Our Men and Women of Uniform

I have posted this earlier but thought it would be approriate for Memorial Weekend.  Enjoy your weekend may it be full of blessings and I will be back on Tuesday. God Bless!

   ***My hubby the Active Duty Soldier (he is praising his pizza)***

Many of us talk about thanking our men and women in service, as we should.  But has one really thought about what our men and women go through for our Freedom????

There are the obvious ones:

They leave for months on end to a land far from their home and loved ones.

They deal with harsh weather conditions.

They may fire their weapon because they are being fired at.

They deal with the threats of IEDS and mortars.

However, what about the mother who just gave birth and has to leave a few months later for 12 months.  When she returns she now sees her 18 month old child walking, running, and eating "big" people food.  She then has to deal with her child not knowing who she is.

Or what about the new daddy who sees his first child for the first time through pictures.....

Or the daddy who was blessed by seeing his child born...but has to leave a few days later.....for over a year...

Or the daddy who will never meet his child because he will not be making it home.

What about the military men and women who need to focus on the mission but cannot because they just found out their child needs emergency surgery...

Or they just found out that their child or spouse has cancer.....

These men and women of our military sacrifice more than one can ever imagine.  They long to be home with their loved ones, to be able to put their child to bed at night, or to at least spend a holiday home.

I think the song "An American Soldier" by Toby Keith really sums up how many military members feel.  There is one part in the song that stands out to me and it really has an impact on me emotionally.  Actually I cry through the entire song.

"I don't want to die for you but if dying is asking me

I will bear that cross with honor because Freedom don't come free

I am an American Soldier

An American".......

How true is that? How many of our past, present and future Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard have lost their lives because they were fighting for our Freedom?

Another thing one may not think about are the Service member's family.

There's the wife who becomes a single parent for over a year.  She now has to be the mom, and the dad....

Or the child of a single parent who has to move in with someone else while their parent is gone fighting for our Freedom.....

Or the family who has just celebrated their mom or dad's homecoming six months earlier but now has to say "See you later, and come home safe"....again....

Or the child who doesn't understand why their daddy or mommy has missed yet another birthday...for the third time....

Or the wife who is carrying her first child praying that her hubby will make it home for the birth....

Or the newlyweds celebrating their first wedding anniversary....alone.....

Or the family waiting for their service member to make it home, until they get a visit that will change their lives forever...

Our men and women in uniform along with their families really deserve prayers, and our thoughts.  So please next time you see a Service member please thank them.  Please do not think that your comment will not matter, because it will.  It gives the men, women and their families more strength to continue doing what they are doing. 

This post is linked with Heavenly Homemakers.