While finding the right church is high on my PCS checklist, it can sometimes be like finding the right dress for an important occasion. I can look in ALL the shops, try on as many as possible, narrow it down to a few, and finally take one home wondering if the one left in the store was really the best one for me. There must be a better way to find a church!

For those who sang this Psalm of Ascent (Psalm 122)—there was only one house of God, and getting there was a difficult task for many of them. Although the trip to Jerusalem was demanding, the spiritual meaning and personal significance of God’s house was so important that they joyfully made the journey. Jerusalem was where they experienced the joy shared as the community of God. At the house of the Lord, there was the special opportunity to worship the name of the Lord in his presence. Today as Christians who believe God is present everywhere, we can undervalue a moment of special encounter with God in corporate worship.

Quickly locating and connecting with a local church is important to our relationship with God. Spiritual development as an individual and as a family can flounder if you finally find a church about the same time you get your next set of PCS orders.

In your plan for finding a church or military chapel, you may want to consider the following suggestions:

Pray for guidance. God may want you at a specific congregation for a purpose.

Do a digital recon of church websites to find out what a church believes; learn about their structure of worship or type of liturgy, leadership, and programs to fit your family, and their community involvement.

If you are a member of a specific denomination, check with your denominational headquarters for churches in your area. Identifying a church’s denomination simply by the name on the sign is getting harder to do.

Remember there are many good churches, but there is no perfect church. You probably have heard the quip, “If I were to find a perfect church, it would lose that status when I joined.” Don’t just try to determine if the church is right for you, but also ask yourself: “Am I right for this church?”

What challenges have you had in finding a church home after a PCS? God created you with gifts meant to be shared within the body of Christ. How do you actively search for a place to share your unique gifts?

When you receive PCS orders, some decisions are best made after you arrive at your new location. You should wait until you can measure the windows before you order new curtains. Do not order checks with a new address until you have moved into your home. However, there is one thing you can certainly decide before your new military unit welcomes your family: you can determine to do good.

The travelers journeying to Jerusalem used this Psalm of Ascent (Psalm 125) to remind themselves that God blesses those who do good. Jesus taught on the virtues of doing good, even to those who do not deserve it (Luke 6:27–32). The apostle Paul emphasized that God created us in Christ to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). The Bible affirms that doing good brings glory to God (1 Peter 2:12). Doing good is so powerful it can even be the reason someone decides to become a Christian (1 Peter 3:1).

As a new person in town, you may be tempted to hide away and lay low until someone invites (or drags) you to a spouses’ meeting or chapel event. However, doing good normally cannot be done in a social vacuum; it requires someone on the receiving end. Set a goal to do good in your new community as quickly as you can. You can get ready to do good at your new location before you arrive by practicing the following phrases to be used when you arrive:

“How can I help?”

“Is there anything you need?”

“When can I start?”

Doing good begins with the right frame of mind—having an upright heart, as the psalmist notes. The status of the heart clarifies that God is looking for more than just good deeds. Our good deeds are to originate in a good heart. We do not earn our salvation by doing good, but we validate the good work the Lord has done in our hearts by the good work of our hands.

What does it mean for you to do good? What strategies have you used to help you get involved quickly at a new military assignment?

Hello, my name is Brenda and I am a recovering control freak.

I spent twenty-eight years in rehab, otherwise known as “military life.” God used military life to teach me the importance of relinquishing control. The most intense lesson always came when PCS orders arrived. Uncle Sam did not allow me to have any control over when those orders would arrive or where they would take our family.

When my husband received orders for Korea, I wondered whom he had angered. Korea was not on my list of places to visit, let alone live. The order to report within thirty days only increased the tension of the situation. Thirty days! He went to the military housing office to schedule the move, but there were no appointments available for several weeks. What did he do? My resourceful (i.e., desperate) soldier planted himself in the office and waited for an appointment no-show so he could get the ball rolling for our international move.

My husband’s desire to calmly take care of his family was tossed in the air due to a hurried report date. Military life teaches you (if you are willing to learn) that when you do not have control of a situation, you respond the best way you can.

As a Christ follower, the best way I can would not mean trusting in my ability to control my circumstances, but would mean trusting in God who is over all circumstances. I long to learn the “tranquility of mature rest” described in Psalm 131.

The message of Psalm 131 is the call to give less attention to my desires and efforts, and more to God’s ordering of the issues of my life. The psalm refers to the immature child who wants control. She wants to nurse when she wants to nurse. If you are a mom, you know that weaning a child is difficult. Crying and feelings of abandonment accompany the process, but the process is necessary for the child to mature. The process yields a weaned child who is content to rest beside mother, knowing mother will meet and provide for the needs.

Psalm 131:2 in The Message reads:

I’ve kept my feet on the ground,
I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.

Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,
My soul is a baby content.

What does being content look like for you? What are ways you can cultivate “a quiet heart?”

When asked to share their best PCS advice, my friend Malinda reported her husband’s response: “Deferred travel!”

Deferred travel means the service member travels to the next duty station, and the family follows later. My friend’s response was probably a tongue-in-cheek one. Malinda’s husband could make the argument that he would go to the next duty station ahead of her in order to scope out the living conditions, get comfortable in his new assignment, and learn his way around their new town to better introduce it to his family. The unsaid argument of course is, “I will go ahead and let you take care of moving with the kids.”

Deferred travel actually worked for us for several PCS moves. When we moved to Germany, traveling alone with two preschool children to meet my confident soldier on the other side of the ocean was best. Our delayed arrival gave him the opportunity to acclimate to his job and the new culture without worrying about his family. Our transition overseas was much easier. The plan worked well enough that we did it again when we moved to Korea years later.

A PCS move is a prime opportunity to challenge the concept of dwelling together in unity. The pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem needed the reminder as they journeyed together. In the context of Psalm 133, traveling in a group would generate plenty of opportunity for tensions to simmer. Competition for resources, supplies, and dwelling en route provided potential for conflict among families and tribes. The song they sang reminded them of the importance of traveling in harmony with one another. The unity they displayed as families would positively affect the entire nation.

My sister in Christ, unity is a testimony to the world of the reality of Christ and will convince people that you have something they do not. Jesus spoke of this unity in a prayer for his followers—“I in them and you in me. So that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23 NIV).

What are the triggers that cause disunity in your family during a PCS move? How can you prepare to combat disunity during a PCS move?