Memorial Day - 2009

On this day, Monday, May 25, 2009 millions of Americans will be traveling, having picnics, and enjoying themselves on this holiday. It is a wonderful time of family, food, and fellowship and precisely why we should all pause, remember, and give thanks to God for each and every man or woman who have died while in military service. At the same time we are thankful for all who continue to answer the call of service by wearing the uniform of our armed forces. But on this day, a day set aside for a special purpose, we are drawn to the battlefields splattered with blood and littered with the bodies of those who stood up for the principles of freedom. May God bless their memory and their families and their efforts put forth on behalf of a grateful people. You and I can enjoy this holiday in whatever way we choose because of God’s grace and His provision of those willing to go and fight for right, here at home and all over the world.

Untold lives have been altered because of the sacrifice of America’s war dead. Nations are free and children grow up to live with opportunities instead of being doomed to a world of tyranny. At the same time the families of our war dead were also forever altered as they have had to deal with the loss of their loved ones and move on without them to be there with them. It is this sacrifice that we honor today. We had a gentleman in our fellowship of believers who was born just before his dad left to serve overseas in WWII. His dad was killed in action and he grew up with only photographs and stories about his father. I could sense some strain as he talked about never having the opportunity to know his dad. His story is one that could be repeated hundreds of thousands of times. It is this sacrifice that we honor today. Let us not forget also the hundreds of thousands of injured, some with horrific lifelong disabilities, that continue to bear the scars of their service to our nation.

We as a nation have not always been right in our deployment of our armed forces. The historians can always in retrospect point out the error of our ways in how that mistakes were made and perhaps even intentional wrongdoing was involved. However, the thing we must always remember is that none of this discovery should ever cause us to fail to honor those men and women who obeyed the call, and did their duty, and in the doing of their duty they paid the ultimate price. That’s what this day is about. If you haven’t already, please pause as you read this blog and give thanks to God for the patriots that we recognize on this day and also for their families. May God bless their memory and may God continue to bless our nation, in Jesus Name, Amen. …..More later.