Resiliency. It’s a word I loathe with the fury of a thousand suns. It gets thrown around so often in our military culture that it’s become meaningless and ethereal… trite even. Resiliency’s point of reference is some time or state in the past that gets labeled as “peak” or “best” and encourages us to get back there.
As milsos, we can’t afford to think or live that way. Instead, I claim readiness for us all. It’s a forward-facing word that requires a sense of being present and prepared.
Spiritual readiness is of particular consideration to me not only because of my personal faith, ministry, career, or because the military says it’s important… but mostly because I’m “Mom.”
This is My Squad
I’m a military spouse of 20 years. The Army has taken my family on great adventures, many of which are official adventures (read: Permanent Changes of Station and deployments). Like so many other milsos, sorting out the finer details of landing in a new place often falls to me, because duty calls my Soldier away almost immediately after our boots hit the ground (with or without housing established). You know the drill: hunting down new referrals for healthcare professionals to provide specialized care, navigating new school districts, finding new teams and music instructors, researching new church communities with strong youth ministries, knowing we’ll have to do it again in 1 to 3 years.
I have known some of my peers to seemingly spend their entire season at a duty station searching for the right fit in a faith community. Looking back, they mark their children’s experiences by stringing together summer VBS themes. (Underwater here, construction themed there, underwater again—because we tend to hit repeats when we don’t stay in one place, sports themed, and so on.)
Wouldn’t it be a relief if there was a resource in place, established daily and weekly faith-filled rhythms, that would just move with us and meet us where we’re at?
Hero Squad
Armed Services Ministry (ASM, a division of the American Bible Society) has been providing free Bibles and scripture resources to the military community for over 200 years. If you’ve been in a military chapel or interfaced with a chaplain or military ministry, then you’ve likely touched something they’ve published or provided.
Hero Squad is the ASM program born out of our need for fun, family discipleship resources that provide continuity across time and space.
The Odd/Mod Squad
The modern military family has to intentionally carve out times of “togetherness” that may look much different than that of our civilian counterparts. We also grab for predictability as often as it’s presented.
Hero Squad offers both intentionality and predictability. We walk (and move!) with military families as they walk with Christ.
Initially
Every family enrolled in the FREE program receives a welcome box full of age-appropriate Bibles (one for each child and one for the caretaker), military-specific devotionals, Bible activities and gifts (t-shirts and custom planners are regular favorites)!
Quarterly
For as long as children meet the 3–17 age requirement, families receive age and gender-specific weekly devotionals for each child delivered straight to their doorstep. They also receive printed seasonal Bible activities designed to engage them in the Word, build unity, and make fun memories.
Weekly
In between quarterly shipments, parents and caregivers receive weekly devotional emails called “Checkpoint.” These encourage and connect us to the Hero Squad community as we seek spiritual readiness together.
Perpetually
Hero Squad provides continuous engagement opportunities through social media and blogs to lean into a supportive network that cares and understands that the God of the Bible is the ultimate answer to every challenge our military family and communities face. Children’s devotionals, seasonal activities and other fun freebies are also available for download.
Squad Goals
ASM aims to make family discipleship: accessible, easy, fun and successful.
- Accessible — Our devotionals are all contextualized and concurrent. Though every child receives a devotional written specifically for their age, the scripture is the same. The “littles” are exploring the same scripture as the “bigs” each week, but the application points and language are different.
- Easy — Everything arrives ready to use. When the military moves you, we’ll move with you. You don’t need to do any prep or research. With our panel of curriculum, veteran and pastoral experts behind the scenes, you can trust the content to be credible and faithful.
- Fun — Engaging activities are a core element of our program. Not only do they build unity in your squad, but they are central to many of our learning styles. Hang with us for a while, and you’ll also find some fun collaborations with The Bible Project!
- Successful — Hero Squad is proven to increase spiritual readiness. A third-party study conducted by Baylor University monitored 250 Hero Squad participants across 2 years of use and measured 30 key-aspects of well being. Improvement was found in all 30 areas! Most notable: There was a 53.1% increase in individuals who responded “very often” when asked how often they draw on faith to cope with military-related stressors.
Subscribe Your Squad- Claim spiritual readiness for your family.
The Hero Squad annual enrollment period is quickly approaching! Enroll now!
Armed Services Ministry makes free resources for every military season and need. Check out one of our new apps to explore scripture with veteran guides, or find hope with one of our classic studies, like Journey of A Military Wife, in a reformatted online experience.
Sample one of our weekly devotionals and scroll to score a weekly freebie—scripture wallpapers for your phone. Love Is Patient.
Join up! Follow us on socials for more spiritual readiness content: @armedservicesmin @herosquad_asm
Meet Amanda
I am a mom of 3, a milso, and a self-proclaimed nerd. I start my days with a strong cup of coffee and end each one with a victory lap—a bowl of Tillamook Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. In between the two, my work, ministry and interests are all centered around increasing biblical literacy in the military community. I currently reside in the DC area in my 11th home in nearly 20 years as an Army wife.
