Book Synopsis The vulnerable true story of a journey that changed a military spouses perspective of deployment, herself, and her military marriage. Corie shares insights we can bring into our own hearts to see our own relationships with new eyes. -Amy Bushatz, Executive Editor, Military.com Your heart will break and heal with every turn of the page. -Taya Kyle, New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and executive director of the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation Like many military couples, Corie and her husband, Matt, an Army chaplain, accumulated significant unshared moments during Matts deployments. After multiple deployments, these sacred spaces were taking up a lot of emotional room in their relationship. When US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter invited Corie, as the 2015 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year, to join his team on a one-week overseas holiday trip, she eagerly accepted, hoping to gain a better understanding of her husbands deployment experience and lessen the impact sacred spaces had on her marriage. As Corie sat in the belly of a C-17, where her husband had said goodbye to the remains of friends and fellow soldiers, as she touched with her own hands the memorial at FOB Fenty and reflected on her grief as a care team member following the battle of COP Keating, Corie realized this journey was about much more than the push-pull of duty away from loved ones. This was a journey to the heart of her marriage, where she would have to leave behind her resentment in exchange for ground she and her husband had surrendered to hurt, misunderstanding, loss-and Afghanistan. Multiple-Award-Winning Book Living Now Book Awards Gold Medal-Best Relationships/Marriage Book ForeWord INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards finalist Midwest Book Awards Silver Featured on the TODAY Show as Kathie Lees favorite thing. Review Quotes Sacred Spaces by Corie Weathers is a must-read for all military spouses! Writing from her experience as a military spouse and counselor, Corie exposes vulnerable feelings and emotions, particularly those surrounding deployment. During deployment, a spouse and soldier have completely different experiences that the other may not fully understand. Corie describes these individual moments as sacred spaces, positive or negative personal experiences that shape and change a person. Given a unique opportunity to visit deployment locations, Corie traveled overseas with the Secretary of Defense to Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, and aboard aircraft carriers, and created a multi-sensory description of her journey to share her insights with readers. Meanwhile, her husband Matt, an Army chaplain, was in charge of moving their family to a new house at a new location right before Christmas. Their role reversal helped them better understand each others perspective. While reading this book, I felt like Corie was right there talking to me. Her words express the difficulties of deployments and military life. I laughed and cried reading this book, because of the similar sacred spaces I share with Corie and other spouses of 3-61CAV. Each of us has our own sacred space around life-changing events that occurred during that deployment and after. My husband, Clint, and I invited the Weathers to share one of our sacred spaces, Medal of Honor ceremonies at the White House and the Pentagon. Support from Matt and Corie, then and now, has given us new insight on how to handle our own marriage. -- Tammy Romesha , wife of Medal of Honor Recipient SSG Clinton Romesha I wish this book had been around when Chris and I started our lives together. In Sacred Spaces , Corie Weathers courageously invites the reader to join her on an intricate and raw spiritual journey through the complexities of military life. Cories open introspection, boldly sharing the most vulnerable parts of herself and her thoughts, blesses the reader with wisdom and valuable knowledge from so many angles. Sacred Spaces is a window into the soul of patriotic commitment. Your heart will break and heal with every turn of the page. -- Taya Kyle , The New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and executive director of the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation Sacred Spaces dips into places in my own Army marriage experience that I have never had the right words to tackle. When Corie said yes to visiting Afghanistan with the Secretary of Defense, she was able to gain a window into the deployment experience on behalf of all civilian military spouses everywhere. We will probably never have the chance Corie did to visit the places where our own marriages and military lives were forever changed and learn these things firsthand. In this book, Corie shares insights we can bring into our own hearts to see our own relationships with new eyes. -- Amy Bushatz , Editor, SpouseBUZZ About the Author CORIE WEATHERS is a military wife, licensed professional counselor (LPC), sought-after speaker, and consultant. She started her career as a counselor specializing in marriage, divorce, womens issues, and substance abuse. Certified to work with post-traumatic stress by the Center for Deployment Psychology, Corie found her passion working to build stronger relationships with military and first-responder couples. As the 2015 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year, Corie advocated for mental health issues and served as a media correspondent writing for online and print publications, consulting for command teams, and speaking nationally on topics such as PTSD, grief, marriage, and military culture. Corie is also the creator and host of Lifegiver Military Spouse Podcast, offering a positive place for honest conversations about military marriage as well as interviews with inspirational guests. She serves as an ambassador for the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation. Corie and her husband, Matthew, an Army chaplain, cohost marriage retreats and offer a free online marriage program designed to improve intimacy and connection.