As founder of our faith-based, nonprofit organization, I’d like to tell you a little about our mission and how we came to be.

Technically, the idea for Centurion’s Watch was birthed when I was deployed in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. As a US Army chaplain, I ministered to soldiers from all walks of life. Many of them had families back home and were dealing with all of the difficulties that arise when a marriage and a family are separated by military service.

I was inspired by these soldiers and their commitment to their families, their country, and for many their Christian faith. However, I also realized they needed support and tools for dealing with the challenges they faced then and the challenges they—and their families—surely would face when they returned home and got on with their lives.

The Blythe family is one of many military families that we have worked with.

Back then, it wasn’t clear to me how to help. I only knew that there must be a way to provide the support they needed to live better, more fulfilling, and rewarding lives as members of Christ-centered families.

About a year after I returned home, when I was in a hotel preparing to meet with a military unit in southern Indiana, I suddenly felt the strongest notion to start a faith-based group that would help build strong military families. I made it a mission, if you will.

Having been overseas and having seen a number of soldiers whose marriages were in trouble and needed help, I already felt that not enough was being done to help them deal with the rigors of military life and to give them solutions that made sense. But as a result of my sudden insight that day in Evansville, Indiana, and my own background in the military, it became clear that I was supposed to put all of that together and do something meaningful and immediate.

So, with help from my family—especially my wife, Ally—my board of directors, friends, churches, and, of course, Christ’s guidance, I began the process of assembling paperwork and taking the legal steps necessary to form a faith-based, nonprofit organization to help military families lead rewarding, fulfilling lives.

Although I have organized marriage conferences to help military men and women build stronger marriages, my hope is that Centurion’s Watch will address all aspects of life: family, our Christian faith, marriage, work, leadership, leisure, and how to live a life that is truly worth living.

During this first month of blogs, we will cover a variety of topics to give you some ideas about the scope of our mission. In the future, we hope to establish themes for each month’s writings. We encourage you to contact us to submit suggestions for topics, themes, or issues that you feel we could address in a helpful fashion. You are our mission, after all. We need you.