Keeping Love Alive During Deployment

Two days after Jocelyn Green and her husband married, the military relocated them from Washington, D.C. to Alaska. A few weeks later – on their one-month anniversary, in fact – her husband kissed her goodbye and left for deployment.

Military couples can relate to the uncertainty and stress deployment causes. They can also identify with the challenges the Greens faced once they reunited. Jocelyn and her husband expected their reunion to feel like a second honeymoon. They thought their relationship would pick up right where it left off. It didn’t. They had to learn how to be a couple again, rather than two individuals.

Friction points when a spouse comes home after months away can also impact couples who have been married for years or who have already endured several deployments. There can be a great deal of anxiety – both for the deployed spouse and for the spouse who’s at home.

How can couples who face prolonged periods of physical separation meet each other’s need for love and connection?

Joining us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast, “Keeping Love Alive During Deployment,” is marriage expert, Dr. Gary Chapman, along with Jocelyn Green, whose husband served in the Coast Guard and was often away for months at a time.

Together, they’ve written The 5 Love Languages: Military Edition, which addresses the unique aspects of deployment and reunification. They share how understanding your spouse’s love language is important to keeping your marriage alive during deployment. They also offer tips and strategies for creating a smooth transition when couples come back together under the same roof.

If you or someone you know is part of a military couple who struggles to stay emotionally connected while you’re apart, we’ll help you learn tips and strategies for engaging one another through deployment and reintegrating back into your relationship afterward.

Hear the program on your local radio station, online, on iTunes, via Podcast, or take us with you on our free phone app.

I’d also like to invite you to become a special partner with us through our monthly “Friends of Focus on the Family” program. When you do, I’ll send you a free copy of Gary and Jocelyn’s book The 5 Love Languages: Military Edition as a way of saying thank you. (Check our website for details.)

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, marriage, military November 8, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura