Hope for the Home Front

Nearly nineteen years of marriage to a military man have brought with it many trials and crises, all opportunities to learn to trust and fear only God. His Word tells me that “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1: 21). My husband, my children, my health, my home and my future are gifts from God for this life only. I am learning to let go of Mark and all else that is dear to me here. The safest place for my treasures is in God's hands, not mine.

The number of Mark's days was ordained, determined before one of them came to be, regardless if he is a gunslinger or if he sits behind a desk and pushes papers. The number and quality of all my days are equally in His loving control. Mark's job is demanding and dangerous. The amount of danger he faces, however, in no way alters God's sovereignty. In contrast, it serves to keep my will on the altar.

Chapter 1
Facing Fear with Faith

Hope for the Home Front

The contents of Mark's pockets on that unforgettable day introduced me to a language not taught in any school. I have never seen Militarese 101 or Interpreting DOD 102 offered at any educational institution. It took me months not to equate CO, XO and OPS-O with uh-oh and Cheerios. It took even longer to remember that the OIC and the AOIC were human beings, not to mention my husband's bosses. To learn this military tongue, one must either be born into the race or converted by enlistment or by marriage. Mark received an embossed, sealed diploma after only six months of conjugating Spanish verbs at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. I am still waiting for a certificate applauding my fluency in Militarese, arduously achieved through many years of on-the-job training.

The contents of my purse today testify to my literacy and improved comprehension. There is a TLA check stub, TP from an MRE, a PX receipt, a Rx with DEERS information on the back, an ID that expires 11APR99, a LES with proof of VHA, BAQ, and SGLI from PSD, letters addressed APO and FPO to long lost friends, directions to the JAG office, and a note to remind myself that I have a meeting with the CO of NAVSPECWAR SEAL Team FOUR at NAB today at 16:30! In order to initiate my POD (Plan of the Day), however, I have to implement a SAR (Search and Rescue) mission to find the keys to my POV (privately owned vehicle) amid the mess ASAP!

Chapter 2
Militarese 101

Hope for the Home Front: Bible Study

On Wednesday, I saw my two daughters off to school, tossed my suitcase into the back of the car and left Virginia Beach for Pennsylvania. The Indian summer sun's reflection shimmered across the blue Chesapeake Bay. Graceful gulls glided just above the gentle white-tipped swells as I headed northeast across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. My mind and the morning were clear as I sang along to my favorite praise songs all the way up Virginia's Eastern Shore. Prize-winning pumpkins, bright, bushy mums, and drying cornfields splashed autumn's palette of orange, yellow and gold across the coastal landscape. And God was near. I sensed Him next to me, enjoying my childlike delight in His fall decor.

On Thursday, I was the guest speaker at a women's retreat. The ladies, mostly Army wives from Carlisle Barracks, laughed and cried as I delivered the messages God had given to me just for them. His word, an accurate, timely, and sharp sword, pierced their hearts. We all left that hilltop retreat refreshed, encouraged and praising Him. And God was near. The preparation had been so time- and energy-consuming and challenging. The journey had been costly and long. I felt His pleasure, His approval of my obedience.

On Friday, I made the return trip home. The sunny day glistened brilliantly. The day and I were lit up with God's glory inside and out, a perfect conclusion to a perfect journey . . . until the minute I walked through my back door. Sticky, blotchy dishes decorated every counter and end table. Smelly socks and shoes were strewn here and there. The phone rang. Daughter #1, stranded at the mall, had lost track of time and needed a ride home NOW in order not to derail her Friday night social calendar. Daughter #2 had unexpectedly brought friends home from school and needed to be at THE sleepover-of-the-year in just 10 minutes.

After what felt like “Mr. Toad's Wild Ride” through rush hour traffic and our daughters safely delivered at their destinations, my husband and I, in great need of couple-time, headed out to dinner. I eagerly began to tell him about all the wonderful things God had done in and through me at the retreat. My belly laughter and animated storytelling were interrupted with an uninvited announcement from him that he'd soon be returning to the conflict in Iraq for a third time. I almost vomited.

Hot tears filled my eyes. My appetite went out the window. My face tightened. My lips thinned in anger. How could this be? How could I, who had been soaring “on wings of eagles,” be shot down so quickly? My joy in the Lord plummeted to the hard earth in a death spiral as Mark tried to explain. Our romantic wonderland quickly dissolved into World War III. The waitress noticed and brought our check prematurely. We rode home in sickening silence. What in the world had happened? Just moments before, I had been high on Heaven's goodness. Now I was being stared down by the ravenous, growling hounds of hell.

What preceded Jesus' fasting and temptation in the wilderness?

Satan came growling and nipping at Jesus on the heels of a “mountaintop” experience in Jesus' life, too. Read Matthew 3:13 - 4:11.