Today I am so excited to tell you about God Strong: The Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Guide by Sara Horn, a Faith Deployed contributor. But I’ll just tell you up front, I have just one copy of this little gem and I’m not willing to part with it for a give-away–I’m going to hold onto this one, but I hope after reading this you’ll feel compelled to get your own copies, too!
First, here’s what the back cover says about God Strong:
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 you face as a military wife. She knows how to talk about faith and spiritual truths through the filter of military life. In this encouraging, unabridged audio download of God Strong, Horn shares her personal stories, as well as wisdom and anecdotes of other wives from all branches of service, reminding you that: ò God is in control. ò You can have joy, no matter what. ò Superwomen get grace, too. ò God knows where you hurt. Horn’s reliance on Scripture and confidence in God’s comfort during difficult times will show you that you don’t have to be an army of one when you are God Strong.
Let me tell you ladies, this is a solid book. Sara speaks from her own experiences, but she consistently brings readers back to the truth and comfort found in Scripture. She also weaves in reflections and writings from a variety of military wives from all branches of service (Active Duty, Reserves and National Guard) in sections called “Survival Sisters.” I actually know many of these women who share their hearts and lives in this book, and I bet many of you do too!
Each chapter ends with Strength Builders (Bible verses you’ll want to memorize or stick up on your wall or mirror) and Strength Trainers (thought-provoking questions which have the power to change your life).
Sara is generously sharing the first chapter of her book with us, titled “The Difference One Word Makes.”
Here is the complete Table of Contents:
- The Difference One Word Makes
- My Strength Comes from God
- Fear Blocks My Focus
- I Am Not Alone
- Superwomen Get Grace Too
- God Is in Control
- God Knows My Hurts
- I Can Have Joy Despite My Circumstances
- Worship Lessens My Worries
- I Find My Hope in Christ
Yesterday, I posted a great interview with Sara (read it here). We covered a lot of ground, but here are two questions I asked her about her new book which I think you’ll appreciate reading:
Your book God Strong: The Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Guide was released last month. When you find yourself leaning on your own strength instead of God’s, what happens? How do you give up trying to do it all on your own and rely on God instead?
SARA: I think when you lean on your own strength instead of God’s, life is a lot tougher. You convince yourself you can do everything, and for awhile, you may in fact be able to do it all. But eventually you will run out of steam. You will run out of strength. That’s where I found myself seven months into my husband’s first deployment. And I realized I’d been doing it wrong. That it wasn’t about how strong I could be, but it was about how strong God was. And that His strength was what I needed, and that deployment didn’t have to be something for me to get over or sleep through, but it could be an opportunity for me to really seek out what God wanted to teach me. I had to learn to not ask “Why?” but “What?” And that is how I think you learn to rely on God. We learn to rely on God as we learn to keep Him as our focus each day. I think deployments are so emotional for spouses, and we can fall into the trap of looking at everything through the “Me” perspective instead of God’s perspective. If we can learn to change our perspective, that’s when we can find joy regardless of our circumstances. That means being deliberate with making time for prayer, making time for reading the Bible and making time to connect with other believers who will encourage us when we’re having bad days.
What do you hope readers will take-away from God Strong once they’ve read it and put it back on the shelf?
SARA: I hope they will have a new sense of what it means to rely on God instead of themselves. We have been conditioned in so many ways to be strong, and I want women to know God has a better way, that we aren’t meant to do everything on our own. I hope they will see the importance of seeking God out before hard times come; not just turning to Him when they feel like they can’t go on, the way we might go to a doctor after we’ve tried every home remedy possible. I want them to take the steps to build that relationship with Him today before a deployment or any other major life experience happens so they will be ready and so that He can be glorified. That’s one reason I wrote the free Bible study for both groups and individuals they can download off my website (godstrongbook.com). How awesome would it be for wives who are believers to be able to show God’s strength in their own situations to other wives around them who may not know God? Don’t you think those wives who aren’t believers might want to know where those wives get their strength? Get their peace and endurance? And that, I guess, is my ultimate desire for the book – that it will point readers to God and strengthen their relationships with Him, or begin brand new ones!
Purchase the book at Amazon.com or any other major online book retailer!
