considerable grace

With our own (U.S.) Memorial Day still heavy on my heart, this post by Tim Challies about fallen Canadian soldiers is particularly poignant:

Highway of Heroes

I’m about to head out the door to go and purchase our flowers and wreaths. When I return, the family will be awake and we will hang out flag. Then, in just a few hours, we will dress in red, white, and blue and head to a local cemetery to join in the remembrance and honoring of the men and women who have died for our country.

Memorial Day. Oh, friends! I hope that your day is not ONLY about sleeping in, cookouts, and sales on bath towels.

Let’s remember again what this day is for:

“ ...gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime....let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation’s gratitude,–the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.” –General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868

This may seem strange to you. You may have no experience in participating in a Memorial Day service. That’s OK! Fred and I felt TOTALLY strange the first Memorial Day we spent as a married couple in Chicago—looking up a cemetery’s service; just showing up; not really knowing what to do or exactly what would happen. But after that first time, it gets easier (re: the socially awkward introverts that we are); but never easier to remember these brave men and women (and their widows and orphans).

Plus, right now is an oh-so-IMPORTANT-time to do so because we’re losing our WWII vets SO quickly. If you go to a service today or next year, you might get to hear their ACTUAL voices and shake their ACTUAL hands and thank them as THEY demonstrate what it really means to honor the fallen (with a life well-lived). But if you tarry? You may miss out. And if you fail to train your children to be grateful and take them to Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day services? Well, they will miss out for sure because by the time they are old enough to understand on their own just how much The Greatest Generation did for our nation (and the world), the Greatest Generation will be gone.

So grab a local newspaper. Find a service at a local cemetery. Be somber and respectful (and teach your children to do the same). Honor the flag. Listen to the 21-gun salute. Reverently walk the military section of your cemetery (every cemetery has one!) and read the names. Dates. War. What rank did he or she have? How old at death? What was happening in that war?

(Even at age six, Sophie has a general idea about what happened in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, The Gulf, Iraq/Afghanistan. Kids can learn age-appropriate things about history even early on.)

The thing is—don’t be surprised if you’re under the age of 40 and someone stops and asks you if you lost your dad in Viet Nam. (No.) An uncle? (No.) Is your parent still serving in the military? (No. We’re just here because we wanted to remember and honor those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. We’re grateful. We wanted to say thanks.)

You see—they may be surprised by that because SO FEW PEOPLE care enough to come and say thanks.

So go to your local cemetery! You’ll be glad you did. And I bet you’ll have lots of interesting conversations with your children throughout the year as you prepare for Veteran’s Day and next year’s Memorial Day too.

Blessings to you!

Yours,
Tara B.

I am obviously still quite ignorant of my WWII history (even though this is a topic that I do read on quite a lot) for I had no idea that 338,000+ allied troops were rescued during the Dunkirk Evacuation ("Operation Dynamo").

Reading the reports of the remembrance this year only solidified my commitment to introducing Sophia and Ella to every WWII veteran we ever see. They are disappearing quickly! I want them to remember WWII vets in real life—not just reading about them and the rest of the Greatest Generation.

Hope your making plans for Monday that include honoring our veterans!

G'nite and God bless,
Tara B.

Want to know a sure-fire way to be overwhelmed with the feeling of gratitude?

Introduce yourself to a man in a U.S. military uniform in an elevator in order to thank him for his service. Then learn that he is just back from overseas where he served as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Disaster Mortuary Personnel in Haiti.

Yup. I’m a grateful woman, reminded again just how many people (and their families) are sacrificing greatly so that our federal employees and military personnel can serve those in greatest peril and need around the world.

Welcome home, sir. Thank you for your service. I can’t even imagine what you have just seen. Thank you for being a part of helping in the midst of horror.

Gratefully,
Tara B.

HT: Challies.com for this link:



Please do keep praying for our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen, and marines; their families; and all of the chaplains serving them too.

We’re heading to our Memorial Day services in a few hours and I just wanted to post our THANKS and HONORING of all of the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

We could never repay the debt we owe to their families and to them.

I do hope that you are praying for our troops and that you will take time today to honor them all – the living and the dead.



"Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided Republic." John A. Logan



"The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem." Aaron Kilbourn

A member of our church had the privilege of saluting President Bush as he departed D.C.



We’re so proud of you, T.M.!
And grateful for you both, President and Mrs. Bush.

Please do continue to pray for our troops.

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
If you haven’t yet read the gracious letter that Jenna and Barbara Bush sent to the Obama girls, I encourage you to read it today. It is precious.

Blessed Veterans Day to all of our veterans!

Please take a minute or two to read AND PRAY THROUGH this excellent post. It’s a great guide to pray for our troops and their families.

Gratefully,
Tara B.

Sophia Grace received a precious gift in the mail today. Captain Stan J. Beach wrote HER a letter.



Yes, yes, he graciously mentioned Fred and me. And Lilikoi. But really? He blessed my (still very sick! can you see it in her eyes in the photo?) little girl by thanking her for her card, encouraging her to keep praying for our troops and chaplains, AND by sharing a little bit of his personal story with her too.

- Sophie marveled that he was away from his little children for two years when he was in Vietnam ("He must’ve missed them so much!").

- She thanked God that he cared more about his troops than his own safety (he carried many wounded men to safety, multiple times, until his left leg was shattered–and ultimately amputated).

- Sophia couldn’t understand why he spent most of his time in combat zones, but never carried a weapon. ("In a WAR, Mom? Why didn’t he have a gun?!" I told her that lots of people have lots of roles to play in the military–and this man’s job was to minister the gospel, pray, and help his troops.)

- And then she prayed for him.

I am so grateful for all of our chaplains. And military. And military families too.

Please do keep them in prayer!

Gratefully,
Tara B.



(HT: Confessing Me for the great video link.)

Until today, I had not ready any books about 9/11. I did not go and see “United 93” and I doubt I ever will. The evil poured out on that day is just so awful and the lives of each victim so precious and real ... well ... it’s just not a topic that I’ve cared to “curl up with a good book” over. Until now.

I just finished reading a book that kept me engaged like no book since Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission (which I literally could NOT stop reading until I finished it at like 4:30AM).

The book is:



Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama that Unfolded in the Skies over America on 9/11

And I heartily recommend it if ...

- You have been reticent to read books about 9/11

- You enjoy well-written books and cringe at (and close!) books with ridiculous prose and sloppy logic/facts/grammar

- You have time to read the whole thing

In addition, of course, if you love the USA or the cause of freedom in any nation; if you appreciate the wisdom, skills, sacrifice, and bravery of our men and women in military; and if you’re an (almost million-miler) frequent flyer like myself (so airport/air traffic control stuff is a normal part of your life and you’d like a glimpse “behind the scenes”) ... read this book!

You know–I have so many huge projects that need my attention ... I guess a few hours being lost in something totally “other” was just what my mind and heart needed.

Well done, author Lynn Spencer!
And may God have mercy on all of the people everywhere who are fighting against the evil of terrorism.

Yours,
Tara B.



(HT: MilitaryMotivator)

Hope you are enjoying a reflective and restful Memorial Day.

We were blessed to meet our friends at the main Billings Memorial Day service at the cemetery in town that has the most veteran graves. It is so good to do these things not just as a family, but with friends. I think that it is particularly meaningful to the children–"Oh, you respect the flag too?" “Oh, you listen intently to what these older gentlemen say too? Hmmmmmm ...”

I appreciate many things about our little Billings services:

- That our senator and other “big wig” representatives don’t speak or try to steal the limelight. Good for them. The veterans lead and we all follow. I respect our politicians for their silence in these situations.

- That right now we still have the opportunity to honor in person veterans from so many wars. But oh! We are losing that Greatest Generation so quickly. I tell Sophie, “Look. Listen. Remember this man. He is a hero. One day you will read more about history and you will understand better–but now? You can hear and see history.”

- That we are such a small community that after the ceremony, the men then line up to fold the chairs and load the trucks. It’s good to not just attend, but to participate as a community.

The main speaker was injured three times in World War II. Once by bayonet (he still remembers everything about the Japanese soldier’s face and even his smell!). Once by shell fragments. And once by machine gun fire–and one bullet still remains in his chest.

(At that, Sophie gasped and whispered, “I’m so glad he didn’t die! Like Captain Pearson did.” (Captain Pearson was the first Iraq veteran killed from Billings. We attended his memorial service a few weeks ago.) Then Sophie said, “I think I’ll pray for him right now.” And she did. Quietly whispered a prayer even while he was still speaking. Very, very sweet.)

Freedom is not free. I am grateful for our veterans and praying about what God might be calling our family to do to try to serve them more intentionally in the coming years.

Blessed Memorial Day to you!
And thank you, veterans.

Yours,
Tara B.

Oh that we, and the children we raise, will never forget Pearl Harbor.

(5PM edit: Don’t miss PalmTree Pundit’s Post on Pearl Harbor too!)

(HT MilitaryMotivator for the photo!)

One of my favorite blogs reminded me that yesterday marked the 63rd anniversary of the allied invasion of Normandy.

And one of the commenters on her site brought me down the blogtrail to another poignant post on D-Day too.

I’m so sad that the Greatest Generation is dying at such a fast rate now that Sophie will probably never really know any of these true heroes.

And so we will read books and tell stories. And remember.

Thank you, Melodee & Nicole, for reminding us!

Gratefully,
Tara B.

I LOVE reading of heroism.

The last book that kept me up all night (before my recent–wonderful find!–Aunt Jane’s Hero) was Ghost Soldiers. (If you love a GREAT READ especially about history and war and heroism, you CANNOT go wrong with Ghost Soldiers.)

ANYWAY ... I was reminded of Ghost Soldiers when I read the last page of my recent National Geographic magazine–the “Flashback” entitled FRONT LINES:

"A Salvation Army “lassie” writes home for a wounded World War I soldier in 1918. “Ask an American doughboy if life would have been worth living at the front without the Salvation Army cook, comforter, and general utility cheerer,” noted a November 1918 Geographic story on war efforts. “Told by the colonel of a regiment that she would be killed if she persisted in serving her doughnuts and cocoa to the men while under heavy fire,” one Salvation Army worker said: "Colonel, we can die with the men, but we cannot leave them."

—Margaret G. Zackowitz

Amazing, isn’t it?

"We can die with the men, but we cannot leave them."

Would I have such commitment in life? To anything? The Lord? His Bride? My family?
Could I ever be so devoted and brave and selfless?
Ever?

I always assume I’d be the much more like the coward in “Saving Private Ryan” than anyone else.
But then again–God can move in mysterious and wonderful ways ... so who knows?