Christina & Shawn Get Married

Thursday, July 2, at 8 p.m on TNT. (ET/PT)

After almost five years of being engaged, Christina and Shawn started to think their wedding would never happen. Each time the two Army captains tried to set a date, one them would get shipped overseas to serve in Iraq. Working with the military and the Catholic Church, WEDDING DAY arranged to fly the couple home for a wedding they’ll never forget. The day includes the ceremony at the very church in which Christina’s parents got married; the New York Police Pipe and Drum Corp; a major donation to The Fallen Soldier Fund, a charity close to the couple’s heart; and a chance for Christina to trade in her fatigues for a couture wedding dress.

I've had the privledge of watching this episode before it has been shown on television. Wedding Day is amazing, I am normally not a fan of reality TV... but this show is clean, and uplifting. The entire family can watch it. It's not often, that the entire family can sit down to watch a show on TV... but, be assured - this television show is family friendly!

I know I could not help but tear up a couple of times. Especially when Christine was so emotional when she was told an insurance company would be donating $10,000 in their names to The Fallen Soldier Fund.

Be sure to set your DVR!

Not Forgotten

I wanted to get this down before it slipped my mind... again. On Memorial day the girls asked why there was a sticker on their calendar. I explained VERY briefly about it. VERY briefly. I really thought they were a little young to "get it". Boy did they prove me wrong. We were driving down the road HOURS later and the oldest asked, "Will Daddy be like the soldiers we think about today? Will he have to die too since he is a soldier?"

Wow. You wanna talk hard? Try answering that one. I did and it brought up more questions, so I explained about freedom. I told them that lots of Mommies and Daddies are soldiers and go far away to fight for us and that Daddy joined so that one day he can take his turn and that will let another Daddy be home with his kids and that is part of the reason why we are so proud of Daddy.

The conversation kept going and has returned over the past few days. Just a random, hard to answer, question every now and then. But yesterday the youngest said, "Mommy, can we go see the soldiers who died for us?" I explained that they would be buried and she said she understood, but wanted to see them anyways. I was amazed.

How many times do we underestimate our children? Obviously I am quite guilty of that. I hope we are all helping raise a generation of children who will want to see "The soldiers who died for us" and that they will understand how blessed we are to live in this country.

Kristen Jeffery

Unspeakable Joy

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:8)

This verse became a precious comfort to me when I was nineteen. I was very lonely, very single, and desperately wanting to be married. While I don’t know that my personal interpretation was exactly God’s intent when He wrote this Scripture, this verse filled me with hope. I knew that God wanted me to be married, but it seemed there were no possibilities in sight. Even though I did not know who my husband would be, I tried to focus on the fact that he was out there, somewhere, and believe in the fact that God would bring us together in His time. While I could not see him, I could begin to love him. It was this hope that gave me joy.

Now I’m a young woman married to a soldier. This verse took on a new meaning to me during this deployment. As military wives we are daily faced with the choice to love someone we cannot see, touch, and sometimes even talk to. The only thing that can sustain us during times of separation is our faith…faith that we will be together again someday soon. And it is this faith that gives us an “unspeakable joy” that allows us to smile even when our husbands are on the other side of the world.

When I turned the calendar to June, my joy-meter skyrocketed. My husband’s return is now eminent and I have begun frenzied homecoming preparations! As I look back over the last eleven months of my life, I am somewhat disappointed. I feel like I could have done so much better than I did, accomplished more, had a better attitude, the list could go on. But one thing I have no doubt about…my faith has been strengthened. I have had a lot of low moments, probably more lows than highs, but I can remember specific times when God did fill me with unspeakable joy, and that joy was directly connected to my belief and faith.

God also gives us this verse as a reminder about the ultimate homecoming awaiting us…when our Saviour will return! Let us not forget to truly love Him even when it seems like we cannot see him.

No matter where you are in your journey as a wife of faith, whether it be just beginning a deployment, in the darkness of the unending middle of the deployment, planning for homecoming, or just living the ever difficult challenges of garrison life … I pray that this verse will be a comfort to you as it has been to me. May God fill you with unspeakable joy!

Written By: Aprille, Proud CMW Member