And In our final post of 2019, Kori wraps up our 2019 theme of Flourishing with a look back at all the ways we are walking in faith in military life.

Walking in sand

Walking in Faith in Military Life

by Kori Yates

I don’t want to simply survive. 

Military life can bring its own set of challenges. I totally get it. From deployments to field training, and test flights to PCSs, we walk through some tough stuff. Listening, over the years, to those around me and even words from my own mouth, I hear us many times wishing or wanting instead of walking.

In the midst of the hard and difficult, the weary and sad, we can get caught up in wishing for what we left behind or wanting something more. We say things like, 

“When this deployment is over, I’ll…” 

or possibly, 

“At our next duty station, I’ll…” 

or maybe the words, 

“When I retire, I’ll…”

Sometimes these words can signal goals we’re working to achieve or activities dependent upon certain location or circumstances. But I think more often than not, they are our way of putting off what God has called us to in order to simply survive the place where we live. 

I have totally been there.

But I believe God has something more for us than simple survival.

He wants us to FLOURISH. 

He wants us to FLOURISH today, in the place where we are not in some unknown place down the road at some undesignated time. Day by day, he wants us to walk in the strength, hope, and freedom that only comes from him.

This year at Planting Roots we have attempted to dig into just that. HOW do we FLOURISH where we are today? HOW do we FLOURISH during trips to the sandbox or out on the ocean? Or how do we FLOURISH in crazy parenting or super hard marriages? How do we FLOURISH in friendships that seem to constantly change or transitions that seem to be “normal” parts of life? And how do we FLOURISH in our prayer lives, work/volunteer activities, or health? How do we FLOURISH in ALL of it?

Difficult questions when we’re smack in the middle of hard.

Our verse this year has been Psalm 92:12-13.

It says, 

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.”

God wants us to FLOURISH in the arid desert just as much as he does in the fertile fields. He has more for us than simple survival. As we close out our year of FLOURISHING and look forward to the good fruit God is growing in us, we encourage you to take a look back. Is there an area with which you still struggle? Below is a list of resources pages we’ve created throughout the year with Bible studies, books, devotionals, videos, podcasts, and more that we have used to encourage and equip us to continue to grow and FLOURISH in the place we are planted today.

No longer simply surviving, but planted to FLOURISH.

No longer wishing and wanting, but walking in faith.

Topics/Resources for Walking in Faith: