Now on YouVersion!!

Several years ago, FamilyLife (a Cru ministry), approached me to take ExcellentorPraiseworthy.org online devotions and edit them for YouVersion devotions! The editors at FamilyLife were well-aware that YouVersion is an increasingly popular Bible app, and wanted to make our web-based encouragement available on mobile devices. So that’s how this project began! We are happy to remind you that three YouVersion devotionals are still ready for you and your spouse to access for the Countdown to Deployment (10 days), to study Scripture together with Connecting during Deployment (20 days), and to exercise “reintegrace” for Reintegration after Deployment (7 days).

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Nothing But a Breath

It was September 7th. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that date because it was the day before my husband was to be deployed to the Middle East. At the time, I had a 2-year-old daughter and a 3-month-old son who were really going to miss their daddy. And I already felt lost thinking about the impending separation from my one true companion in life. It was both the best and worst of days.

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The Presidents’ Wives

Because I enjoy reading biographies, on this Presidents’ Day it should not surprise you that I would want to look a bit at Abraham Lincoln and George Washington—and especially at the role of their marriages in their presidencies. They stand at sharp contrast to one another in terms of the personalities of their wives and the harmony in their households.

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It’s Personal

“Many people ask me how it feels to be the wife of a former serviceman. I can sum it up in one word: personal. It’s very personal because it’s now our story, our sacrifice, our time lost. Joe’s deployment to Iraq directly affected who we were and who we are today. Surviving the experience for Joe (physically and emotionally), and for me (psychologically and emotionally), taught us that living out our vows was overwhelmingly important and real."

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Inspired by the Olympics

If you have had the chance to watch any of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China, you have seen both the “thrill of victory” and the “agony of defeat.” I can only imagine what the athletes have thought and felt when extremely narrow margins have determined the outcomes of these competitions. The excitement of watching the performances of the individuals and the teams has included seeing how years of training has paid off in strong finishes or unexpected losses . . . It’s all been inspirational, and challenges me to put some of this in writing as I ponder what we can observe in the Olympics concerning the past, present, and future.

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Warnings, Cautions and Notes

In the military, equipment comes with a tech manual which includes instructions on its proper use. In the manual are warnings—operating procedures which could result in personal injury or loss of life if not carefully followed; cautions—operating procedures which could result in equipment damage if not carefully followed; and notes—operating procedures which are essential to emphasize. When teaching the Bible, my husband and I sometimes refer to the “warnings, cautions, and notes” which are included in our “tech manual” for living. Scripture is filled with instruction for proper use of our bodies, our minds, our tongues, our actions—so that we will not injure ourselves or others—and also with essential guidance on how to live our lives to the glory of God. Looking at some of Oswald Chambers’ writings, we can see how he was giving his soldiers (and generations of his readers since) “warnings, cautions, and notes."

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Remembering the Four Chaplains

When the same story keeps coming up, I pay attention. There must be something that God wants me to know or do—or share. So when my husband visited a chaplain’s office and saw a copy of the 1948 commemorative stamp of “The Four Chaplains”, signed by a survivor of the sinking of the U.S.A.T. Dorchester in 1943, I wasn’t surprised. The story of the four heroic chaplains was one my husband and I had recently studied and even included in a new Bible study. Perhaps you know about Reverend Clark Poling, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Father John Washington, and Reverend George Fox—but if not, let me share this amazing story.

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“I’m So Angry!”

There is a story told about “two dogs” which battle within us. Some say it’s an Indian legend . . . some say it’s an old fable told long ago . . . but the story makes the rounds, and also makes a lot of sense. As the story goes, when a youngster comes to the old sage leader and asks why he feels so angry at unfair treatment, the older one explains, “It is as if there are two dogs inside of you. One is always good, peaceful, and loyal.

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Greater Grace for Deployment

People write books on God’s grace. Books about transforming grace, saving grace, all-sufficient grace, powerful grace. . . . .amazing grace ... But what about grace to face multiple deployments? Perhaps your marriage survived the first deployment. . . .barely. Then with the second deployment you were more prepared than the first, and took some steps to improve in communications and commitment. The third deployment came sooner than you expected and more frustration set in. Now you’re on what seems to be a never-ending course for more and more separation, loneliness, hard work under harsh conditions, and danger. . . . . what kind of grace will get you through those struggles? Let’s call it greater grace. Greater grace takes you from “I can’t do this anymore” to “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

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