GOOD-BYE HONEY. HELLO CHANGE

In1968 Bob Crowe, a minister, applied to join the military after he met soldiers who complained that they lacked good chaplains in Vietnam. Already widowed, remarried, and a father of four children at thirty-nine, Bob needed an age waiver. He trusted that God would supply a waiver and received one in May, but his family didn’t expect so much change. Bob left for basic training on May 12, Mother’s Day, also his birthday.

Bob and his wife, Sylvia, had moved from Florida to Mississippi to pastor a small troubled church. They had no money and lived in a little trailer on the church property. The former pastor tried to take over when Bob left, and friends moved the trailer to a church member’s backyard for the family’s safety. Sylvia held prayer meetings at the church every evening for a week, then cleaned the church and left it as Bob received orders for Vietnam.

Sylvia drove their four children to Rhode Island to see Bob before he deployed with a Seabee unit and then returned to the trailer in Mississippi. Four months later, Bob returned from his first tour and moved his family to navy-leased housing in Gulfport.

Sylvia found the distance and timing difficult. Bob’s seventy dollars a month pastor’s salary had left no savings, so he couldn’t afford to skip a month’s military to start an allotment. Sylvia waited for Bob to mail a check each month. The Seabees moved around a lot, and Bob’s pay did- n’t always reach him on time, so he sent checks as he received them. Sylvia faced financial challenges including being overdrawn at the bank once. She and the children sometimes lived on eggs, flour, milk, and coffee. The store and bank agreed to work with Sylvia to straighten out their finances. She cried every night of that first tour, and so did their five-year-old daughter, Donna.

Sylvia resolved to trust God who never changes during the second tour and never cried. Donna didn’t cry nightly either. Sylvia realized how her children reacted to her own stress or faith. That inspired her to focus even more on God instead of on changing circumstances.

Prayer: Lord, help families adjust to changes of military life, and help them find constancy in You.