(in)courage: Daring to Dream

When I tell someone my husband is deployed I'm typically asked how many tours he has done. Because of our age, many assume we have been a military family for years and this couldn't possibly be his first tour. This tour is indeed his first.

Wait, I wanted to start from the beginning.

After far too many arguments to count, because the thought of my son joining the military scared me to death, I finally gave in and accepted my oldest son's decision to enlist in the Navy.

Can you imagine my surprise when shortly after my husband informed me he wanted to enlist in the Army Reserves? "You are 41. Is that even possible?" I actually surprising said, "Wow, that is way cool." The military had somehow won me over.

In February 2011 my husband became a soldier and in March of the same year my son became a sailor. I could not be prouder of these two men in my life.

I'm not sure why God used the military to draw us closer to Him, but He did. All I know is the decision made by my son and husband led to a transformation for our family that only God can accomplish. You can read our story over at Circles of Faith.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11

It did not take long for God to plant a desire in my heart to encourage military spouses.

As a wife to an Army Reserve husband my experiences are rather limited. We do not live on a military base, there are no PCS moves for us and until now we had not been through a deployment. For the most part, daily life remained the same for us after my husband enlisted. "Why me God? How could I encourage military spouses?"

I quickly became enthralled by all things related to supporting our military and their families. My hand raised without hesitation to be the Family Readiness Group Leader for my husband's unit. And I kept raising my hand. I was suddenly greeting service members at the USO, packing comfort care packages to send overseas, writing letters and before long co-leading a military support ministry with my husband.

I wanted military families to know I understood the sacrifice made by the service member and also by the spouse. What I realize now, until the day my husband walked out the door for his first deployment I did not fully understand.

Now surviving a deployment has become my reality and the dream God planted has taken on wings. God has given me the word JOY as my one word for 2014. In a year without my husband, I'm seeking JOY and I find myself praying the same for other military spouses. God is not limited by where we are in the season of our life. JOY can be found even in a season of a deployment.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:2-4 (NIV)

There are plenty of reasons to say military life stinks. Especially when going through a deployment. I know how deeply your heart can ache. In the skip of a beat you can go from being on cloud nine and then to your knees in uncontrollable sobs because your cloud nine cannot be shared easily with the one you love. Oh, how this just happened to me.

But blessings can be found. God is ready to overwhelm us with blessings.

"God is ready to overwhelm you with more blessings than you could ever imagine so that you’ll always be taken care of in every way and you’ll have more than enough to share." ~ 2 Corinthians 9:8 (Voice)

This past weekend a writing friend spoke on daring to dream. She reminded a room full of women how God will use whatever we are doing right now for a purpose. We simply need to trust Him and go through the doors He opens.

God has opened a door for me to encourage military spouses through (in)courage.

For the next eight weeks I will join another military spouse, Anna Pasquale, in co-leading a Facebook page for the women of (in)courage whose husbands serve in the Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard.

Are you a military spouse? If so, we would love for you to join us. Find out more here and then register for the (in)courage military wives page here.

This is a place where you will find encouragement and understanding from those of us who are traveling the same unique journey beside our own husbands. In our session we’ll dive into scripture, share practical tips for surviving military life, and love on one another when the trials of the day are overwhelming.

If you are not a military spouse, maybe you know one and will want to pass this information along. Pretty please.

Maybe you are another God-sized dreamer. He has placed a dream in all of our hearts. What dream has He placed on yours?