Dear Key Clubber,

Wow, can you believe May is here? And even though snow flurries are in the forecast for Northern Wisconsin later this week (seriously!?), summer is just right around the corner (I hope, at least!). Back in February, my dad left for Balad Air Base in Iraq for a 4 month deployment as a contractor. Now that it's May, I can finally say he'll be home in a month! Of all the deployments my dad made during his 30 years in the Air Force, this trip has been the longest. The 6+ weeks of training he had to attend prior to his deployment, made this trip 6 months long. I've been thinking about what it must be like for kids whose parent deploys for a year or more. Growing up, I hated it when my dad was even gone for a few weeks or months. I can't imagine him being absent for 12 months in a row.

Tomorrow, May 6th, is the National Day of Prayer. Would you join me in praying for all the men and women who are serving our nation around the world - many in harms way each day. Let's pray for their safety, endurance, and spiritual encouragement. Deployment experiences leave many asking deep spiritual questions. Pray that hearts would be open and that God would chose to reveal Himself to them in profound ways.

Let's also pray for the families of the deployed. May is the month for high school proms, end of the year band/choir concerts, award ceremonies, and for seniors - graduation. Both students and deployed parents are bummed that military service is separating them from experiencing these events together. Deployments are often extremely difficult for spouses, who are forced to become single parents while their service member is away. With this Sunday being Mother's Day, would you join me in praying for all the military moms out there. Let's pray God would encourage them in special ways.

Over the years I can think of a number of people who invested in me and offered encouragement while my dad was away and our family was stressed out during his absence. As a Malachi worker, I'm looking forward to coming alongside students and encouraging them in the midst potentially challenging times. I look forward to pointing families to Christ and teaching them to walk with the Lord and embrace His love and experience His peace.

Thanks for partnering with me in reaching the military community for Christ. As you can see, there's are so many ministry opportunities within the military and I'm so thankful for and encouraged by your support.

Because of Christ,
Beth