This free retreat gives military spouses a chance to interact with the Love Language expert

Sep 4, 2020 1:22 AM PDT
1 minute read
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SUMMARY

Deployments are a staple of military life. But often, military spouses and significant others are left to go-it-alone, especially if they do not live near a military installation. This year, two women are looking to change that with an online retrea…

Deployments are a staple of military life. But often, military spouses and significant others are left to go-it-alone, especially if they do not live near a military installation. This year, two women are looking to change that with an online retreat headlined by huge names in the military community and outside of it, including keynote speakers Dr. Gary Chapman and Jacey Eckhart.

Joanna Guldin-Noll, a veteran's spouse and writer behind popular military spouse lifestyle blog Jo, My Gosh!, and Becky Hoy, a military spouse and creator of deployment subscription box Brave Crate, believe that good can come from deployments when approached with intentionality.


"We want to create a place where military spouses and significant others can access resources, best practices, and camaraderie to help them prepare for deployment," Hoy said.

Held November 8-10 and completely online, PILLAR gathers more than 20 military spouses and experts for a three-day event. Among the line-up of speakers and panelists is Dr. Gary Chapman, bestselling and world-renown author of The Five Love Languages series. Using an interview-style format, Chapman and Hoy will discuss relationships, the military and how to make the Five Love Languages work during deployment. Chapman will answer questions sourced directly from PILLAR attendees.

Including the needs and wants of attendees is important to the duo. "The idea of a wife pining over her husband for a year and doing nothing but waiting while he's away just isn't the lived reality of military spouses," Guldin-Noll said. "Military spouses are finding opportunity in deployment. We are honoring that by incorporating a diversity of voices, military branches, backgrounds and experiences into the retreat."

Sessions include actionable financial information provided by the retreat's presenting sponsor, USAA, yoga instruction from Bernadette Soler, and how to ask for and accept help from therapist E.J. Smith. While the retreat will have a schedule, attendees will be able to view sessions and access resources whenever they are able. The flexibility is a nod to the very real demands of military families during deployment as well as the hope to make the retreat as accessible as possible, regardless of where attendees live.

"Military family life can be viewed as being so difficult, but when we reprogram our mindset, we can see there is so much joy to be found along the military life journey," Jessica Bertsch said, a PILLAR speaker who has experienced multiple deployments. "PILLAR is taking a hard topic like deployment and bringing hope and solutions for military spouses." The president of Powerhouse Planning and Coast Guard spouse will speak on finding joy in deployment.

PILLAR is free to military spouses and significant others. Registration is open at pillardeploymentretreat.com until November 8; however, if you want to submit a Five Love Languages question, you'll need to sign-up before September 10 -- the deadline for question submissions.


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