Saturday, November 5, 2011

Veterans Day


November 11, 2011 is a special day; it is a special day to honor all the men and women who have ever served in the Armed Forces of these United States.  There will be parades, special parties, and special services in churches to recognize publicly the “sacrifice” these have made and just say “Thank you for serving.”  Ask the majority of those who served, some by request and others by volunteering, and one will hear, “I did not consider it a sacrifice; I considered it an honor.” 
The veteran returns home with many memories, hangs the uniform in the closet for a lifetime and occasionally tries it on to see if it fits, but will continue to wear the pride of having served for a lifetime.  Each time the flag passes by he/she will snap to attention, try to give the perfect salute and smile deep inside.  We wear the hats; have tags on our cars, fly our branch of service flags our yards, not as a way of wanting praise, but as a way to say, “I’m proud to be called an American, to be named with the brave and the free.”[1]
We brag about living in a country where freedom rings loud and strong, and it is great to be able to say that.  However, November 11 is bragging time for all those who served for the protection of our freedom.  We know that freedom is never free; therefore, we must never forget all the men, women, and families that have sacrificed for us. 
We often take for granted and fail to express our gratitude to those who deserve the greatest praise.  We need to remember that, “It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.”[2]  An eight year old recently wrote, “My goal is to try to make veterans feel like the most important people.” 
Therefore, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."[3]  On this Veterans Day, each of us can endorse the goal of the eight-year old and find a veteran and say, “Thank you for your service; you are a very important person.”

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.[4]

May God bless our Veterans and our great country!


[1] Neil Enloe
[2] Author Unknown
[3] John Fitzgerald Kennedy
[4] Galatians 5:1 NASU


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