“The best news my counselor told me was that everything I was feeling was normal. She helped me understand my husband’s crisis,” said Marshele. “She helped me understand his mind, his heart, and the reactions he was having to his life experiences.”
Mark’s willingness to go to counseling was another huge step for the couple. “When he tried to be so strong for so long, it was good to see him be vulnerable and open with me,” said Marshele. “I know it was really hard for him.”
The journey toward complete healing isn’t over yet, Marshele said. “But there are greater signs of healing now. The monsters that raise their heads are getting smaller, and the victories are becoming bigger over time. I think that time is such a huge part of this prescription. We just have to wait. We have to keep doing the right things, keep loving one another, and keep believing that faith, hope, and love will endure and they will undergo anything if given the chance.”
The Waddells are more able to talk openly in the moment of rising tension, or within a couple of hours of the incident. Reconciliation is taking place much more quickly than before.
In 2007, Mark and Marshele began sharing their story with other churches through Bridges to Healing, the PTSD ministry branch of Campus Crusade for Christ’s Military Ministry. Marshele also speaks directly to women who share their experiences in her book, When War Comes Home: Christ-centered Healing for Wives of Combat Veterans, co-authored with Reverends Chris and Rahnella Adsit.
“When families go through these combat deployments and especially when dealing with PTSD on a moderate to severe level, everyone close to the situation goes through a faith crisis: Where was God when all this happened, where is he now? Why do I feel like I knock and the locks are bolted?” said Marshele.
“In those times, as long as you don’t give up, you will grow. God hears all of it, and eventually he responds, he stirs, and you will know he’s present in it. It just seems like forever in those long dry spells.”
Lord, give me the discipline to stay faithful to you even in the dry spells.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)