When you get married the last thing you expect is separate addresses. Military deployments send two people in two very different directions. It is not just the time and geography that separate us. People change throughout the course of a year and unshared experiences send you in two very different directions. Corie Weathers captures this struggle in her new book Sacred Spaces. Elva Resa Publishing and Weathers sent me a copy of Sacred Spaces in exchange for an honest review.
Strengthening military marriages is one of my passions. I truly believe that the separation is more than just survivable. The military lifestyle is a commitment to something bigger than ourselves. While it is difficult to watch our soldier walk away from us for months at a time, there is also great satisfaction in knowing s/he is answering a call.
When I sat down to write Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me A Better Wife, the most difficult chapter was on communication. How do you communicate over miles of ocean? Through faulty internet connections and pixelated frozen screens? How do you know what s/he is experiencing and connect when the homefront has stresses of its own that are outside of their realm of understanding as well? How do show your support and encouragement when some days you are so overwhelmed you just need a good cry and a shoulder to lean on? It isn’t just the during the deployment that is difficult to communicate through. The reintegration, the return, holds a distance between hearts that is hard to bridge. Finding Joy became a way to encourage other spouses to live in that space between, to love their soldier and to follow a personal calling knowing that God had a plan for each individual both apart and together.
My husband is not a talker. There is a space in our relationship that he feels he needs to protect. When I’ve asked questions his answer is often, “I just don’t want war to touch you in that way. I want to protect you and to keep you that one area of my life that isn’t affected by what I’ve seen.” I can appreciate that answer and yet at the same time I feel the distance widening.
Sacred Spaces gave me a frame of reference. It gave me a place to start. It gave me words for my questions and opened up the “sandbox” in my imagination. Weathers filled in the spaces with images, tastes, and emotions bringing to life a place that was little more than a spot on a map. I was able to ask “what was this like” or “how did this play out?” For the first time, I was able to ask more specific questions regarding the black bracelet he wears in honor of a friend. And for the first time he was able to give me the answers.
In my pursuit to help myself and others strengthen their marriages I have read and reviewed a number of marriage books, I have never read one as beneficial as Sacred Spaces to seeing deployment through the eyes of our soldier. My focus has always been on the homefront, how can the spouse find the strength and courage to thrive, this book goes even further encouraging us to step into the boots of our soldier and to see the world for a moment through their eyes.
Sacred Spaces is a must read for EVERY military spouse. Today is launch day. Grab a copy of Sacred Spaces on Amazon and tune in tonight (8/1/2026) on Army Wife Talk Radio at 8pm Central for a live interview with Corrie Weathers. (The AWTR link will take you to an archived file of the interview after 8/1/2026)
You can follow Corie Weathers on Facebook where you will learn more about her live podcasts and ministry to strengthen military marriages.
Before you go grab a copy of Corie Weathers’ Sacred Spaces and a few others to help in your military marriage!
2 comments
I salute not only the brave soldiers but as well as their spouses. Such nobility and selflessness and bravery.
Communication is the most important key to a successful marriage life and that’s a fact.
Clifford Henderson recently posted…Familysafer.com Review
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