FMWCN is giving away a copy of Sara’s book God Strong. You can find all the details by clicking here. HURRY! Registration ends on Friday March 12th at 10 am EST. We will announce the winner during our live show!
Popularity: unranked [?]
Better late than never, right?
We have a prize pack of two booklets to give away this last week of February… generously donated by Gina Hartmann.
They are: Home Builders (Family Life publishing) small group studies — Defending the Military Marriage and Defending the Military Family.
All you need to do to be eligible is comment on this post. That’s all!
You have until noon Saturday (central time) at which point I’ll choose a winner.
Ready…set…COMMENT!
Popularity: 8% [?]
A Cowboy Christmas is Mary Connealy’s latest cowboy romance. (I feel compelled to note this, because she also writes cozy mysteries, and I wouldn’t want you to get mixed up!)
From her website:
A beautiful songstress on the run.
A distrustful cowboy who can’t abandon a woman in need.
An evil man obsessed with controlling that stunning voice.
The brutal cold of the Rockies in winter.
A suspicious family risking everything to protect a singer with secrets.
One perfect chance for a star to lead two lonely people to true love.
Cowboy Christmas.
Pattie’s Review:
I enjoyed this book, although I’m curious about why Mary Connealy seems to get such joy and pleasure in torturing her heroines! Seriously, folks…I’ve met her, she seems very nice and fun. Why does she torture these poor women so!
I’ll tell you why: because it’s fun! Oh, not so fun in the torturing, but it makes it fun to read, and keeps the reader turning pages. It’s also fun to see how she weaves profound spiritual truths into the narrative.
If you like western romance with a twist of fun and a good dose of spiritual insight, this is the book–and author–for you!
I was privileged to meet author Mary Connealy this past summer. She and I had emailed before, since we are both members of ACFW. I had read and reviewed some of her earlier novels, and was thrilled to meet her in person. She wrote about that meeting here, and you can even see pictures if you’re so inclined (and if you want my side of the story, go here). One thing I love about her is her obvious enthusiasm for life and people. Another thing that struck me as different is that she wanted to ask me about my writing, such as it is. She was so encouraging to me! I appreciated that; it’s a highlight of 2009 for me in terms of writing.
Anyway, I love Mary for her friendliness and her heart for sharing a good story. I love even more that she mailed me two autographed copies of her novel Montana Rose for me to gift the two new chaplain’s wives at our base this past autumn! This woman, my friends, loves our military. She also sent me a copy of Cowboy Christmas to give one away here at Wives of Faith!
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this blog entry between now and January 7th, noon Central time! I’ll “draw” from the entries using Random.org’s random number generator and mail the book to the winner. If you have any questions you can email me (pattie @ wivesoffaith.org, remove spaces).
Special thanks to the author, Mary Connealy, for the review and giveaway copies.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Wives of Faith is about community, and even if most of us only know each other online, we still have some wonderful opportunities to build that connection with each other. Our website is currently getting more than 20,000 unique visits a month (and growing!) but we’re not so much interested in the number as we are the people!
That’s why for the rest of the month of October, we’re holding a Guest Book Contest – really simple, all you have to do is sign our guest book located at the bottom of the main page of this website! You can add your photo or choose not to, but please sign and let us know you were here and maybe what you think about Wives of Faith or the military life.
At the END OF OCTOBER, we will pick one lucky winner who will receive a Fantastic Fall Giveaway Package which will include a Wives of Faith T-shirt, the book The One Year Yellow Ribbon Devotional, the book Courage Under Fire and a copy of the member’s book of Hope for the Home Front.
If you’ve already signed the guest book, great! You’ll be entered as well.
So sign the Guest Book today and let us know you were here! You just may win a great prize for doing so! 
Popularity: 6% [?]
On last nights show we spoke with Beth from Home Sweet Home Campaign. They have a great service where you can design a picture for a t-shirt, upload it to them and they will send the shirt to your soldier. HSHC is a 501 c 3 and they are helping raise money for USA Cares.
Beth was so gracious to give us 2 t-shirts to give away. Not ONE but TWO shirts. The contest details are up on the NING site, go to forum and then the general topics. We will announce the winners of the contest on Tuesday’s show. I know we have some creative ladies out there! I can’t wait to see all the great designs.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Last week I read through the book Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families by psychologists and mental health experts Keith Armstrong, Suzanne Best and Paula Domenici. It’s a good source of information for military families, and I would recommend that you get it, especially if you are nearing the end of a deployment.
While I wouldn’t call it an enjoyable read (it’s more like a manual or handbook focusing on various issues that can occur with returning veterans), the content does offer some good steps for anyone dealing with PTSD symptoms or who have family members dealing with PTSD. Though the book is generally written toward the service member, one nice feature is that at the end of each chapter, a page is devoted toward the spouse or family member flagging important things to look out for and questions they can ask or consider.
There are some good suggestions for ways to cope when dealing with specific symptoms such as alcohol or substance abuse, panic attacks or being unable to control potentially destructive emotions such as anger. The last couple of chapters focus on returning to civilian life and restoring family roles and relationships. The “Returning to Civilian Life” chapter will be especially useful I think for Guard and Reserve families and covers some good tips on returning to civilian jobs as well.
The courage we have as spouses
This book got me thinking about the courage that we as spouses have when dealing with deployments. I think we usually consider our husbands as the ones with all the guts and the bravery, but as military spouses, we rock with our own brand of fierceness!
I know, sometimes it’s hard to think about being courageous when we struggle to sleep at night; we’re exhausted from caring for children by ourselves, and we find yet one more thing that’s broken down that we’re going to have to fix.
But let’s think about all of the times we are courageous – all of the challenges, big and small, we take on. Sure, many if not most we do because we have to, there is no other choice, but regardless, we meet those challenges! With God’s help, we face those fears!
For every moment we’ve struggled with something, there are many others where we have grabbed on! We’ve prayed, cried and pushed through obstacles we never thought we could.
When my husband was gone, I fixed a clogged sink and had to deal with contractors who had broken our master bathroom’s toilet. Yours may be more serious, like taking a call and finding out your husband was wounded, or dealing with the death of a relative while your husband was gone.
Be it large or small, as military spouses, we exhibit courage every day. So, let’s remind ourselves and share some of those things that are examples of that courage. As a thank you for your participation, I’ll pick a winner THIS FRIDAY to receive a free copy of the book Courage After Fire.
How have you been courageous? Or, how has God helped you to show courage?
Popularity: 2% [?]
For those of you who noticed the giveaway information in this month’s newsletter, thank you! We’re thrilled with the response thus far.
I wanted to clarify what the giveaway was, however, so there’s no confusion.
The book pack is a bundle I won in a drawing when Focus on the Family’s H.B. London visited Grand Forks AFB last spring. It’s still in the cellophane, because I had a strong impression when I received it that I was not to keep it (God gives me impressions like that every once in awhile, and I’m still learning to obey!). This seems the most fun way to give them away, so here we are! You can read more about the books by clicking on their titles, as I’ve linked them to Amazon.
The first book is Faith in the Fog of War by Chris Plekenpol. The second is On the Frontline: A Personal Guidebook for the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Challenges of Military Life by Tom Neven. The third book is a prayer guide for our military, and the fourth is a copy of the Bible, NIV version, with a camouflage cover, published by the International Bible Society.
While these books are not necessarily for military wives, I believe they’d still be excellent resources for us and for our military husbands.
So please, keep forwarding the newsletter! Sara and I are greatly encouraged!
Popularity: unranked [?]
My husband is getting ready to leave for his AT and I’m already thinking about the first thing I’m going to do when he leaves. Clean! I did it for four days straight (and organized our entire attic!) when he deployed a couple of years ago and I typically do it whenever he goes anywhere for some length of time.
I don’t think it’s necessarily because that’s the only time I can clean the house is when he goes away. Hardly. And he’s not necessarily the messiest person in our family. Cleaning is just the routine I’ve developed I suppose to help establish order when it feels anything but. It never feels “routine” for Cliff to be away and I would never want it to. So I clean. Usually I start with our closet, maybe because straightening up his clothes and putting everything back where it needs to go helps me feel close to him and reminds me that he will be coming home.
As I thought about my own routine for when my husband goes away, I wondered what other military wives do when their husbands leave? Do you clean, too? Do you go on a trip? Maybe visit family? Do you cook or start a DIY project?
I know it can be hard to want to do anything after saying goodbye but it’s important to find things that will keep you busy and productive. Staying positive doesn’t always come natural – that’s when we have to trust God with everything, including our husbands. We have to learn to walk by faith.
Speaking of that, we start our “Walking by Faith” study today with FMWCN which I am so excited about! LifeWay Women has graciously given us TWO member books to give away to our ladies so if you don’t have a copy of the book, now’s your chance!
Simply comment below and share with the rest of us what you do when your husband has to leave for a training or a deployment. We’ll pick two winners from everyone who commented by noon Friday (that’s TOMORROW!).
(please note – if you don’t have anything to add about routine, you can still simply comment about anything related to military life in order to participate in the drawing. Thanks!)
Popularity: 7% [?]
Every military wife has a song – a song that they listen to when they’re sad, or plays when they’re happy, or needing some serious motivation to keep going. On our last deployment, two of my favorites that were always on my iPod’s “most played” playlist were Avril Lavigne’s “When You’re Gone” and “Keep Holding On.” I know, neither one is faith-based, but I have to say for the “Keep Holding On” song, that it often felt like God was speaking to me through those words, letting me know He was here for me and that things would be okay.
What are the songs that keep you going? What are the songs that mean the most to you? Comment and let us know and we’ll take the 10 most popular answers and list them in our next newsletter!
*Everyone who participates will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Faith Deployed: Encouragement for Military Wives. Drawing will be at noon on June 30th! Enter as often as you like!
UPDATE (7/2/09): Using Random.org, #3 was picked and the winner of our drawing is Ebony! She has won a free copy of Faith Deployed. Ebony, I’ll email you to get your address so we can send this out to you. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated! Keep checking back for new giveaways!
Popularity: 57% [?]
Thank you! We have our winner, determined by random.org, and it is:The author of Army Love Life! Please email me at pattie (at) writersremember.com with your address and I’ll mail you the book soon.
Thanks to all who entered!
And a big thank-you from me to you in appreciation of all you do as a military wife. And you all absolutely ROCK!
Happy Weekend, fellow military wives!
It’s time for another book giveaway here at the WOF blog!
I reviewed A Cup of Comfort for Military Families here a while ago, and while I enjoyed the book greatly, we’re in downsizing mode here at Pattie’s house. No, we’re not PCSing! We are having some remodeling done, and this gave us the opportunity (in other words, I’m being strongly encouraged) to declutter. I lost my bookshelf as well (it nearly didn’t make it during our last move, and it’s been leaning against the wall for about a year–sideways!), so book storage is at a minimum.
To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment and a way for me to get hold of you (either a disguised email address or your blog address)! That’s all! Just a comment.
Deadline is this coming Thursday, May 7 at noon CDT.
To learn more about this book, please click here for Amazon.com and here for Barnes & Noble.com.
Popularity: 5% [?]
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