by Teresa Henning, Chief Editor of ChristianMilitaryWives.com
If you are looking to bring God into your marriage and strengthen your marriage, then this book is the place to start. Every chapter ends with thought provoking and reflective questions about you and your marriage. There are also Points to Ponder at the end of each chapter to help you reflect on how you react or respond in certain situations. The end of the book has corresponding verses to study. Kathleen Cline writes this book from experience as a military spouse. She had dealt with the separations and hurdles that can be thrown at military spouses.
It doesn’t matter how long you have been married to your military man, this book will help you to reflect on your marriage and your reactions to the hurdles thrown at us. Mrs. Cline stresses leaning on God and having faith, using scripture to get through the tough times and the assignments we may be less than thrilled about. Mrs. Cline opens chapter three this way:
As Christians, we pray for God’s will in our lives. This is what we are taught. But do we mean it? For Example, your husband is up for orders and you and your spouse start praying for guidance. You look at your selections, pick out what looks best and make a choice. All is well in your household.
Then the detailer calls and there is a change. You are now going overseas, or worse yet, your husband is being deployed. “No!” you scream. “This is not fair. My husband has gone twice already. Look at him over there. He has not gone at all.” Sound familiar? It should. We do it every day with God.
We pray for His will, and when it comes, we cry because the path is too hard. Somehow it does not fit into our schedule. Sadly, we then do something that is so accepted in our Christian walk; we stall by praying. This answer could not be correct, so you go and pray some more. Understand, you are not praying for clarity, you are praying to get God to change His mind. You tell everyone around you that you want God’s will, but you are doing everything in your power to get things changed.
I know that I have felt this way, acted this way and have prayed this way. The only true peace I finally received, is when I accepted that this was God’s will, that he had a purpose for us, and that we would be where we were supposed to be. This is a fabulous book that helps us to examine our feelings and rely on God to help us through those tough times. The book covers the rollercoaster of our lives, from deployments to our own faith, and being representatives of God.
The reflective questions truly have you reflecting on your responses and how you felt about them, many have more than one question per question! Here are a few examples:
What is your biggest fear? Have you given it to God? If no, then why not? (p. 22)
What daily discipline do you practice to stay on God’s path? (p. 49)
Have family and friends derailed you from your mission? Did you ask for advice or was it unsolicited? Have you ever given unsolicited advice? What was your motive?(p. 65)
You can use this book to strengthen your marriage, studying it by yourself, or you can use the book and study as a group, learning and supporting each other. Either way it is a great way to bring God into your marriage to make it stronger and more fulfilling.
NOTE: If you are interested in participating in a study using God + Military Spouse,the Christian Military Wives website Deployed Spouses Support Group will be starting a study using the book on September 14, 2009. If you are interested in participating, please join the site at www.christianmilitarywives.com. It is free to join, and you will enjoy great fellowship and support from other Christian military wives.
About the Author:
Teresa Henning has been married to her husband for 9 1/2 years. Her husband was in the Army Reserves when they married and enlisted active duty almost 7 years ago. In that time her husband has deployed 3 times and returned injured from his last deployment. Her husband was recently returned to duty and they are awaiting his next assignment.
Teresa is currently the chief editor and an officer for Christian Military Wives. In December of 2008 she completed her masters degree in early childhood education and is an elementary school teacher.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not a military wife but I’d pick up the book! Looks good.
I would love to read this book! In the above review, it is stated, “Understand, you are not praying for clarity, you are praying to get God to change His mind. You tell everyone around you that you want God’s will, but you are doing everything in your power to get things changed.” Admittedly, this is me. Me as a newly married military wife, me as a military wife of 20 years, me as an encourager/speaker to other military wives today. This military journey has been a ride, but one that I could not have enjoyed/accepted more had it not been for God!! Although this attitude of mine for wanting to change God’s mind has waxed and waned over the years, I would love to read further how this woman encourages others through her writing. Thanks!