Young or old, every one of us needs someone to look up to.
Memorial Day is all about honoring those who serve in the Armed Forces now and those who died to keep our Nation free. Certainly we can never repay them or their loved ones, so we clap and cheer, our emotions a tumble of pride, gratitude and humility.
Then we stop talking bravery and get back to normal.
What about the other 364 days of the year?
Maybe it's time we stop looking "out there."
Heroes live all around us.
They come in all ages, all sizes and all shapes. Think of military spouses who thanked God their husband or wife survived terrible injury and now pray every day for strength to keep going. Consider the mom or dad with a severely disabled child or a loved one who needs constant care. Try to imagine the anguish over what was lost. Yet every day they get up, smile and keep on showing love.
Heroes, every one. One may live next door or even under your roof.
Heroes keep their word. They hang on through hardship. They keep on loving despite disappointments and refuse to give up. They consistently affirm the good in others.Spend five minutes with them and we walk away feeling better about ourselves. Lifted up.
Children especially need heroes
From their youngest years, kids crave stability and trustworthiness. Faithfulness. Love that won't quit. Something to believe in that's as sure as sundown and sunrise. Just by being loving parents, imperfect and flawed as we all are, we fill their deepest needs. They feel safe and secure.
That continues, even through their prickly adolescenet years. Every survey says that young people still pay more attention to their parents and how they live than to any media or sports star. Even when our grown children are well into adulthood they watch us, to learn how to handle life.
That's our contuing privilege and it gives us purpose for every day we live.
It's okay to feel shaky
None of us can role-model goodness and courage every day of every year. But we can ask God's help, then go forth with trust and joy. I like this "road map:"
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. --Psalm 3:5-6
Let's keep praying for our military personnel
They serve our nation and they serve us. Their courage wavers, too. They get weary and weak and want to give up sometimes. They need our prayer support.
It's personal in our family. One granddaughter is on her second re-enlistment with the Navy and scheduled for a Middle East deployment. Another completed her duty with the Marines Corps after a tour in Kuwait and one near Baghdad. Like all military parents our daughter and her husband wait and worry and most of all, pray.
Others will continue to argue over the "rightness" or "wrongness" of war. Let us unite and thank God for those who serve in our Armed Forces and pray He will preserve this nation.
With love from your fellow learner,
Lenore
