Healthy Veteran Highlights • October 2026

Let’s not become discouraged in doing good,
for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.
Galatians 6:9  

As you see in the newsletter above, September has been a “dynamic” month for the National Center for Healthy Veterans at Valor Farm.   It is clearly wise for our team to focus on refilling our “Wells of Courage” after such an intense month.  Given that all of us are subject to compassion fatigue as we sometimes grow weary in well doing, let me share some of our self-care thoughts with you as well.    

We have all heard “Put on your mask first” in preparation for an airline flight, symbolizing the need to take care of ourselves so we can help others.  The maxim “the ounce of prevention is worth the pound of cure” certainly applies here.  Ideally our use of self-care disciplines of replenishment and other techniques (See Resilient Leaders, Chapter 8 and Annex 1) prevent us from entering the ragged edges of compassion fatigue, BUT sometimes we are required to sprint to the point of exhaustion.  When that happens, what then?  

The story of Elijah in I Kings 18,19 is illustrative (permit me some summary paraphrase):  Elijah prevailed over the prophets of Baal in the power of God, then faced death threats from Jezebell after his amazing victory, fled to the dessert out of fear, sinking to despair and even potential suicide.   

Elijah was in the zone many refer to as “HALT” (hungry, angry, lonely, and tired) which characterizes vulnerabilities that come with digging too deeply into our wells of courage and nearing compassion fatigue or even burnout.  When one is in a HALT status, it is clearly not the time for key decisions, for overthinking one’s predicament, or for jumping to catastrophic conclusions.

Gratefully, a ministering angel came to Elijah and directed him to rest, drink, eat, and sleep.  Elijah then proclaimed he was ready to go, but the angel directed him into another iteration of self-care.  Then the Scriptures record that he served the Lord and others in some amazing ways for the next 40 days.  Ideally we avoid fatigue and fear to Elijah’s extreme, but it sometimes happens.  In God’s economy, we must be stewards of our own self-care, but also open and responsive to ministering angels around us who recognize our HALT status.   

While these short thoughts Introduce a much broader and deeper discussion, let me conclude this Diving Deeper with Dr. Eric Scalise’s “pebble theory.”  If we are walking down the street with pain and a limp, we may be tempted to wonder if we need a hip replacement, or a chiropractor, or back surgery.  Often the solution is much simpler.  Often we can simply take the irritating pebble out of our shoe, and the problem goes away.  As applied to recovery after a physical or emotional sprint, often the self-care solution does not require major medical intervention. Rather we “take the pebble out of our shoe” via rest and patient recuperation.  

A recent example from Valor Farm reinforces this concept.  “Oh no, the front gate is not working!  Is it the gears, cut wiring, software failure???”  Then the simple solution appeared — the solar panel which provides the electricity was covered in dust. Wipe off the dust and “voila!” — the gate starts recharging and operating.  A simple solution.  

While there are many complexities to the before and after of self-care, often a simple solution prevents or remedies the mental and physical exhaustion we all periodically face.  The simple disciplines of replenishment we mentioned before certainly include putting in the IV of God’s Word, soaking in prayer, relaxing in the warm fellowship and care of other believers, and recognizing that God is the healer who will restore us and continue to use us.    

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies.
Zechariah 4:6