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Consider Your Second Career
Military service is for the young. I’ve heard people in the military who are 31 years old refer to themselves as old. That’s ridiculous… well, it would be ridiculous almost anywhere else, but not in the military. The military is for the young. That means that the reality is: you will either die young or…
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Pick up where you left off…
Have you ever started something that you were really excited about? It was your idea! It was going to be great! You ran into it with the exuberance of a kid running to the presents under the tree on Christmas morning. And then you stopped… At some point the excitement of the new thing wore…
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Moving Towards Personal Racial Reconciliation
Racial reconciliation is a big topic. Big topics feel like they need big responses. They feel like I need to do something big and drastic like Dr. King making his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, DC in front of an estimated 250,000 people. But for most of us, racial reconciliation will happen…
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Advantages of Military Separations for Your Marriage
Sure, there are many disadvantages of military marriage, but have you ever considered the advantages? Absence Reallly Does Make the Heart Grow Fonder. The picture above is one of the best days of my life- it’s the day I returned from my third deployment. The days I returned from my other deployments were also some…
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You may die young…
I’m 41 years old. Most of the funerals I have attended have been for people younger than me. While a few services have been for people a few years older than me, and even fewer have been for people in their 70s and 80s, the vast majority have been for the young. My grandmothers made…
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It is Better to go to the House of Mourning…
I get why people don’t like to go to funerals- many even go out of their way to avoid them. Funerals can be quite difficult on so many levels: Emotionally (Am I going to cry? Am I supposed to cry? What if I don’t cry?), Socially (How do I greet people? Can I be happy…
Welcome!
I am a veteran Marine, serving for 10 years on active duty from 2003-2013, including time in Iraq, Afghanistan, and a few other countries. For virtually my entire time in the Corps, I was married to my bride, Kelli (Houser) O’Day, who has remained by my side for the rest of life’s journeys since leaving active service.
God saved me just a few months before I joined the Marines and got married. I found it immensely challenging to live for Christ and build a healthy marriage in the Corps. My goal in this blog is to provide biblical wisdom and practical resources for Christian Families serving in the Military. I also host a podcast, which shares the same goal as this blog, with my wife and our good friends: Military Wellness Collective.
These efforts are really an overflow of my primary roles serving as a pastor at Pillar Church of Jacksonville, NC (across the street from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune), and as the Executive Director of The Praetorian Project– a family of multiplying churches in military communities worldwide.
Practical Articles for Your Military Journey
During my time in the military, it took me a while to realize the value of reading the Bible for myself. Having grown up in church with parents who read their Bibles, I knew the importance in my head, but it took far too long for it to become a regular practice. Once I found the discipline of regular Bible reading, the Lord sustained me and grew me in powerful ways. I pray that this short journey of articles will help you start this practice today!
PCS Well: Moving in a God-Honoring, You-Flourishing Way
During my ten years of active-duty service, I moved six times. Moving provides a host of challenges for the military family. However, if you will intentionally engage with the Lord and His purposes throughout your move, your upcoming PCS offers an amazing opportunity to accelerate your spiritual maturity. This series of articles aims to help you do that!
During my time in the military, my wife and I experienced three military deployments and multiple other times of prolonged separation. Since leaving the military to pastor, we have walked with more than 50 married couples as they walk through their deployment seasons. This writing journey is my attempt to capture the lessons learned from these experiences to help you glean from all of these experiences. I am convinced that God intends for you thrive in this season- not merely survive.
Brian O'Day 