The Most Memorable Memorial Day Yet

We spent Memorial Day this year at the National Memorial Cemetery.

It's important to us that our children know how very much has been, and continues to be sacrificed for our freedom.

This man was a World War Two veteran whom we met. He was there with a friend of his, a woman whose husband had been a lifelong military man, and had recently passed away. We had taken red roses to decorate the graves, and we gave one to both of them.

Notice where he put his flower.

He took time to talk with us, especially the children. He kept telling them how much he appreciated that they had come out to pay their respects.

He was a Prisoner of War under the Germans for 3 months, and endured torture, and contracted frostbite. He still deals with the consequences of the frostbite to this day...as the picture shows.

I hope and pray that my children will never forget their time with him, or with the friend of his who had paid the sacrifice of a military wife for all those years.

When we gave her a rose, she wept, as did I. I just hugged her neck and told her thank you...
it seemed so insignificant in comparison to all she'd given to us...

Here Brennan is looking at the grave of a man who was born on her birthday, although many years earlier. He served in WW2 and in Korea.

Caedmon is saluting a veteran of the Korean War, born on his birthday.

And this picture explains why we went. As we were pulling out of the cemetery, Caedmon was looking at all of the flags waving...each representing someone who had served that we might be free.

He just kept saying, "I can't believe that all of those people served for me. I can't believe it."


I needn't tell you how he was feeling....he tried to explain it to us, but just couldn't find the words....

Oh, how I love his tender heart!

This will be a family tradition for us from now on.

We met several veterans while we were at the cemetery, and each asked us if we had someone buried there. When we said, "No sir, we just came to say thank you," they were shocked.

Truly, truly surprised.

And then there next words were, "Thank you. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for teaching your children this..."

Each and every one of them said it.

Afterward we went for ice cream, and there at the shop we met another veteran. When we told him "Thank you for your service," he was appreciative.

Then he asked us what we'd done for Memorial Day, and when we told him, he teared up, big time. He said, "This is a big day for me. I served for many years, and I lost my brother in Vietnam. I so thank you for not forgetting."

What an awesome day. What an amazing gift to be able to thank veterans and their families for their sacrifices for us.

Freedom is not free.

Our veterans and their families pay a high price for our freedom.

Jesus paid a high price to set us free from the bondage of sin...the price of His blood, because He loved us.

Oh, that we will live a thankful life for both.