Author Jocelyn Green is a friend and fellow author whom I admire for her passion and versatile writing skills. I dearly identify with this topic since we have a military family in our family and my husband is a veteran.
Please enjoy this interview with Jocelyn C. Green, author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives
As a former Coast Guard wife, I was so desperate for biblical encouragement that spoke directly to me. To have an opportunity to collect this type of encouragement from twenty-eight other military wives from every branch of service and have it published by Moody is an incredible gift. I never once lacked motivation to work on this project.
2. The title of your sequel is “Faith Deployed…Again.” What is the significance behind the phrase “Faith Deployed,” and can the phrase (and the book itself) have meaning for those who aren’t military wives, as well?
Military wives will be likely to get the most out of it since it speaks directly to their unique lifestyle, but I have heard from many civilians, and men, who have also benefited from reading it.
3. But if the troops are coming home from Syria, do we still really need this book?
Military wives of all branches all over the globe are hungry for spiritual nourishment. That need isn’t going to disappear when troops come home. In fact, only one of the book’s eight sections is devoted to deployments. There are plenty of other challenges in the military lifestyle even without having a husband deployed to a combat zone.
As a Coast Guard wife, my husband never fought in a war, but I still desperately needed the hope that comes only from God’s Word. The biblical concepts illustrated in this book will strengthen and encourage military wives during times of both peace and war.
The spouses and children make adjustments to how they interact with the veteran and how they live in their own home. Emotional detachment is very common among vets with PTSD, so the wife and children often crave a connection that their husband/father simply isn’t able to give at this stage. This means they feel lonely and sometimes emotionally abandoned. They might be angry and resentful that he changed so much because of his combat experience, or they could genuinely grieve the loss of the way their family used to be.
Several of our writers in Faith Deployed…Again are married to veterans with PTSD, and share their insights in the book. I also highly recommend the Combat Trauma Healing Manual for veterans, and for the wives, When War Comes Home: Christ-centered Healing for Wives of Combat Veterans.
- Quite often, if you just say “What can I do for you?” or “I’m here to help you” the wife may be overwhelmed enough to not even know what to ask for. Give her some ideas, perhaps in the form of a coupon booklet for free babysitting, homemade cookies, a coffee date, running errands, an hour or two of housework, etc.
- Find out what’s broken and fix it. Computer problems are a big deal, especially since so many couples rely on email or Skype to communicate. If the car is broken down, offer to give rides.
- Mow the lawn, pull weeds, other yard work- cleaning out gutters-those seasonal tasks that the deployed spouse may have typically done.
- Bring a meal over so that’s one less thing a stressed out spouse would have to think about.
- Visiting is a great mood lifter, but ask first. And if you get a couple negative responses, don’t take it personally.
- Drop off a basket of favorite foods and/or a movie rental you know she’s been wanting to see.
- Pray for her!
If the military wife is supported, she will have much more ability to support her husband and her children in a way only she can. If she is too stressed out, her entire family will feel it. Her kids will suffer, she may resent her husband’s service, and if she tells him as much, he will be distracted from his duties. If he is thinking about the trials for his family back home, he will have a much harder time giving undivided attention to his mission. Also, if the wife isn’t getting support from appropriate sources, she will be more prone to confide in a man other than her husband who makes her feel special – which is the start of an emotional affair.
When we support a military spouse, we support the entire family.
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Today is Veteran’s Day! Thank all the veterans you know for their service and if you know of a military family send them a thank you card. They all sacrifice for you and me to experience peace and freedom. Don’t take that for granted or become complacent.
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