Take a knee.

It’s veteran’s day, y’all.  A day in which we should all pause and give a big ‘ole THANK YOU to those who serve and have served.

Do we remember them the other 364 days of the year?

I come from a strong military influence, so my answer would be “yes.”  However, I don’t fault the “no’s,”  as we all have things to remember, right?

Being raised by a Commander in the Navy does not help you remember Veteran’s Day.  It helps you to remember the stories constantly emerging in real time for those serving our country around the world.  (it also gives you the gift of swear words, thus the saying “curse like a sailor”)  The countless hours of hanging on my grandfather’s every word (except when I was a teenager, I basically only listened to myself… what a dumba$$), realizing that there was a bigger story to be told.  A story lived by countless men and women.  A story still being written today as we approach the holiday season and there are families so desperately missing their deployed loved ones.

The military is more than the conflicts they endure.  It is a “yes m’am, yes sir” mentality that I think is lost in the outside world.  It is a make-your-bed way of life.  It is a family.  Frankly, I’m not sure how they even F*^#ing stand the rest of us… lol.

We thank the Lord for these people.  And we think they’re pretty bada$$.

While we write and read and go about our day, there is a greater story being lived somewhere around the world.  There is a mom missing her children… there is a dad… there is a brother… there is a sister… there is an uncle… there is a cousin…. there is a friend… All in uniform … and missing what we so easily get to do back home.

They cannot unsee what they have seen.  They cannot come home with the same eyes.  They will try, but they will forever be changed.  Even if one does not see from the front line, they still know too much to forget.  The sacrifice is unmeasured.

I don’t mean to be all preachy here… but… you know me.

All I’m askin’ people, is that we remember.  We give thanks to those who allow us our to-do lists, our traffic jams, and our jobs.  Some of our biggest inconveniences pale in comparison to the ones our service men and women go through daily.

So, as you can tell, I’m a little passionate about our military.  My grandparents were Navy.  Yes, both of them.  Her at home, with the children and him, deployed at sea. The military is more than the service member alone. My grandfather would work his way from enlisted service to naval aviator (back when flying off of an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean was literally a wing and a prayer…WTF!?) to Naval Attache to the Philippines to Professor at the Naval Academy.  They moved 36 times… THIRTY SIX, people.

My point is… Let’s all truly, steadily, and gratefully remember our men and women in uniform.  Not just today, but every day.  Stop and think of those who have and still do.  Follow your own doing, not what someone else is doing.  Especially during football season… Yep, you know I can’t help myself.

So, here goes:

If you want to take a knee, let it be in prayer for those who have lost their legs in battle for your “rights.”  If you want to cry oppression, let it be for the children who shed legitimate tears at night. If you want to claim that you have the right to kneel, do so in reverence of your maker… not yourself.

 

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

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