God Bless Our Veterans.......

As I'm enjoying my day off work today I thought I'd do a shout-out to all the members of our Armed Forces, those intrepid men and women both past and present that have made such sacrifices for our freedom and our way of life.  And the freedoms and lives of those that are being persecuted elsewhere.  I hold them all up in prayer, that God would protect them and encourage them, that He would hold them close and give them courage and comfort and be with their families while they are away.  I cannot pretend to imagine what it would be like to be torn from your spouse, your children and all those you love to be shipped away to some foreign lands where you are unappreciated and put in harms way every day.  It is shameful that they come home with broken bodies, broken spirits and damaged minds and they are often forgotten and ignored.  At least today the general sentiment is to support our troops, but let's not forget what our Vietnam Vets came home to and let's pray that never happens again.  There are so many things about this country that are great, that make us all proud to be citizens of the United States of America but there are also some things to be ashamed of, mostly the way we have treated some of our citizens whether it be the Native Americans, the African Americans, or our returning soldiers.  For anyone reading this blog today I would implore you to lift our Veterans up in prayer, to thank a soldier, and/or lend support to a family in need.  It is my fervent prayer that one day our returning service men and women would have unlimited resources at their disposal to ensure they live as whole a life as possible upon their return.  That they would be valued and respected as much after their service as during their service.

I am the first to admit I sometimes take it all for granted.  It is so easy to become complacent until some particularly gruesome headline catches our eye.  We have become numb to the stories.  The yellow ribbons have blown away.  Perhaps we don't have a personal connection with any soldiers.  September 11th seems like a long ways away by now but I know everyone can still remember how united we felt during that time.  How we treated our neighbors just a little more kindly, our children a little more patiently.  We flew our flags a little more proudly.  I pray for an America that remembers our vets with the same reverence as we had for victims on that horrible day.   So here's to us America, on this Veteran's Day 2010, let us vow to do better!