looking sideways

Can you remember the first military event you attended?

Truthfully, I can’t.

But what I can remember is the feeling of looking around for cues the entire first year of military wife life.

Growing up, I was a confident little girl. Mostly too confident, but I never recall taking my cues from others. I skipped along to my own tune, regardless of what others had to say.

When I met my husband, he was already in Penn State’s Navy ROTC program, so military life wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise, was how strange this new world was.

Those first few military events left me wondering,

Where do I sit? When do I stand? What do I wear? What do I call his boss? How do I make him proud? Where do I belong?

Maybe these feelings come out as we get older and build walls.

Maybe some of us are born looking sideways.

Regardless of how we stumble into this posture, let’s take a look at a few ways we can keep our focus.

One of my favorite devotionals is called Comparison Trap by Sandra Stanley and she writes, “The habit of praying and reading Scripture before my day gets going loads me up with the strength and perspective I need to resist the comparison trap.”

One of the ways Sandra encourages us to stop looking sideways is to spend time in the Word each morning. Maybe you have a morning routine that includes prayer and Scripture. Maybe you spend a few minutes journaling before bed. You do you here sister and if that means scrolling through your Bible app at 2:30am while you are nursing the babe, do it!

Through our time with Jesus, He will load us up with strength and perspective. Did you catch that in Sandra’s quote? A-to-the-men! Jesus, we need all the help we can get, so please send your Holy Spirit to be our helper and fill us with YOUR STRENGTH! Yes!

Ask yourself, where does your strength come from? What perspective are you carrying? Which lens are you choosing to view your situation through?

Yes, friend, ask for help when you are new to a situation and don’t know when to stand in the middle of the Navy Ball. There is no shame in asking for help. But when it comes to bigger decisions in our military lives, let’s be sure we are making them with the strength the Holy Spirit gives us and the perspective of where the Lord is leading our families.

We can look sideways all day or we can choose to focus on where God has us. With His strength and a new perspective, we can make it through whatever the military decides to throw our way.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. -Philippians 4:12-13