Tomorrow our country honors those who have served or are currently serving in our military.
It is our chance, once a year, to say “thank you” to those who have given us the freedom to worship, pray publicly, read our Bibles, homeschool our kids, have our kids in private school, work whatever job we want, go to college wherever we want, adopt children from other countries, etc.
Our military work hard each day. They are seldom thanked. They and their families make HUGE sacrifices daily. We were always a flag-waving family, thankful for our military, but little did we really understand about the sacrifices, until we became a military mom and dad. Now we have a speck better understanding as to the sacrifices those serving make/have made.
Tomorrow we will be participating in our town’s Veteran’s Day parade. I wanted to publicly invite you and your family to whatever celebration your town has. We have stood holding signs that say, “THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY” and many veterans passing have started to cry. Many have never felt honored by our country. Tomorrow I will proudly march holding our son’s picture with my fellow Blue-Star Moms.
So here’s an idea – Tomorrow is a great day to load up your kids, even the little ones and tell them the stories of those who have fought or currently fight for our freedoms. Tell them about the spouses left at home while their loved ones are away. Tell them about the thousands of kids just like them that wait for daddy or mommy to come home.
And to all you military families – our family here honors you and thanks you!! You guys rock!! We pray that God protects your loved ones and that He protects you. That He meets every need you have and that you feel loved and appreciated by your fellow citizens because you are all our heroes!!
May GOD Bless America….
thanks for all of your stories-i really get a lot out of them! my hubby has been gone 2 years the end of this month. my kids are 8,7 and 4. we are praying for him to be home by february. it has been hard but we are counting days down now!!! praying for your soldier as well as all the others! GOD BLESS THE U.S.A! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!!
Amen. 🙂 I grew up just outside of Washington, DC & many of my friends growing up were military kids. Now, I have several friends in both Army and Air Force ROTC here at school. There is a special part of my heart for military people and their families. We will be having a special chapel service, here at Cedarville, tomorrow, in honor of Veterans Day. I love it.
Praying for you and your sweet family.
-Stephanie
P.S. Thank you so much for the sweet comments. Still a bit weepy. We would be quite the sight, with our red eyes and tissues.
Beautifully written Linny. I totally agree "Freedom isn't free". Hugs..
Tomorrow also marks the 10th anniversary of my grandpa's passing. He served in the army and fought in WWII. He was a quiet man and kept mostly to himself. I am forever grateful for his service to our country! Freedom's never free.
Thanks for always supporting the military. It's been a hard deployment for Tyler's brother unit in Eastern Georgia. With still some time left for us (Tyler will replace my husband's unit), we are all weary and tired. Our prayers will not end when our guys come home. We will continue to pray for ALL service members who have left families here, but we especially feel the burden of those serving in our great regiment.
Look for the River Church group at Durango C*ffee C*ompany!
My family is all Navy! Go Navy!!
Thanks Linny!
Our eldest son served in the army for 4.5 years, with 2.5 in Iraq. He's been home a year and a half, and now is signing back up. He can't stand to sit on the sidelines … he wants to get back in the action of serving his country.
#2 son is about to sign up with the navy. He will be doing Officer Training, and then will be serving either as a pilot, or with Intelligence.
Both our sons are PROUD to have the opportunity to serve their country. I hope more people will realize what these soldiers have done for us, and take the time to thank them.
Laurel
mama of 13
Thank you Linny, from the very bottom of heart!
Having had friends who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, we know first hand that freedom truly isn't free. Thank you Veterans. Thank you.
Love you friend. Carry that Ty sign proudly!
Blessings ~
Tina~ Proud military wife for 25 years (and counting), proud military mama for almost three years! I love my men in blue!!
Linny,
I have a story to tell you. I am a Second Grade teacher. Last week we were learning about Veterans in preparation for the Veterans Day luncheon that our school hosted today (40-plus Veterans came and even several families of fallen soldiers). Anyways back at the end of October we read a book about a girl who sets a white table for Veterans Day. We first talked about what our soldiers are fighting for and talked about the sacrifice soldiers make for us. I brought up that American soldiers haven't just fought in wars in the past but are fighting today on the other side of the world. My students decided that they wanted to do something for the soldiers fighting and not just the veterans. So I talked with a friend of mine who is deployed and he said the thing they really want is candy. Since it was the Friday before Halloween I asked if any of my students would be willing to "sacrifice some of their Halloween candy?" We talked about how a small sacrifice is bringing in the candy you don't like, but a big sacrifice is bring in your favorite candy. My 22 second graders brought in 71 pounds of their Halloween candy to send to my friend's unit who is deployed in Iraq from our local Army Post. 72 pounds! We also sent letters, poems, and pictures. I heard one box arrived today, and the other five are suppose to arrive tomorrow. It was such a success that the program Candy for our Troops is going to be adopted school wide next year!
Anyways I wanted to share because I am so proud of the students in my class. I think they understood that Freedom isn't Free, and the concept of sacrifice. Happy Veterans Day! I will be thinking of Tyler and your family tomorrow.
This is an emotional day for this military mama! Matt goes back at 4am to Afghanistan.
Loving you even if we didn't win the gameshow!
Thank you my friend. We've made it almost 4 months. Skpe just went down on his end so we can no longer see him but he gets to call usually once a week. The minutes tick by so quickly…and days like Sunday (story on my blog) make my heart long for my husband to share the burdens and the blessings.
And yet God is all things to us as a family.
Thank you for honoring those who serve and for raising your children to do the same.
much love and respect,
Holly
Linny you are absolutely right! I think we will set some time aside today for a little lesson. My kids got a taste of what a soldier actually is called to do, when a close friend of there's Father was stationed in Iraq for 18 months.
How wonderfully appropriate that the comments section end to the left of Tyler's picture!
I am SO thankful and proud of him, of his wife, of his family, and of others just like him. The sacrifice is unreal to me.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…for all you do.
Linny
I am thinking of Tyeler today. Hugs to him and your family!!!
Kathie
We loaded up the van and headed to our local parade. We took my Grandfather too, who is a World War II veteran. As he was telling his great-grandchildren about the time he met President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Fort Benning, I got misty-eyed.
Yes, freedom isn't free.
And thank you too Linny, DW and the entire clan for standing by your son and soldier, Tyler. We salute your Tyler and all those serving today!!!
I am getting chills just typing …
Proud and Blessed Today,
Leslie
Tell Tyler "Thank you" for me, and also thank you for supporting his choice to join, and continuing to support and pray for him. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read " This is the "land of the free", because of the brave." How true. God Bless.
Linny, thanks for your encouragement to get out and honor our veterans today. Because of your prompting I gathered up our flock and we were amongst the few that stood on our parade route today. We also attended a special service at our local courthouse and paid special tribute to our many veterans. We are so thankful! We prayed for our current service men and women and also for families such as yours that are "left behind". Thank you for your sacrifice as well.