Honor Them!

On the day before Memorial Day 2019, a deep sense of sadness and appreciation swept over me as I watched this video that was shown during the Sunday morning worship service at my church.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKMtoqe9dyA 

Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.
(c) Johnnie Ann Gaskill, August 24, 2014. 

I felt similar emotions again that evening as I watched the 30th annual Memorial Day Concert on TV. I realized anew the enormity of the sacrifices made by all the brave men and women (and their families) who served in the military to protect the freedoms you and I cherish today. Many of them died while in active combat. All who died were more than just the names on the headstones standing row upon row in national cemeteries. Each was a real person: someone's child or sibling or parent. Hopefully, all were cherished and loved by family and friends during their brief stay on this earth.

May we honor their memory by being profoundly grateful for their lives and by cherishing the freedoms they died to protect. 

No Greater Joy

Both my daughters have careers that involve working with people all day long. Since they live and work in counties outside the one my husband and I live in, I rarely know any of the people in their workday world. Yet, I like hearing the gist of some of their experiences.

I’m always thankful to hear about situations that went well for my daughters. But even when they talk a bit about some of the difficult people they’ve had to deal with, I’m always thrilled to know about those times my daughters responded rightly (that is, in a Christ-like manner).

Upon hearing about such situations, I immediately think of what the Apostle John wrote in a letter to “the beloved Gaius.” 

After hearing that Gaius was “walking in the truth,” John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4).

Yes!

A “God Thing”

 [NAME], a beautiful woman inside and out, and I agree that our meeting each other was a “God thing” since it was a blessing neither of us could have planned.

But as I recall how I “happened” to stop by the restaurant where she works, I can only conclude that God had indeed directed my “steps” there, although my husband and I thought we were stopping there for a quick lunch based on the suggestion I’d received when I’d paused, on the spur of the moment, and said to two men working at a botanical garden we were visiting that morning, “Where’s a good place to eat lunch?”

When we arrived, [NAME] greeted us and seated us at a table bathed in soft light streaming through a big window that faced a whimsical garden—which delighted me and prompted me to grab my cell phone and start photographing as we waited for our food. When [NAME] again stopped by our table, I started a conversation with her, as is my custom, and learned that we had much in common despite differences in our ages and in life experiences.

I learned that God has placed a deep desire in her heart to write, but that she has shied away from it, for several common reasons: not enough time, not enough knowledge how to do it, not enough confidence, etc. I was able to share with her several sources that would inspire her and teach her how to become a published writer.

Our conversation was fairly brief but so deep. We’ve agreed to keep in touch with each other in order to encourage each other to do what the apostle Paul urged Timothy to do: to stir up the gift that is within you, to fan it into flame, to rekindle that gift God has placed within*—for His glory and the good of others.

Only God could have turned a simple stop for food into a stop for the soul.

* 2 Timothy 1:6