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19 Bible Studies And Devotionals For Military Spouses

by Bailey Cummins, Guest Contributor

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When I met the man who would become my husband, I was living in a civilian community and knew next to nothing about military life. Once our relationship began to “get serious,” I knew I would need to prepare myself for the adventure ahead. Being far away from a military base meant I wasn’t able to engage in the military community in-person and gain advice through that avenue.

I knew next to nothing about military life when I met the man who would become my husband.

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Being a bibliophile, I did what most book-lovers tend to do: I turned to books for information and encouragement.

At that time in my life, I was working at a Christian bookstore. While that job wasn’t great for my wallet (hello, entire paychecks going back to the store), it provided me the ability to learn about faith-based books.

I was especially excited to discover Bible studies and Christian books that focused on military life.

The books listed below are perfect for any military spouse facing a deployment, PCS, newlywed or wanting some encouragement in this overwhelming lifestyle.

I have read a majority of the books on this list, although I can’t vouch for any specific beliefs held by the authors. Also although I recognize that there is diversity in the military community, the majority of these books are written from the perspective of male service member with a female spouse.

5 Bible Studies And Devotionals For Military Spouses

You Are Not Alone by Jen McDonald

This 30-day devotional was written by a military spouse who has been married to her service member for more than 25 years. In addition to discussion questions and Scripture references, it also features a prayer prompt based on the day’s topic and a “Basic Training for Spouses” with practical action items and journaling prompts.

I read this devotional through an online Bible study for military spouses and had the pleasure of meeting Jen at the 2017 Military Influencer Conference.

Psalm 91: God’s Shield of Protection (Military Edition) by Peggy Joyce Ruth and Angelia Ruth Schum

As the title suggests, Psalm 91: God’s Shield of Protection is a study over the 91st Psalm, which is a compilation of all of the protection promises in the Bible. Inspired by readers who prayed using this book for their service members, a military-specific edition was released.

I’ve always loved intercessory prayer and specifically using Scripture (such as the Psalms) as prayers for intercession.

Called to Serve by Tony and Penny Monetti

Written by a service member of 23 years and his spouse, “Called to Serve” features 30 devotions focusing specifically on the top five stressors of military families. Each devotion includes relevant Scripture references and the discussion questions at the end of each chapter for small group or personal reflection.

Journey of a Military Wife (series) by Brenda Pace

Dr. Brenda Pace’s husband spent 28 years as a military chaplain, and her experience ministering to military spouses led her to write the Journey of a Military Wife series. This series consists of four themed devotionals: Devoted – Steps Toward Healthy Relationships; Directed – Steps of Peace in Times of Transition; Deployed – Steps of Hope in Times of Uncertainty; and Dedicated – Steps of Faith in God’s Plan.

This series provided encouragement to me as a newlywed military spouse.

Tour of Duty by Sara Horn

This Bible study helps military wives deal with the emotions of deployment and learn to lean on God through the trials ahead. It can be done as a personal study but is best suited for a small group so that spouses can share their experiences and form a connection that will help get them through deployment.

Although my husband and I haven’t faced a deployment together, I have had friends who did this study in a small group before deployment and found it very helpful.

3 Books And Devotionals To Read With Your Service Member

31 Creative Ways to Love and Encourage Him/Her (Military Edition) by Jefferson and Alyssa Bethke

“The 31 Creative Ways” series by New York Times bestselling author Jefferson Bethke and his wife, Alyssa is written as a “his and hers” devotional: Jefferson writes to the husbands, Alyssa to the wives. Realizing that military couples needed relationship resources, they consulted with military families to develop the Military Edition series of this book.

Since this series was written by a millennial couple made famous for their YouTube videos, it’s a great resource for younger spouses who may be reluctant to take advice from more seasoned spouses.

Faith, Hope, Love and Deployment by Heather Gray

During her husband’s last deployment, Heather Gray sought a devotional that they could do together to emotionally bring them closer despite the distance. Discovering there was no book that met their needs, they began writing this book together. Sadly, her husband was killed in action, but Heather continued writing this devotional to encourage other military couples.

The 5 Love Languages Military Edition by Gary Chapman and Jocelyn Green

If I could only recommend one book from this entire this, this would be it! The 5 Love Languages is a New York Times bestseller that was originally published over 25 years ago that describes the 5 primary ways that couples give and receive love.

With the help of Jocelyn Green, the book was adapted into a military edition that includes tips on how to show love languages while apart and a FAQ section with military-specific questions. Regardless of religious affiliation, this is the one book that I believe every military couple should read.

3 Books

The Warrior’s Bride by Kathy Barnett and Carrie Daws

This book is filled with Biblical strategies on how to handle military life and anecdotes from the authors’ personal experiences in military life. There is an accompanying sequel series called Beyond Warrior’s Bride on specific military topics: family, reintegration, moving, finances, friends, and retirement. I personally found the advice in The Warrior’s Bride to be incredibly helpful in my own life.

I found the advice in The Warrior’s Bride to be incredibly helpful.

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Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me a Better Wife by Hope N. Griffin

When her husband was sent overseas for a year, Hope questioned God’s faithfulness in her life and the strength of her marriage. She chose to use that year apart to dive deeper into Scripture, finding strength from the Biblical stories of Esther, Ruth, Bathsheba, Sarah and Hagar. This book features what Hope learned through her Bible study as well as her personal experiences and thoughts from her husband’s deployment.

Mission Ready Marriage by Claire Robertson Wood

Claire’s adventure with military life began after her husband (a seminary student) felt a stirring to become an Army chaplain. New to the military lifestyle, Claire shares her emotions and experiences on adjusting to active duty life, and how she is learning to be submissive to both God and country.

I enjoyed this book because it’s relevant to me as a newlywed military spouse, but also because it gave me a better understanding of the unique role that chaplains’ wives have in ministering to military spouses.

More Christian Books and Devotionals For Military Spouses:

God Strong by Sara Horn
Hope for the Home Front by Marshele Carter Waddell
Loving Your Military Man by Beatrice Fishback
Faith Deployed and Faith Deployed…Again by Jocelyn Green
Pocket Prayers for Military Life by Max Lucado
Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home When Your Soldier Leaves for Battle and While My Soldier Serves by Edie Melson

Even now with a few years as an Army spouse under my belt, I still turn to these resources when I am struggling with military life, missing the military community (due to my husband’s current recruiting assignment) or need a refresher in handling military life with grace.

Regardless of how long you’ve been a military spouse, by reading these military-focused Christian books and Bible studies you will gain knowledge and wisdom.

Bailey is a twenty-something newlywed military wife from Kentucky currently living in the (cold!) Midwest with her husband, dog, and cat. She’s currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and aspires to work in Human Resources to help military spouses and veterans find professional employment. On the weekends, you can find her accomplishing one of her numerous goals, reading a book, or writing another post for her website, Becoming Bailey. You can connect with Bailey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Reintegration Takes Grace

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by Maggie Phillips, Guest Contributor

During the week, I have a routine that proceeds as follows, with very little variation: return from school pick-up, put kids down for naps, put on soundproof headphones and work/clean/zone out (as necessity dictates).

Today is a week day and all day my plan has been to write this piece on our new computer, settled into my quiet room.

Then why am I writing this piece in the messy living room on my old computer?

Oh, right, my husband is home in the middle of the day.

My husband, who is frequently gone, is undertaking the bittersweet task – unbidden – of disassembling our son’s bassinet. Intellectually, I am incredibly thankful for all the factors previously mentioned. Emotionally, my feelings are decidedly mixed. The middle child doesn’t want to nap, partly because she fell asleep earlier in the car and party because dad is home in the middle of the day. I can’t use the new computer for reasons too byzantine to get into here but basically (and I’m exaggerating a lot here), because my husband is frequently gone.

So my quiet sanctuary quickly became a place of drilling noises, small children noises, and my husband yelling over the din to explain to me exactly why I can’t get the new computer to do what I want and what I could maybe try to get done what I wanted.

Reintegration is weird.

We all want our service members home safe and sound, we are ecstatic during and immediately after picture-perfect homecomings, and then before we know it, we’re sitting alone in our messy living rooms on our old computers, chewing on a baby carrot because cigars are more for outside.

That children thrive on routine is a common refrain military parents hear. We are cautioned to keep our children’s routines as familiar as possible when our service member is gone, in order to provide some semblance of stability in a little world turned upside down.

Then, mom or dad comes home, and the world rights itself. Or does it?

In some ways, it feels like it just flips upside down again.

Eventually, the “without dad” routine just becomes “the routine” and we have to relearn the “with dad” routine. And who sets the routine in our house? Me!

Eventually, the “without dad” routine just becomes “the routine.

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And what am I, really, but a former child? I mean, kids can’t be the only ones who thrive on routine. Is there some magic age where we all outgrow our love of routine and familiarity, because I definitely didn’t. I didn’t outgrow that any more than I outgrew my love of the Beatles or microwave eggrolls, or other things I loved as a kid.

Or maybe, like my adolescent crush on Prince William, my infatuation for routine can evolve into something more complex. Just as I no longer thrill to the image of the sun’s rays reflected on William’s golden hair (in part because, let’s be honest, it’s not like he’s giving the sun a lot to work with these days), my entire universe is no longer thrown off-kilter if I go to bed an hour later than usual.

I knew that I’d gotten older – wiser, even – as my youthful Prince William-centric feelings transmuted to a weird fixation on Kate Middleton, and a (joking!) insistence with each passing year that she is trying to copy my life.

Reintegration After a Military Deployment Takes Grace

Photo Credit: B. McAnally Photography

In that vein, isn’t it possible for me to look at the disruption of my “without husband” routine as less of an inconvenience, with a mature understanding that change is inevitable?

One thing I loved as a kid is ballet. I don’t do it anymore, but I did it for 12 years, and I think my parents would regret all the money they spent on lessons if I didn’t retain something. Ballet taught me that grace takes hard work, discipline and self-knowledge. But those things can only take you so far. The really graceful dancers trust themselves to know the right steps, to know what to do and when, and how to let go.

Rolling with the punches has never really been my strong suit, as every separation and reintegration reminds me.

I’m still writing this in my living room. My husband is packing up for his next TDY, because of course he is.

I’m tired – more tired than when I started, because now I’m writing at night, putting 3 kids to bed should be an Olympic sport, and I’m mentally drained just from thinking about starting up the “without dad” routine again in a couple of days.

Managing these things well takes grace, and I’m certainly no Kate Middleton, emerging radiant in a bespoke Jenny Packham on the steps of the Lindo Wing of Saint Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, mere hours after having given birth. But, in the words of the great Elaine Benes, “I like to think I have a little grace.”

Reintegration after a military deployment takes grace

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I can learn to be grateful as my husband and I work to establish the routine when he is home. And if it gets a little frustrating from time to time, that’s OK, too. Why?

Well, for one thing, we’re still happily married.

The kids are dressed, fed and (mostly) clean.

Everybody’s up to date on their shots.

I’ve only been late to pick up my daughter from school twice this school year.

Not to brag, but I like to think that these things meet someone’s definition of grace under pressure. Maybe I should make it my definition.

E. Margaret Phillips who goes by Maggie has worked for the Army in different capacities for over 3 years, for both U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and for U.S. Army Public Health Command. She has been published in the United States Foreign Service Association’s Foreign Service Journal, and in the U.S. Army professional publication, Military Review. She is a mother of 3 and has been an Army spouse for 8 years.

Give Me My Reunion Porn

By Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Editor’s Note: The military spouse who wrote this piece requested to remain anonymous…and we fully support her decision to do so.

You know what reunion porn is, right?

There’s a child, spouse or parent desperately missing a loved one who’s been gone on deployment.

And then they’re reunited.

You see a service member sneaking up behind Santa during the Christmas photos.

Or arriving in a huge box delivered to the front door.

Or running across an athletic field of some kind.

Then there are tears and smiles all around.

Loved ones jumping into each others’ arms.

Civilians love these. For a brief moment, they feel connected to our military experience.

We know better.

We know that reunions are more often in the wee hours of the morning or late hours of the evening.

We know that the makeup we’ve applied will likely have melted and the clothes we pressed will have long been wrinkled.

We know that the hugs and kisses are accompanied by bags shoved in car trunks and an anxious rush to get home and collapse.

And we know too, that the joy of reunification is often followed by that awkward dance we do each time we “meet” again.

But just this once, I want some reunion porn.

I did my part. I held down the home front.

Raised his babies, maintained his house, loved on him from a world away.

Counted down the days patiently.

Waited breathlessly.

I want my “reward.”

I want kisses on my children’s heads instead of distant stares in their general direction.

I want to be wrapped in his arms instead of wrapped in the entangled mess he brought home.

I want to sort his duffel bags full of dirty uniforms instead of sorting out how we’re going to manage life in 2 separate households.

I’d send him away and try and do this all again.

But he’s already gone.

After more than 20 years of marriage, 4 children, several deployments and plans for a lifetime together, this writer’s husband came home with more than his gear. He brought PTSD and a girlfriend home too.

7 Ways Military Homecomings Are Nothing like They Are on TV

By Jo 3 Comments

We’ve all seen them: the picture-perfect military homecoming videos that get passed around Facebook, the photos that have tons of shares on Pinterest, the footage taken and aired on news programs and used in USAA commercials.

Those 30 seconds are wonderful…but they don’t tell the whole story of a military homecoming. In fact, they tell just 30 seconds (or less) of the story that may have taken more than a year.

Here’s what military homecomings on TV are missing:

1. Getting Ready

Homecoming videos never show the hours before homecoming. The scattered, hurried feeling. It’s the time when the hair straightener doesn’t heat up fast enough. When, by some dark magic, the 3 outfits that were perfect yesterday don’t work today, you want to yell (or actually do) that you have NOTHING-TO-WEAR-AND-WHY-DO-I-LOOK-SO-AWFUL-TODAY-AND-WHAT’S-UP-WITH-THAT-ZIT-ON-MY-FACE. When you can’t find your other shoe when it was just there a minute ago. When you double-check to make sure you have your ID to get on base no fewer than 20 times and then you misplace your purse. And while you’re looking for your purse, you misplace your keys. But don’t worry–you have your phone because it’s been your lifeline for the months leading up to this day. But the battery is nearly dead and you’re trying to find the charger too.

2. The Endless Changing Times and Dates

And then there’s the musical chair game of times and dates: the excitement, disappointment, the waiting, the frustration of never really knowing quite when it will actually happen, the excitement, again. It’s for a good reason, but, man—it’s tough to have patience when you’re in the final leg of deployment.

3. Nerves, Nerves, Nerves!

Standing in the MAC terminal, I bounced up on my toes to try to see the sailors rounding the corner from Customs. I was sweaty. Nervous. The humidity had made my tamed-by-the-straightener hair a fuzzy mess. I couldn’t stop shaking.

One thought kept running through my head, “What if I didn’t recognize John right away?” Or worse, what if I thought it was him from the side or from behind and hugged someone else’s guy?

And then when I actually did find John, I couldn’t stop laugh-crying. I was shaking so much that John pulled away from our hug and said, “Are you OK?”

I’m definitely not the kind of woman usually featured in homecoming videos—quiet, resolute, patient. The one who holds a flag and cheers at the right time. Maybe I’m the only one who has a mini-nervous breakdown during homecoming. (But I’m guessing I’m not alone.)

4. The Drama Before

The kids have been fighting. The FRG is being stingy with details or out-right ignoring you. The car broke down. Your mother-in-law wants to stay for a week. Or maybe you drove for 9 hours, never received the call that homecoming was moved up by 5 hours and then when you did find out, you ended up driving toward base at speeds that are way, way over the posted limit while praying that there were no cameras or state police on your route. (Not that that’s my homecoming story…) Whatever it is, drama seems to erupt around homecoming for one reason: it’s an emotional time that involves a lot of people.

5. Homecomings Are Not Perfect

In those short videos, every homecoming looks absolutely perfect. But the truth is, they’re not. They’re messy. So many spouses have battled the elements, met buses at midnight or had to miss them entirely from the other side of the country.

And sadly, some homecomings aren’t happy, for a myriad of reasons. But we never see those more subdued, quieter homecomings. They happen too, and it’s important to remember that.

6. What Do We Do Now?

After the embrace, kiss, and triumphant feeling of completing deployment, there’s the celebration, right? Right? At least, in your head, you’ve imagined going to a nice restaurant, grabbing drinks, being romantic… you get the picture.

Keeping It Real: Military homecomings are not perfect.

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Instead, that celebration ends up much more muted and it usually involves your spouse sacked out on the couch or bed and sleeping for what feels like days with the detritus of a deployment scattered everywhere in the house. (“Seriously, how did that get there?” you say to yourself more often than not when you come across another discarded, issued item in the most illogical place you can think of.)

7. The Reintegration

Many military couples find reintegration to be the toughest part of the deployment cycle. The excitement from homecoming is gone. Now it’s all about trying to find a rhythm again and remembering who you were (and are) as a couple. It’s a much, much longer process than the fleeting minutes of homecoming, yet it’s arguably the most important part.

Of course, a short video can’t show all of the aspects– the ups, the downs, the frustrations, the boredom. It would be unfair to expect that from a clip on the news. But it’s still part of our collective story.

19 Bible Studies And Devotionals For Military Spouses

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase one of these Bible studies through our links, NextGen MilSpouse will earn a little cash. Learn more how this works on our Privacy Policy.