We had an article written about our groups here in Middle Tennessee in the Tennessean today on the Faith and Values page relating to our regional event that happens Monday night.

I am so grateful for all of the women who are coming together to support one another and other military wives in their communities!

Since I know the link will eventually expire, I’m posting the article in its entirety. There are a couple of typos (not ours) and the reporter left out the fact that I started the group with Jen Howe (and could NOT have done it without her!) Jen may not be serving with Wives of Faith now that her husband is out of the Army and they are making the transition back to civilian life and with a third child on the way, but she is still very much a prayer warrior for us and we are grateful for her.

Wives of Faith find friends to lean on during wartime
By Kathleen Smith, for The Tennessean, May 10, 2008

With Reservists and guardsmen continuing to deploy to Iraq, many military wives find themselves alone because they do not live on a military base.

Photo (at left): STEVEN S. HARMAN / THE TENNESSEAN
The leaders of Wives of Faith, a support group for military wives, gather at the People’s Church in Franklin on Friday. From left are Dawn Lewis, Kim Geasley, Joyce Turk, Sara Horn and Leeanne Keirstead.

Military wives from across Middle Tennessee will gather to support one another and hear a word of encouragement at the regional meeting of Wives of Faith at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the People’s Church in Franklin.

Speaker, author and retired Army wife Carol McGlothlin will share her thoughts on “The Rewards of Being a Military Wife.”

“I want to share with these young wives that this is something that will be dear to them their whole lives, though it’s hard to see that when you’re in the midst of it,” McGlothlin said. “But they’re serving the United States of America, too.”

Sara Horn, founder of the Wives of Faith network, never considered herself a military wife. But when her Navy Reservist husband prepared for deployment to Iraq in December 2006, she knew that a connection with women from his unit, four hours away, would be difficult.

That same month she organized the first meeting of Wives of Faith, with 10 local military wives sharing stories and encouragement. Members include those married to active, nonactive and retired members of the military. Chapters have formed in Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna and Heritage.

Group offers faith, support

Member Leeanne Keirstead moved to Nashville last summer from North Dakota and feels that God led her to be a part of Wives of Faith.

“When a spouse does not live where her husband’s unit is, there is a deep need for the camaraderie. When that is combined with your faith, you have a very safe environment, free of any rank structure. That is very comforting,” Keirstead said.

What unites many military wives is their faith and need for prayer.

“Our Christian faith is definitely a common denominator. We know how to pray for each other, because we know where somebody is coming from and are able to walk through that with them,” Horn said.

Nicci Hutson, co-leader of the Murfreesboro chapter, found Wives of Faith a few weeks before her husband’s second deployment.

“The first time he was over there I was lost and crazy and just didn’t really know what to do. But now I’ve started getting back into my faith. I have Christian support, and it’s been a total turnaround since them.”

Volunteers from the organization also provide tangible support through bringing meals to wives whose husbands are deployed, providing mentorship for younger women, offering advice about medical and insurance questions, and recruiting church groups to help with their “honey-do” lists around the home.

“As a military wife, you could find a whole lot to be down about or struggle with, but we want to encourage military wives to keep going,” Horn said. “Not just to survive, but to thrive in it and connect with each other.”

Future Wives of Faith events include a concert given by Christian artist Tammy Trent for military wives at the People’s Church in September, as well as the organization’s first weekend conference on Nov. 7-8.

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