Faith Deployed

In case I can only hold your attention for 1 minute, then I want to say right off the bat....go buy this book! If you are a military wife, it's a must have. If you are a civilian and know anyone in the military, it is the PERFECT gift.

Jocelyn Green, the author of Faith Deployed, emailed me saying she had seen my blog on Wives of Faith and wanted to know if I would write a review of her book on Amazon. Completely honored by the offer and always looking for new books to enjoy and review, I took her up on it immediately. I had no idea what a gift she would be giving me.

Faith Deployed is a devotional book with approximately 80 excerpts written by Jocelyn and 14 other Christian military wives from all branches. Each devotional includes a scripture, 2-page anecdote, a couple of questions to ask yourself based on the reading, and a prayer related to the topic.

Here's what makes this book a must have for any military library...

• It's easy to read. Each story is 2 pages! Within a few minutes you can have a great morsel of truth to get through your day.
• As it's sub-title states, this book is a "daily encouragement for military wives," reminding each of us that we are not alone even during the longest deployment or tenth PCS.
• The excerpts go to the root issue-what do the reactions to our life circumstances reveal about our heart? Military wives, just like any Christian woman seeking to honor the Lord, must choose to handle life in light of eternity. This book will remind you to do just that!
• I have to admit that my biggest fear of the book was that it would be shallow. On the contrary, these women are honest, vulnerable, and intelligent. They quote other good authors and scripture. The Holy Spirit convicted my heart time after time through Faith Deployed because the truth they were sharing comes right from the Bible.
• This book would definitely work if your military member is deployed, but it is completely relevant if your spouse is at home! And then you'll already own it when your spouse does deploy and you need that extra encouragement to look to the Lord.

I've had this book in my "queue" to read for a while, but it has been a perfect compliment to my reading of the Proverbs. This book definitely addresses how to be a Proverbs 31 woman, and these two excerpts echoed proverbs I've read recently:

1. Silent But Guilty (Proverbs 20:19)-We shouldn't gossip AND we shouldn't listen to gossip. Are we condoning it when we let it go on? Jocelyn mentioned something a friend of her said, "We gossip whenever we're together because all we have in common is the other people in housing. So that's what we talk about." That struck me so profoundly. If I can't stop talking about people, then I need to find something else to have in common! Or maybe I could just close my mouth?
   
2. Taming Jealousy (Romans 12:15)-It has taken me 36 years to really admit that I have a problem with jealousy. Jocelyn writes, "...it seems to me that the military wife is even more prone to being jealous over how others are treated compared to us, or how and with whom others can spend their time." This morning I got on Facebook and read the status update of a guy on Dan's ship (both of them on duty today): "Duty day...but at least I get to go to church with my family!" I immediately thought, "Why can't Dan???" JEALOUSY!! I thought of this section of the book, and thanked God that I had read it. It's okay that someone else gets something that I don't. It's not going to kill me!

You won't regret owning this book! You can order your own copy at Amazon or CBD. Jocelyn is also giving away a signed copy of the book on her website. All you have to do is leave a comment telling her the name of a church you have encountered that has been supportive to you as a military family.