectations, something is definitely wrong. When I was a Marine officer in combat, the chaplains I encountered understood their value to our units. They made significant contributions to our mission and morale. We should always expect that of our chaplains. But what […]
[…]to be finished, so back upstairs we went and discovered to our joy that the enemy bombs had missed our writing room. I pulled the candle out of my shirt and lighted it. We were ready to begin where we had left off, but I had one resolve to act on before I wrote another line. Crouched in that clothes locker, I was brought up short with the thought that I had not talked to those two new men about Jesus Christ and what He means to me. As I looked for an excuse, I could find only that I […]
[…]as a young boy in a cozy little neighborhood in central Washington state, I learned a valuable lesson. Our neighborhood bully, Jimmy C., would never stop throwing dirt clods and using strong-arm tactics to terrorize smaller children. Yes, we complained. In fact, we begged. But time after time “negotiation” failed. Nothing seemed to work. Until one day one of us gathered the courage to stand up to him. Lying flat on his back Jimmy experienced an amazing change of perspective. He suddenly saw the logic in leaving the little people alone. Bullies never seem to quit until someone takes the […]
