Becoming Resilient - Week 24

During the last 3 weeks I have been facilitating the course “Becoming a Self-Reliant and Resilient Family” here on our installation. It is a manual the Church published back in 2016 for military members and families especially, but can also be useful for other families who go through similar challenges of family separation etc. We have about 7 people attending so far. It has certainly been a growing experience for me. I think a part of me wanted to provide this course for my own growth and benefit as well as those who are here as well.

So far we have discussed how to build personal resilience, spiritual self-reliance, and resilience in our marriage. I know I feel inspired each week to work on something specific to continue building my resilience. Family separation has been the hardest part of this deployment. Though I am able to stay in contact with my wife and children fairly regularly by video call, it’s not the same as being there physically to support each other in our challenges and difficulties. 

In a way, it forces us to build our connections in other ways such as empathic listening, encouragement, affirmation, prayer and fasting for each other. We each set goals at the beginning of this deployment and try to check in with each other on our progress. We share things we are learning in our experiences and gospel study. But there is always room for improvement, and I am grateful for this manual that gives us some ideas to ponder and allows the Spirit to guide our growth.

One of the goals I set was to complete a military education course online during this deployment. I am required to complete it to eventually be eligible for promotion to the next rank. It is a challenging course that usually takes an average of a year to complete, and I have spent many hours and months in it already. I finished a major milestone this week having completed the 2nd of 3 phases in the course, which is well-known as the hardest part of the course. 

I am grateful for the grace of Jesus Christ which strengthens me to accomplish more than I ever could on my own. This week has been another testament to that fact again for me. I am reminded of when I was in graduate school when I was working four 10-hour days at one job, two 8–10-hour days at internships for 17 months, one weekend a month in the Army Reserve, Church responsibilities every Sunday, and we had 3 children by the time I finished. I felt the Lord’s empowering grace upon me during that time in my life too and continue to see how much He can accomplish through me when I seek Him. 

Studying about Abraham this week reminds me that nothing is impossible with the Lord and when I am willing to sacrifice anything for Him, He will bless me and my family far beyond what we sacrifice. I trust in Him that the sacrifices we are making now during this deployment will bless us and many others, as long as we continue to consecrate our efforts to Him.

In His Service,
Chaplain John Critchfield