Today’s guest blogger is Ginger Harrington.
I remember the first piece of advice I got as a new military wife, “Make every house a home, no matter how long you will be there.”
Over time, I realized this advice not only applied to my family home but also my church home. Sometimes it can be hard for military families to find one, given the frequency of moves that we face.
Your home in the body of Christ is important, and God has a place for you whether your military orders are short or long term.
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Over the years, my husband and I have learned to make it a priority to begin visiting churches as soon as we can. For those who hate to be new, this can be a challenge, but go ahead and do it. Ask around, search the web, check with new neighbors, and find a place to start your search.
When you find a spot to land in the body of Christ, go ahead and get involved. Find something—a small group, a Sunday school class, or a service project—and engage. Getting involved is the best way to get connected in your new church home.
…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10: 25, NASB)
READ MORE: PRAYING ON THE BEDROCK OF PEACE
But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you. (1 Corinthians 12:18-21)
The fact that you are a mobile military family is no surprise to God. He called you to this life of serving our nation, and He will not leave you out when it comes to finding a fit in the Body of Christ. He goes before you and will prepare a place for each of us, if we will give Him the time and effort to let Him put the pieces together. In each place you go, there are needs that only you can fill with your unique gifts and experiences.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)
Your military orders don’t change the truth of these words. When we hold back, thinking that six months or a year is too little time to invest in a new church, everyone misses out on what God has planned. There is no time that is too short for God to use when it comes to ministering to His children and reaching the world through the miracle of the Body of Christ.
Ginger Harrington is a career Marine Corps spouse and mother of three young adults. She is the social media coordinator for Planting Roots: Strength to Thrive in Military Life.
