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The Supply Officer

Posted by Bettina Dowell on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 in Faith | Comments (2)

“He that appoints what the voyage shall be will victual the ship accordingly.”

Matthew Henry

With a freshly minted MBA in hand, it was a logical choice for my husband to become a supply officer when he entered the Navy. After six months in Supply Corps School, we packed up for Jacksonville, Florida for our first sea duty. Rob became the assistant supply officer on a fast frigate. Even thought the eighties were a time of relative world peace, the ship still deployed extensively.

When it was time for a Mediterranean cruise, the supply officers and their department were responsible for lying in food, weapons, ship’s store items, cash and other necessities for extended time at sea. Not knowing exactly what their time before a port call might be, they had to assure the ship was prepared for a long journey. In addition, it was their job to “expect the unexpected,” not knowing what the needs of other departments might become once underway. So, we come to Matthew Henry’s quote about God victualling (to lie in food supplies) our ships.

I would like to think that I have planned well for my future journeys. However, the obvious truth is that I cannot, with any degree of accuracy, predict what will happen in the next five minutes – much less five days, weeks, months or years. Though my fortune telling skills are conspicuously absent, there is a God who knows and sees my voyage.

God is sovereignly aware of every circumstance I will encounter, every need I will have and every stormy or calm sea that lies ahead. He has also made sure, as my supply officer, that I will have everything I need for the journey.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by

Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (KJV)

So how about you today? Where in your life are you struggling over the days that lie ahead? Trust can begin in a place where we acknowledge that God is sovereign. Know today that you have a supply officer who has seen the journey you must make and equipped you well for it.

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The Growlery

Posted by Bettina Dowell on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 in Devotionals | Comments (2)

It had been a challenging day and the voice from 3000 miles away made me smile. When my son asked, “So, how are you doing Mom?” I hedged, not wanting to be negative. He sensed my hesitation and asked what was wrong. “Nothing serious,” I replied, “just one of those days when I can’t seem to get anything moving forward in the right direction.” He said, “So, you’re in a bad mood. Maybe you need to go to your growlery.”

Having never read Dickens’ Bleak House, I must admit I had not a clue what my son was describing. He went on to tell me that a growlery (the term was originally coined by Dickens) is a place you go to be alone when you are in a bad mood. Now that was something I could relate to on many levels.

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind I’m describing, a day when you felt like the best thing you could do for everyone was to go back to bed. The difficulty is that military wife life often leaves little room for such a retreat. So what is a woman of faith to do?

This is probably the part of the article where you brace yourself for me to share with you five simple steps to vanquishing your bad mood into the blue. But what if we look at a different approach? What if you find a bathroom stall at work, a closet in your house or a quiet spot in your car and enter into your growlery? What if you took a few minutes to pour out the aches, pains and frustrations in your heart? Listen to what David said in the Psalms.

Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for our God is a refuge. Psalm 62:8

The difference for a woman of faith is we do not enter our growlery alone. Our heavenly Father goes with us. And here is our comfort and assurance. No matter how ugly, loud or vulgar the growling may become, He is big enough to hear it. And how do we know this? Because, before we even enter, He already knows us.

He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made out of mud.

Psalm 103:14 (The Message)

So where does life find you today? Are you feeling in a bad mood, depressed or having the blues? How about entering your growlery and pouring out your heart to the One who knows you inside and out.

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Come As You Are

Posted by Pattie on Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 in Faith | Comments (2)

For two and a half years, I worked at a women’s fitness facility, and part of my job as a coach was to weigh and measure women–arms, waist, hips, legs, weight, fat percent with the little grippy machine thing. I learned very quickly that this was most women’s least favorite thing, but to be honest, I found it fascinating. So many shapes and sizes, so many different manifestations of God’s creation: woman. I learned to appreciate the differences that make us unique, both as a gender and as individuals.

Another thing about this all-women’s fitness club that I found interesting was the fact that many of the women came in to work out with no makeup and their hair hastily combed or pulled into a messy ponytail. And in my eyes, each one of those ladies was absolutely beautiful. Sure, sometimes there were blemishes, or uncolored grey roots peeking through, or tired eyes from too little sleep after staying up all night with sick children, but they were beautiful, just as they were.

One of my favorite scenes in Bridget Jones’s Diary is where Mark Darcy tells Bridget that he likes her just as she is. The entire book (and film) is full of Bridget’s self-condemnation: she weighs too much, she drinks too much, she smokes too many cigarettes, she doesn’t work hard enough at her job, etc. But in the end, the man whom she loves doesn’t seem to care anymore about her faults–he loves her just as she is.

God is like that. He sees us, He knows us, and He loves us just as we are. John 3:16 tells us how much:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Dear friend, you are “the world” to God. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you. He knows you, and He loves you.

We at Wives of Faith welcome you, the military wife, just as you are. No facades or masks needed here. We are here for you, because we are in the trenches with you. We are you.

Connect with us in a way that makes you comfortable. We encourage your interaction on Facebook (www.facebook.com/wivesoffaith), or in our community (http://community.wivesoffaith.org), or even by leaving comments here on the blog entries that speak to you. But please, come as you are. Even if your hair is in a messy ponytail

Come as You Are is more than just a phrase on our blog header:
it is our theme for 2011.

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Soft Heart

Posted by Pattie on Monday, November 8th, 2010 in Daily Encouragements | Comments (0)

Blessed is the one who always trembles before God,
but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.
Proverbs 28:14

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Living Life in the Battle Zone – the Conclusion

Posted by Bettina Dowell on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 in Bible study | Comments (0)

Have you enjoyed our journey with Ruth? Have you found some comparisons between the battles Ruth encountered and the ones of your own life? Let’s see how Ruth’s story concluded and see what treasures are there for us.

When we last left Ruth, she had spent a night on the threshing floor at the feet of Boaz, coming away with barley and his promise to approach the family’s other kinsman-redeemer about marrying her (there was a very specific order in Israel about who could marry the surviving widow of an Israelite). Remember, Ruth was not from Israel and these rules and regulations may have made as much sense to her as constantly changing and evolving orders make to us. In chapter four of Ruth, we see Boaz approaching the town’s elders and the other kinsman-redeemer, coming away from the meeting pledging that Ruth would be his wife. Later we read about them having a son named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David who became the great king of Israel. The next time we see Ruth in the Bible, it is in chapter one of Matthew where she is listed as one of only five women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. Without church speak, basically she became the great (times 30, give or take a few greats) grandmother of Jesus.

Ruth made some difficult choices in her battle zones. There must have been days when she wondered why her husband was gone, why she had ever agreed to move and how she was going to manage all the challenges. The exciting lesson for us is that Ruth’s choices to recognize, adapt, move forward and trust God in challenging times had a positive impact for eternity, as we see in Matthew chapter one. As can ours.

So where are the battles in your life? Are there struggles you need to recognize and admit to God and/or share with a trusted sister in Christ? How is God calling you to adapt and move forward in the life in which He has placed you today? Can you bring some stability to your family by choosing to deal with your discontent about where military life has landed you and realizing you have not come to this place outside the sovereign will of a God who loves you?

Ruth did not live to see, with earthly eyes, her legacy as a woman in the line of Jesus. And we may not see the positive eternal impact of the hard choices we make each day to trust God in the battle zones of our lives. But when grandbaby Obed was laid in the lap of Naomi, the women of the town shared something very powerful with her.

The women said to Naomi:

Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a

Kinsman-redeemer.

May he become famous throughout Israel.

Ruth 4:14 (NIV)

Sisters, we have not been left without a kinsman-redeemer. His name is Jesus. May our choices, in the battle zones of our lives, not only bring us purpose, but cause His name to be made famous throughout the Israel where we live.

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To find the rest of the series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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Bettina has been a military wife for over 29 years. She and her husband Rob have two sons and a daughter-in-law pursuing artistic careers in Los Angeles and a high school daughter at home with them outside Washington, D.C. She blogs at Simple Stories, Timeless Truths.

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