Catholic Military Wives

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Little_Katie

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Hi, my name is Katie. My husband is in the Air Force. I was just curious to see how many other military wives were here on CAF.

I started a group if any of you are interested in joining it. forums.catholic-questions.org/group.php?groupid=207?styleid=18 .

I thought it would be a good idea for a group. There is a WHOLE set of challenges spiritually for a Catholic to face in our life style, from things as expected as coping with deployments and things as shocking as clashing with the protestant side of the chapel etc etc… It would be good to find catholic like minded spouses!
 
Hi Katie!

I’m also an AF wife. We’ve been in for a little over a year now. We have one baby boy, born in August 2008.

How long have you been a military wife? Do you have any children? Where are you currently stationed?
 
He guys. my husband was a marine until 05, he got out so we could move back to the country and start a family. now, economy the way it is, we’re talking about having him go back… I dunno. :o
 
I’ve been married since March 27, 2007. I was active duty as well until I had my son in 2008. Since then, I have been a stay at home mom and I love it! We have one son, Jason, who is 8 months old now. Right now we are living in Germany.

I could understand the desire to get back with the military due to the economy, but my advice would be to get involved with the either the Army or Air Force Guard or Reserves. That way you don’t have to uproot your children so much. Just my :twocents:
 
Hello! I’m married to a Coast Guard reservist. We’ve been married for two and a half years, and we have an eight-month-old son. My husband was deployed six months into our marriage, and he’ll probably have another deployment next year. I can imagine that I’ll be on here a lot when that happens. 🙂
 
My husband is gone now too. I definately have more free time than I ever wanted!
 
I’m not a military wife. I’m the wife of an army brat, as they say here in Britain. My father in law was a Methodist army chaplain.
 
Looks like I’m the veteran until another wife trumps me. We’ve been married since 2000 and have five kids (3 girls, 2 boys). DH is active army and getting ready to leave for his third year-long deployment, fifth deployment total. We’ve lived in Germany and Italy and would love to go back, but it’s not likely now.

Do you AF gals have CWOC in your chapels?
 
I’m actually the president for our CWOC at Spangdahlem. It’s unfortunate, however, because in the 8 months I have been running it I have not been able to gather very much participation. I’ve tried everything. I don’t why, but the catholic community on this base is in desperate need of prayer. I haven’t figured it out exactly yet, but either people don’t put priority on being active members of the parish or they are choosing the protistant activities and ministries instead ( I know that such is the case w/ the youth).

Also in the 8 months I have been running it I am still fairly in the dark as to what kind of activities CWOC normally does at other bases. I’ve just been winging it w/ bible studies, crafts, and various community projects. (Again, due to lack of participation, I haven’t done much at all in 8 months 😦 ).
 
I posted on the Military Wives message board.

From what I’ve heard over the years is that the lack of child care is an obstacle and also people have the notion that only the “holy” women go to cwoc.
 
Just joined CAF and found your group! It’s the first post i’m attempting…not too familiar with forums/posting/etc.

I’m a “retired” (really dislike that word!!) army spouse and have been married to my guy for 21 years. we have 3 children: 18, 15 and 11 months!!!

I have been a part of many bible studies, faith groups and other spouse organizations over the years. I agree that there are some misconceptions/stereotypes out there, but I would encourage you to attend your local CWOC or MCCW(Military Council of Catholic Women) group if there is one, and if not, start one!! It only takes you and a friend and then another and then another!!!

There used to be lots of red tape, dues, etc. but no longer!! If you’ve tried it in the past and didn’t like it (as I did) try it again!! I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned about my faith and myself and the awesome friendships i’ve made. I’ve been fairly active in our MCCW group and would be willing to answer questions/assist in any way!

All I know is that being a part of a group of Catholic woman has been a Godsend for me!!
 
Welcome to CAF!

I actually allow mom’s to bring their children to our CWOC/MCCW meetings. But I still am not getting many people to come. 😦

It’s just me a couple sweet older ladies who like to make rosaries at our meetings. It’s kind of nice 🙂 , but it’s sad to me no one else will join.

Since the group is so small though I might be able to get the chapel to pay for a pilgrimage to lourdes (which is only a few hours away from us).
 
Little Katie,

Thanx for the welcome! I’m really looking forward to meeting other Catholic women at CAF. Wow…a pilgrimage to Lourdes…Awesome!!! I’ve never been and that just sounds wonderful!! We were stationed in germany from 88-91 but I wasn’t where I am on my faith journey at that time. Now I’m kicking myself for not seeing all the things i’ve learned about since!!!

I’ve a few questions for you…

Do you meet regularly… every month or week on the same day?

How are you advertising your group? Do you have a post newspaper, marquee at the entrance/exit to post, church bulletin, and most importantly, word of mouth.

Is your priest aware/supportive of your MCCW group? I’ve always found that if you can get him on board with what MCCW is all about, he is a big advocate. Lots of priests aren’t even aware of what MCCW is or does. Send him to the website to check it out or better yet, print off some of the info and hand it to him.

Does your chapel have childcare on Sundays? If so, perhaps you could work a deal with your priest and parish council to pay for childcare on the day(s) that your group meets. I know it is challenging to have a bible study or listen to someone share their story if you are chasing after little ones. However, better to include them and attract ladies with smaller ones than to say “no kids”!!!

Are you going to attend the MCCW retreat this fall? It’s a great way to meet other ladies and share ideas.

Finally, offer your intentions to Our Lady during your Rosary to assist you in reaching other women who have a need for faith, fellowship and friends. Our group is open to all women, not just those who are Catholic. Yes, we offer only Catholic studies, but we aren’t beating them over the head with Catholicism!!

Phew…that was alot! As you can tell, I am passionate about my group. I seriously don’t know what I would have done without them when we moved here 4 years ago. Hugs, M
 
Really try to go to the regional retreat. You should be able to get your parish to pay for the trip.

I’ve been to the world-wide conference and am going to the central regional one this year. I’ve heard from the other AF ladies I’ve met (and they were all very nice, much older retirees) that child care is not possible on AF bases. I don’t know what the difference is between the Army and AF, because we have to have it.

Since you can’t have it, I would try to have a movie or something going on. Order a really great study, we’ve done Our Father’s Plan where there is a cd set and Scott Hahn does the teaching.

Have you made an announcement at Mass about your group, made flyers, put posters in the chapel area? These things seem simple but do work. I’ve found that with us, making that announcement a few times a year makes a difference. And if I see new faces, make a point of introducing yourself and inviting them. That’s where PWOC has us beat. They bring you in, send you a card after your first meeting, pay for everything, and they have enough people to rotate childcare duties… the list goes on.
 
MICH85 said:
Little Katie,

Thanx for the welcome! I’m really looking forward to meeting other Catholic women at CAF. Wow…a pilgrimage to Lourdes…Awesome!!! I’ve never been and that just sounds wonderful!! We were stationed in germany from 88-91 but I wasn’t where I am on my faith journey at that time. Now I’m kicking myself for not seeing all the things i’ve learned about since!!!

I’ve a few questions for you…

Do you meet regularly… every month or week on the same day? We meet every Wednesday morning, although CWOC is only every other Wednesday and Rosary Makers are inbetween.

How are you advertising your group? Do you have a post newspaper, marquee at the entrance/exit to post, church bulletin, and most importantly, word of mouth. So far we have only had the group advertised in the church bulletin and announced after mass.

Is your priest aware/supportive of your MCCW group? I’ve always found that if you can get him on board with what MCCW is all about, he is a big advocate. Lots of priests aren’t even aware of what MCCW is or does. Send him to the website to check it out or better yet, print off some of the info and hand it to him. Right now we don’t have a parish priest. Father Mitch deployed and the base has one of the local priests come and say mass for us on Sunday. Right now we are kind of a flock w/ no sheapherd so to speak.

Does your chapel have childcare on Sundays? If so, perhaps you could work a deal with your priest and parish council to pay for childcare on the day(s) that your group meets. I know it is challenging to have a bible study or listen to someone share their story if you are chasing after little ones. However, better to include them and attract ladies with smaller ones than to say “no kids”!!! No our Chapel doesn’t have that. MCCW is not the only hurting ministry here. Our entire community is very tepid.

Are you going to attend the MCCW retreat this fall? It’s a great way to meet other ladies and share ideas.

Finally, offer your intentions to Our Lady during your Rosary to assist you in reaching other women who have a need for faith, fellowship and friends. Our group is open to all women, not just those who are Catholic. Yes, we offer only Catholic studies, but we aren’t beating them over the head with Catholicism!! You have a good point! I haven’t lost hope yet!

Phew…that was alot! As you can tell, I am passionate about my group. I seriously don’t know what I would have done without them when we moved here 4 years ago. Hugs, I really hope our community here can start to be just as active! I come from a very active parish back home and it was very dissapointing to me once I saw how things were here. I am trying my best to breathe some life into the Catholics on our base! No luck so far, but I’ll keep trying! M
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Armywife…where are you in KS? I’m going to try to attend the central conf. as well. I went 2 years ago when it was at the Snows and had a great time and learned so much!!
 
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