Honoring Memorial Day

Honoring our Fallen Heroes and Praying for the Families They Left Behind

 

 

As you go about your day today, be sure reflect upon our Fallen Heroes and the lives they lived as well as be in constant prayer for our Gold Star Families they left behind. 

 

Today should be a quiet day of reflection.

 Reflect upon our Fallen Heroes and the lives they lived as well as the sacrifices they made. By doing this we will also remember the families they left behind as they mourn and remember the loss of their loved ones with hearts which are crying today. 

 So many times we forget these Service Members were "ordinary" people too. They were people who were loved by many. They were sons and daughters, they were husbands and wives and they were friends to many who loved them dearly.

 

 Let us do our part to "Never Forget" our Fallen.  They died a Hero and it is up to us to be sure they aren't forgotten.  By doing this we will show our support to the many Gold Star Families who are touched directly by the loss of their Hero.

Remember, today should a day of prayer and reflection to Honor those who gave all.  By doing this we will touch the lives of the families who are left behind.

 

Ever wonder why?

The Lacking of Military Posts

I am sure many have questioned why I mention this blog is a view into our military and homeschooling journey, but yet I never post anything about our military journey. I have done this for a reason. I try not to voice complaints here, but to bring forth encouragement or at a minimum, honesty and openness to our life in order to help others to know they aren't alone.

Well, since we started this journey of blogging, our military life took a different turn than what we were used to. It has been anything but "normal" looking. The first part of military life was "normal" in that we had a regular life and we had a life of deployments. Since we have been married, my husband has been on both active and reserve duty. When our daughter was first born we decided to get out of the Army in order for her to not live a life the Army brings. Anyone in the military knows that as a life of chaos for many days, months, and sometimes even a year. We got out of the Army from Germany and returned back to America as civilians having to start a new life here. It brought some challenges, but with little time we were back on our feet again.

Life finally looked "normal". My husband went to work every day. I came home after seeing my job was causing our child to be sickly. We learned to live tight, on only one income and have lived that way ever since. Then one day everything changed. It was a tragic event that as a Country we had to endure. That was the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001. My husband realized that day that as a Soldier he could no longer watch from the living room what was happening to our Country and decided after a short break from the Army that the time had come to go back in. Thankfully, with having a full time job, our own home, and experimenting with homeschooling during our daughter’s preschool years, we didn't want to loose all that we had established. So into the Army Reserves he went.

I said all of this to say our life will no longer be the same. Due to a twenty year military career my husband has struggled with an invisible war injury called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as well as a whole host of other invisible injuries. This invisible injury of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has however turned our life completely upside down. Since I started this blog we have struggled with the extreme difficulties this brings into the lives of Soldiers. It isn't an easy life and by no means is glorified or the least bit encouraging, but this is why you haven't seen the military side of our blog. I have chosen to leave the blog titled this way in hopes God will eventually use our great difficult to bring encouragement to others. It is my prayer someday soon I will be able to post encouraging articles to help encourage other families who are struggling with this similar disorder, brought on by the military, and who homeschool at the same time.

I ask that you bear with me as we continue to progress through this great difficulty we have in our life and to pray for our family as we continue traveling down this difficult road and know when it is God's timing you will see me post more about what we have gone through. I can promise you, if we had to go through all of this; my intention is to turn our bad situation into someone else's encouragement. I have to believe God has us traveling down this road so His glory will shine through in the end for others.  

Military Sacrifices

 

The sacrifices our Military make on behalf of us as a Country is tooo great!!!! They give up more than anyone WILL ever know.

Life Challenge: If you know of a Service Member who is struggling reach out your arms today and give them a hug. They "ALL" need it.

Remembering our Service Members who are fighting abroad this Christmas Season

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE. I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE. I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE. NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY. THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME. THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED? I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT. SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE. I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME. THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY. THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, 'SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE; I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.' THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP. I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL. I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT. THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.' ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. 'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.' This poem was written by a Marine.

Soldiers Returning Home From Combat Zones....

I feel led to share this with you as well.... if you are a military family who has a loved one returning home or has a loved one who has returned home from a combat zone, read this article. It might shed some light on what they might be thinking.

We need to keep these service members in our prayers and our arms even when they feel we don't understand and push us away.

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THIS IS A *MUST READ* ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A LOVED ONE OF RETURNING TROOPS...PLEASE DON'T THINK THAT YOUR'S DOESN'T FEEL THIS WAY; NOT ONE OF THEM COME HOME UNCHANGED.

Landon Steele: (COMBAT MEDIC.)

"I think we are at a turning point. With troop withdrawals and military downsizing we face a homecoming as never before seen and I’ve been thinking about it a lot. For many warfighters we will come home to an empty and unwelcome home, whether that be an actual house, job or country. We have not been fighting a year long tour or a four year campaign, we have been thrust in and out of two different worlds for a decade. A world back home where we are, in the minds of those who knew us before, the person before the wars and the person we have had to become in order to fight deployment after deployment after extended deployment.

To continue reading this story follow this link: http://ieduk81duck.blogspot.com/p/military.html