Be Strong and Courageous

The first 24 hours of being home without my husband while he was at Basic Training was quite eventful. I had been warned by other Army wife friends to expect the unexpected from the minute I dropped off my husband.

I drove away from the recruiter’s office on February 21 with heavy sobs after watching my precious husband climb aboard a shuttle with a handful of other shippers. A few blocks later I pulled into a parking lot where I dabbed my tears, re-applied my mascara, and determined to be strong and courageous for the next six months of our first Army separation.

During the first eighteen years of my life I had live-in bug exterminators. They were called “mom and dad.” They were inexpensive, on-call at all hours of the night, and in fact, their response time was amazing — a simple squeal or a shake-down, freak-out dance was enough to summon their help.

In college I took on another live-in bug exterminator. This one was called “Kristina,” and she was my roommate. She was also an Army brat and would someday marry a handsome soldier herself.

When I got married I operated under the assumption that my husband would always be there to take care of me. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to kill and to chase out all vermin and bugs, as long as we both shall live.

But three and a half years into our marriage we sensed a new calling on our lives, and “always being there to take care of me” took on a little bit of a different form. My husband had a recurring desire to serve in the United States military in some capacity. After several years of having the same desire, we realized that was God’s way of getting our attention and re-directing us. I’ve never been more proud of or in love with my husband. God’s plans for our lives are always best!

Within the first 24 hours of my new determination to be strong and courageous while my husband was away, I saw the biggest spider of my whole life on the back porch. I was convinced it had fangs and was on a mission from Satan to destroy my confidence in myself and my strength to make it another 5 months and 29 days without my best friend and life partner. My puppy must have sensed that her “daddy” was gone, because she had taken on a wild and unruly personality that also ate away at my fragile strong and courageous new self. It was the perfect storm for an emotional meltdown. Everyone has different breaking points. After a gut-wrentchingly emotional and sleep-deprived week leading up to my husband’s departure, my breaking point came after a gargantuan spider and an uncontrollable puppy hit me when I was already feeling down. I laid on the couch wrapped in a blanket and let myself cry for the next forty-five minutes.

After a good night’s sleep and some quality time in prayer, I felt my strength return.

The message on my heart since the day my husband enlisted is to be strong and courageous. This phrase is mentioned several times in the Old Testament — primarily in the book of Joshua.

After Moses died, God called Joshua to be the next leader if the Israelites. Talk about some big shoes to fill! God must have known what was going through his mind, because Joshua was told by God several times to be strong and courageous.

“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them” (Joshua 1:5,6, NIV).

Joshua had quite the adventure ahead of him. He was going to be leading the Israelites across the Jordan River to the land God had prepared for them. While praying about the decision to enlist in the military, my husband and I felt peace about embarking on the crazy six year adventure of being in the Army Reserves — he as the soldier, I as the wife. Just as God told Joshua to be strong and courageous in his situation, I feel God charging me to be strong and courageous in my situation.

Whether you’re overwhelmed with the responsibilities of taking over the bills, making repairs or mowing the lawn, disciplining children, feeling helpless and anxious while your loved one is away, being afraid of the noises you hear when you lay in your bed alone at night, or are simply struggling with seemingly insignificant stressors like killing your own bugs, find strength in the midst of it all by remembering this great verse:

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NIV).