We Remember

Hamburgers. Country music. Red, white and blue. Today we celebrate.

Do we think about what we're celebrating?

We're celebrating the lives of those who've died to defend their country. We're celebrating the freedom we have because they were willing to sacrifice everything.

We take it all for granted. 

I know that I've never been directly affected by the death of a soldier. And I know I'm not the only one. 

But I also know that there are more people who have been affected. Their lives have been changed because a husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, best friend, co-worker, church member never came home. These lives will never be the same. The wound may heal but there will always be a scar.

So I say to those who have lost someone or know someone who has: Your pain is important. Your pain is valid. You suffer the pain of loss on behalf of everyone else who hasn't. I don't envy you, I don't pity you, but I do thank you. I thank you for being strong even when you don't think you can make it another day. I thank you for the service and sacrifice of your loved one because I can't thank them myself. 

And I say to those who cannot imagine such pain: Stop. Think. Thank. Be grateful. Praise God for our freedom and pray for those whose lives now contain a gaping hole. 

Freedom isn't free. Anyone who has lost someone knows this.

Thank you to the men and women who have died so I can live in freedom.

And thank you to their families who endure the loss and who have persevered.

Your sacrifice is remembered.