M here...
I have tremendous respect for our servicepeople, and I like to tell people "thank you" when I learn that they have served in the military, because I do honestly and deeply appreciate their hard work and sacrifice. I know that I can sit here and type this, in large part, because of our military and the freedom that they have earned and maintained for this country.
My wife has been in Afghanistan for the past few weeks. She will be home in a few days, and I will post some pictures up on the blog once she gets back. Anyway, my point for writing this was to pass on some thoughts. My wife is a consultant, not a serviceperson, so I never really equated her service with that of the troops. Regardless, during the past two weeks, I have been humbled by the fact that many family and friends have included her in their prayers, and I was especially touched to find out that two different churches included special prayers for her in their weekly services while she was gone. It is a great feeling to be reminded that we are all a part of a greater whole. I met a pastor last week from one of these churches who asked me to tell her "thank you." At first, I was struck by this as being kind of odd. I guess I never really thought about her work that way, but she really does play a role in making this world a better place. She is actively helping the military to plan to meet the future demands of regional security, and given the region, that is certainly not insignificant.
So I guess I just want to reiterate my thanks to the men and women of armed forces. I also want to thank all those that serve this country in whatever capacity they serve in, including those in private industry. I guess that just because private consultants do work for firms that bring home a profit, those workers and their hard work are still an integral part of the overall success of the mission, and that mission is vitally important. I also want to thank those that say "thank you" because that little jesture goes a long way and one of the little things that makes my love of this country so great. So, when my wife gets home this weekend, I will pass on the thanks and the prayers.
And I will continue to be proud.
M |