Thursday, February 21, 2008

Making it all the more real...

Around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday my husband's phone rang. Two Soldiers died in Iraq and he was the chaplain on duty for death notifications and funeral services. As I laid in bed, realizing what had happened, I began to cry. My heart ached at the thought of the wives and children, parents and siblings, and other family members and friends that would soon find out their loved one had died. Even living here on post and seeing/hearing/experiencing what it is to serve our country, I sometimes forget that our Soldiers are in great danger over there. I pray for them, and expect that they will be OK, but sometimes that is just not the case. Our Soldiers are not safe.

I thought about my very own husband going to war and how hard that will be to know he is in danger. I thought about our son. I thought about one of my close friends here whose husband is a chaplain and will soon deploy. I thought about our daughter's friends who just recently returned and the loss they experienced there. I thought about a dear friend of my husband, who is also a chaplain and just deployed. I thought about one of my friends whose husband just returned and how good that must have felt to see his face again and be held in his arms after such a long seperation.

I don't want to forget about what our Soldiers are experiencing. I want to be reminded that they are in danger and need our prayers. I want to remember those here at home training long, hard hours and having to be away from their families so much. I want others to be reminded so that they pray and find a way to minister to those serving. Here's my challenge - find a way to reach out to our Soldiers. There are many who don't have family or friends who are in contact with them on a regular basis, or at all. Get involved and be an encouragement to our Soldiers and their families today!

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