We've been down here in Florida for only a week and a half and we have learned so much. Living in a military town sure puts things into a different perspective. Eglin Air Force Base greatly impacts this area, not only in it's physical size but in the presence of so many military personnel. Men, women and to us, kids. It is incredible.
Today at church it was unbelievably overwhelming to see a video tribute to those who were personally affected by 9-11-01 and how in the midst of all that rubble, four crosses were found in a cavity that looked eerily like a Cathedral - even being nicknamed "God's House" in the days after the towers came down. After wiping the tears away from our eyes, our pastor asked for those in the congregation who are currently serving in the military or whose spouses are deployed to stand up, many of them who were children themselves when those fateful occurences on 9-11-01 came about. You could actually feel a rush of air as half the congregation stood. We were face to face, shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm with so many who are sacrificing on a daily basis. Some just back from active duty overseas, some getting ready to go, some whose spouses are currently deployed and the families that have to do without their loved ones for months and months at a time. It was pretty intense. There was a light moment during the prayer thanking them for their daily sacirifices, when my cell phone went off. Now you might think that it going off was NOT funny but actually in a way, it was perfect - and funny. You see, my cell phone "ring" is Darryl Worley's "Sounds Like Life To Me." So as the pastor was thanking them for their everyday sacrifices, my phone was playing "Sounds Like Life To Me." I muffled it with my oxygen backpack as soon as I realized it had gone off but not before those around us started chuckling at the perfect timing. And in a way, it is everyday life for them. It's their duty - it's their life. I seem to have a knack for making noise at the most inopportune moments in church. At least this time it wasn't my oxygen tank sounding like a bomb going off in the sanctuary (somehow I think some of these people would have hit the deck at that sound). I rarely even carry my phone with me and even rarer are the times that I turn it on, let alone have someone call me. sigh... Yet it was perfect.
There have been other moments that have brought tears to my eyes as well. We were in Target and we saw a young dad with his 8 month old son shopping and playing around. We smiled at his uncertainty on handling him and his determination to be the "best" father that he can be to him. We started chatting with him and learned that his wife had just been deployed to Afghanistan and he is left at home with this tiny little human being to take care of. His family is out west and he's learning to do this all by himself (and doing a great job I might add.) When we think of families and their sacrifices, we think of the dad's going off to war and mom keeping the homefires burning. That's not always the case. We're seeing it more and more that the moms are just as likely to be going overseas as the dads. Each time we go to the grocery store, or any store for that matter, there is a uniformed soldier in their fatigues, tired from their days' duties getting the things they need for home. Everyday people and yet some of the most elite our military arsenal has at their disposal. They're young and not so young, they're male and female alike. They are all very respectful to us ol' people and on the times that Oliver wears his Marine t-shirts, they are thanking him for HIS service. My tears are constantly welling up as I think of all they are giving up so that you and I can go about our everyday lives. I've always been grateful but it has always been to just a few "known" faces and countless others unknown. We've lived in military surroundings before. We lived in San Diego for years but somehow the climate even in the military towns has changed in the past 10 years. There is a heightened sense of being ready to be called at any moment to go "active" and yet still trying to maintain some everyday normalcy. There are moms in fatigues "correcting" their children right next to the mom in flip flops wearing shorts doing the same. There are dads who you just know are leaving soon by the way they're acting with their kids and the way the kids cling to their legs. You just have to wonder if this will be one of the last memories those children will have. We have lost far too many of these men and women - men and women who have and are giving their very lives to ensure that their kids will have all the rights and liberties afforded them by this great country we call the United States. They are no longer unknown faces but are our neighbors and just as quickly becoming our friends. We've always prayed for them and for their safety but now we have actual faces to attach to those prayers.
I have always been proud to be an American and I have always respected and been grateful for those who have served our country so unselfishly but I can honestly say that my heart has been touched beyond it's capacity since we've been down here and today was almost too much to bear. Oliver's active duty days were over long before we met, but I've always beem proud of his service. I've always known that it must be very difficult to keep the homefires burning as these men and women are serving, but for some reason, it's hitting home more these days. Probably because I see the results of it everywhere I turn.
As you go about your business not only today, but everyday, please take time out to pray for those who are sacrificing so very much so that we can just go about our business. We hear in the news all the times things go "wrong" but rarely, if ever, do we hear of the things that go right. We are not privvy to all the ins and outs because of security reasons and that's too bad. These people are working extra hard to provide us with safety and to keep our world as we know it as safe as it can be for us. We are the unknown faces that they are serving for as well as their own families. For that very reason, I pray for them. I thank them and I stand willing to help out those that they leave behind so that they can fight those battles without the extra added burden of worrying about their loved ones having support at home. That's the very least we can do and if you want to put faces to those prayers, well, c'mon on down and I'll introduce you to some of our new friends and their families. I can guarantee you, your perspective will change and you'll feel things you never knew were buried deep within you. As you lay your head down upon your pillow tonight, remember that there are loved ones doing the same, some with tears streaming down their faces, and still others who will not find sleep tonight because they are busy being on duty. Pray for them and thank them - because of them, you will be able to have a restful sleep. Sweet dreams, my friends. ((hugs))
