Meet Marta. She’s a single mom in California. Marta is an English teacher and works five jobs to support her two little girls.

“We don’t live here. We survive!” Marta laughs, reflecting on her hectic life. That’s why Marta was overjoyed when the man of her dreams, Eric, asked her to marry him.

“Eric is the only man for me,” Marta says. “Life has put us through a lot, but we have trust in everything we do.”

But in January 2017, a huge roadblock came between Marta and her happily-ever-after. Eric was deployed to Afghanistan.

“Our life spiraled into a crazy military life,” Marta recalls. “It was nerve racking!”

For almost a year, Marta and her girls fought the good fight in California while her Eric served in Afghanistan.

“It was rough,” Marta admits. “My kids kept asking me, ‘When is he going to come home?’”

In the midst of her fiancé’s deployment, Marta discovered a shelter in the storm.

“My ritual in the morning is I wake up, I make my coffee, I sit down, and I pray,” Marta says. “The power of prayer is the only glue that holds it all together.”

During her quiet time, Marta drew strength for the battle from God’s Word. Her favorite Bible study resource is Journey of a Military Wife—a free Scripture resource for military spouses created through your generous support. Each book contains 60 biblical devotions by author Brenda Pace, the wife of a military chaplain.

In her books, Pace shows how the Bible provides wisdom and encouragement for the daily grind of military family life.

“I’ve read a lot of devotional and spiritual books,” Marta says. “But I’ve never read a book that speaks to you so personally.”

Marta’s well-worn Journey books indicate how much these biblical devotions have filled her heart with hope.

“These books have been my companion everywhere I go,” Marta says. “There’s not a page where I don’t have a sentence underlined.”

Marta loves how the books connect her life to the grand story of Scripture.

“We get so caught up in our lives that we don’t see connections between the Bible and what we are doing,” Marta explains. “Even all those prophets in the Bible—they suffered and they got mad. Being scared and afraid happened to people before us— people who were holy!”

Marta cannot overstate the powerful impact of God’s Word on her life during that challenging season.

“I would never have survived Eric’s deployment without those books,” Marta says. “They gave me perspective and they gave me peace.”

In October 2017, Eric finally returned home to Marta, and they were married within days of his arrival. They cannot thank you enough for strengthening Marta with God’s Word in her hour of need.

“American Bible Society’s financial partners deserve to know that they really do change lives,” Marta says. “It doesn’t matter how much you contribute—I will be eternally grateful.”

Story originally published in the 2017 American Bible Society Stewardship Report.