Wives of Faith

Anticipation of Faith being Fulfilled

By Stephanie Arredondo, Wives of Faith Treasurer

Do you ever wonder what military wives endured when their husbands were deployed before the invention of the Internet?  It’s an interesting 200+ year history lesson that led me to compile some limited research in resources such as Campfollowing: The History of the Military Wife. While little is known about their faith, I can only imagine these brave, pioneer women reading their Bible under candlelight and offering prayers and loving encouragement to their spouse, friends and counterparts. “It does take a special kind of woman to be a military wife…a patriot, helpmate, lover, comforter, and confidant to her husband” (p.xii). This is a huge responsibility that God calls us to provide. With this great heritage bestowed upon us, it is ironic how history repeats itself today.

Military wives endure feelings of being lost and alone just as our predecessors did. We all need communication to connect and maintain our relationships. Instead of being physical followers of the camp as in the 19^th century or waiting for letters coming via transatlantic in the 20^th century, we enjoy e-mail, web camera, Internet sites such as Facebook, and phone service such as calling cards, Skype internet phone or the cell phone.   This somehow assuages us, yet we forget to contact our number one fan. Being lost and alone is a normal feeling to encounter when you are newly married and are saying goodbye to your husband, only to remain by yourself in a location that you just moved to and have no support system yet.  Being lost and alone is to be expected when you are giving birth to your firstborn child without your husband by your side.  Being lost and alone occurs when you are hospitalized from an auto accident and family is not readily available.  Yet God knows you so well, and He is closer to you more so than what you realize. He knows that you are lost and alone.

This bond that ties us all, past, present and future, is strengthening our faith in ways we least expect. Hebrews 11: 1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (NIV). There is the hope that my husband will return home from his deployment, safe and not harmed.  There is the anticipation of reuniting our family even though we’ve been setback financially.  There is the reunion of a marriage hurt by a miscarriage. We know what we hope for and earnestly pray for it.  What we do not see is where God is building up our faith muscles just like a personal trainer would sculpt our body back into the shape it needs to be.

What do you, a wife of faith, anticipate passing on to the next generation of military wives?  It is not something at the top of everyone’s list to think about, yet we have the past and the present.  What about the future?  Another generation of military wives will follow us and seek out similar solutions to what we’ve experienced.  If you could, what would you tell or share with them? I believe that is one reason why Wives of Faith is evolving and providing the spiritual development we need, a key niche missing in this modern day world where the enemy is unknown.  Granted, there are many resources for the military spouse through Family Readiness Groups, Military OneSource and local unit groups.  However, with the divorce rate in excess of 55% in this country (higher for military marriages), we wives of faith cannot accept this failure rate.  If God brought you and your spouse together, then you both are walking together and need to have faith to prevail over the odds. Over 90% of all prayer requests at Wives of Faith pertain to marriages.  We love our husbands and seek ways to counter the attacks on our marriage especially during times of deployment.  Some marital problems are obvious and quickly remedied.  Others are more complex and require the assistance of a trained counselor.  While scary to deal with these situations, it is a matter of keeping the faith.

Following in the footsteps of those military wives before us, we wives need to lean on the One who can wipe away the stress of any deployment, the loneliness, the frailty of being lost and the feelings of helplessness.  What greater way to do this than to keep the faith that God’s will will be done. Now that’s a great legacy to pass on.