Memorial Day

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John 15:13    Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Ephesians 6:13-18    Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all  prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

 

We live in a beautiful land full of different sites in one area or state to another.  But this truly is one of our Creator’s masterpieces in my mind.  Fortunately, throughout our young history, we have had men and women willing to go out an defend our freedoms, our way of life, our belief in a God above, Creator of all, and in the right for you to have and hold a different belief.

Our military are men and women who are prepared–educated, trained, and outfitted with clothing and weapons to support us, to defend us, and to protect us.   They stand for us and the freedom we live with in our country.  They are willing to defend us to the death; and there is no greater love than this to be willing to fight and face death, to protect us.  They are men and women to be proud of.  I remember as a child going to the Memorial Day parade.  Sometimes, I was a spectator, other times I was marching also because of scouts or something.  But there was a little pride and awe watching the parade, seeing the former service members marching with the pride lift of shoulders and chin, knowing they had faced bullets for me and my family to be safe, so our space program could move forward, so we could have a good education, and for so many reasons.

To me, military members have always elicited a sense of pride and thankfulness.  I was able to get a full education, work in my field freely, without fear or rancor, I was able to take my children to church and raise them to be productive hard working members of society, and I was able to pray for these men and women to be safe and protected while they were serving in far away lands. 

But I was aware, even as these proud older former military men and women marched, they had lost friends, siblings, family members and had felt the immediate and heartfelt grief of losing a loved one in battle.  I did not.   The ones I had lost were fighting in the civil war, quite a bit before my time.  But still I felt honored, and very thankful and proud of those who walked past now.

We have a lot of freedoms in this country other countries do not have.  And we owe our military and constitution for those freedoms.  God has richly blessed this country.  I am not sure He receives a lot of thankful hearts from many, but I know my friends and family are grateful for the blessings we have and for the military who have helped bring those freedoms about.  And to all those who have sacrificed their lives for me and for this country, there are no words.  Thank you for your service, for the service and loss to your family, and for being a part of keeping our country free. 

God watch over all on this Memorial Day, remember those who have fallen and sacrificed.

God bless you all and your families.  Thank You, God, for blessing me and ‘mybellaviews.’