Just a little thank you....

I find myself laughing right now...not out of humor but out of sadness over the fact of the time in history that I am making this post and all that's going on surrounding it. I am just shaking my head at the fact that instead of writing this without any guards, i am left thinking about how first off this is immediately going to be taken as a political stance or opinion about the latest NIKE fiasco. Do i have opinions about it...absolutely but let me be clear this has NOTHING to do with that. Will this contain words such as SACRIFICE and AMERICA...yep it will, but just pretend you are reading it 10 years prior to today. Because the last thing I want is all this publicity show crap going on to take away from the truth and heart of what today means for my husband. Today, September 9th, 2018, my husband completed his final day with the US Army National Guard. After 10 years in serving his country, 5 years active duty and 5 in the Guard, and two deployments to Iraq and Korea, and many missed weekends of seeing his son due to drill...my husband honorably said goodbye to service.

I have always had a major soft place in my heart for those serving our country. But i can honestly say i never really got it until I met him. I can't take the credit of being with him when he was deployed and knowing what that felt like. I do know that it was hard enough for me when he went on his 3 week trainings once a year. Call me a light weight i know.

I've heard the stories and relived some of his moments as closely as a civilian can. What I can say from it all is that I married one hell of a strong man. I married a man that has truly sacrificed so much. A man that has served and fought and encountered things that all of us in our safe place over here will never understand or know. He sacrificed a lot of things even beyond his time of being over there. He sacrificed being able to enjoy fireworks because of how closely is sounds like bombs. He sacrificed being able to live comfortably over here without thinking about what it looks like to see children used as war pawns in other countries. He sacrificed knowing just how unsafe this world is and just how evil people can be. He sacrificed a lot and yet would still tell you he had no sacrifice at all compared to others. He is the most humble person i know when it comes to his service and his country and i am beyond blessed to call him my husband. He has a story far greater that what I am going to share here because that is exactly what it is...His story not mine. What's mine is the privilege i get to say that my husband is my hero. It's my privilege to say that my husband is an amazing father, soldier, husband, and man. It's my privilege to say that NO ONE will truly know what he sacrificed and how much other than himself.

So to you David...I am so proud of you. I am so blessed to do this life with you. This life that is full of heart ache and challenges but also overwhelmingly full of hope and grace and your love for me. Just because you are out now you will always be a soldier and you will always be a survivor and a fighter. I love you more than you could ever know and am glad that I have you on my side fighting this life together.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When 34 and 90 collide…

Image
  It’s 12:39am…for most people it’s hours of already nestled in sleep. For me it’s hours of thought. Memories running chaotically through the channels of my mind.   My grandma is 90…but is she? When I hear people talk about the elderly there is such a seperation. A lack of connection bc of the generations of distance that lies between the two of us. But for the first time, I’m connected. I realize that though my grandma is 90, to me she is 56, 60, 63,68,70,75…she isn’t a 90 year old elderly woman who is limited to a bed.  She is the memories of all those years. She is relatable. She is the walks to the park we took when I was young.  She is the nap times on a pallet in the living room floor below the couch while she napped to a soap opera. She is the drives in the blue car with two doors, going 25 miles per hour-slow enough to read all the mail boxes. She is the spaghetti dinner and slumber parties with initial shaped pancakes. She is beach trips and belly laughs tha...
Read more

Just keep the Journey Going...

Image
 I thought about starting over....a whole new landing page for my blogs and writings. However, the more i thought about it, the more it just didn't feel right. Just because my season has changed and things are very different, it doesn't eliminate the seasons of the past. It doesn't diminish the power of the lessons i have learned over the last 6 years and the growth that has taken place. I have said it before and if you know me on a deep level you know this, literally since i was old enough to write, i have. I have kept journals virtually my whole life from the age of probably 8 and still going strong. I have boxes of these journals and  have kept them all. I also have used blogs to capture my thoughts and emotions as i have walked, ran, stumbled, and what has felt like literally crawled on my hands and knees through this glorious thing we call life. And well, here i am again. Standing in the midst of a new season in which I feel very unprepared for. I say all this because ...
Read more

Here she goes rambling again...

Image
  Today, per usual, my brain was just a rolling with thought after thought. Its often frustrating and difficult to slow down, however sometimes those thoughts i can't help but believe are whispers from the Holy Spirit. Moments I hope to remain open and slowed down enough to take in and digest.  This morning i was in some feelings and thought, when the verse Romans 8:28 came to mind. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together  for good,  for  those who are called according to his purpose." This is a pretty popular scripture in the Word, however it is also a very commonly misinterpreted one as well. Let me preface, i am no Bible scholar. My education and knowledge has come from a long life of "hard-knocks" and through the pains and consequences of such, realizing leaning into Jesus is my only hope and peace.  This morning i thought about my life. I thought about some harder seasons i have seen. I thought of things lost and things change...
Read more