It was a wearying plane ride from San Diego to the military hospital overseas, but Jackie got no rest; she was too anxious. This was not the reunion she wanted for her and her husband Bruce, a lifelong Army officer whose career had taken him to deployments across the United States and around the world.

Every time Bruce was reassigned, they dutifully made the moves, understanding that they were together in marriage no matter where it took them. They packed everything they had and she took on the challenges of settling into new housing, making new friends, and supporting him, even as their family grew from two to three, then four. But the family wasn’t allowed to follow when Bruce was stationed at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, which meant Jackie leaned harder on her faith that her husband would be safe. Before Bruce left, he gave her a bracelet engraved with the Mizpah: “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.” For months, that carried her through. Then came word that Bruce was injured in a vehicle crash. Now Jackie stood in a hospital corridor being told Bruce had been moved just before her arrival, but it wasn’t clear where. As an Army chaplain and an administrator tried to sort out the confusion, a kind charge nurse saw Jackie’s distress. “Don’t let worry overtake you now,” she said with a smile. “Believe me, with a loving partner like you in his corner, he’ll be fine.”

Thirty-year-old Retha, pregnant and unmarried, sat in her kitchen, staring blankly into her cup of coffee. Ever since her abdomen had started rounding obviously, her neighbors and friends avoided her. So, she was quite surprised when she heard a knock on her door. Retha found herself face-to-face with two elderly women she had never seen before. “Hi, I’m Artice, and this is Peggy. We’re from the senior adult Sunday School class of True Rock Church. We’ve come to bring you some things for your baby,” said Artice. “Our pastor asked us to scout out the neighborhood to see who we can help. When we saw you walking and looking sad the other day, we decided that you might be one we would help. So, here we are,” said Peggy.

Brenda listened to the small group’s prayer requests. They were going to pray for Lee’s cousin who had cancer, Jordan’s knee replacement surgery, and Georgie’s nephew who had an opioid addiction. Brenda thought hard, but her family was blessed with good health at the moment. She had just video-chatted with her parents a couple of days ago and everyone was happy and healthy.

Especially in the face of the other serious prayer requests, she felt embarrassed to ask about what was really weighing on her heart. She often suffered from mild Seasonal Affective Disorder. She had felt it settling in over her once Christmas vacation back home in Mississippi was over and she had come back to Virginia where she worked. When it was her turn, Brenda took a deep breath and shared, “I feel silly asking this, but could you guys pray for my mental health?” Brenda met the small group’s sympathetic gazes. “I usually have seasonal depression and I’m worried this year will be worse than usual since this is my first winter here away from my family.”