A sincere "Thank You" to our veterans!

Thank You To Veterans For Duty, Bravery, Dignity And Valor

When I was young my dad did not talk about his service in World War II.  He was an infantry man and fought on the front lines. I’m quite certain some of the things that happened and some of what he saw was disturbing.  (The word “disturbing” is probably putting it mildly.) 

I recall hearing him say this on several occasions: “If I told people what happened there, they wouldn’t believe me.”

When I was older he told me a few stories.  I can only imagine.

I have a significant awareness of the fact that men and women—in some cases very young men and women—have had to do incredibly difficult things in order to provide for the freedoms we enjoy.

Thank you to all of our Veterans.  Thank you for considering duty, bravery, dignity, service to others and valor to be of worth and importance.  You have my utmost respect!

Thank You To Our Veterans And Happy Veterans Day!

Freedom never comes without a cost.  In order for a group of people to be free there will always be some people who have to give of their time and energy and in some cases even give of their lives.  Freedom will require that a price is paid.

In our country the men and women who have served in our Armed Forces are some of the key people who have given of their time and energy to help purchase and protect our freedom.  I am thankful for our veterans.  I am grateful for the sacrifices they have made.  They deserve our respect and admiration.

God bless all those who have served and happy Veterans Day!

Thank You Veterans For Protecting Our Freedoms

Some people like the opinions I share on this blog and others probably don’t.  But it’s wonderful and important that we have this freedom of expression, isn’t it?  There are people who have fought and, in many cases, died to protect this incredible freedom of expression.  I honor and appreciate those people.  Thank you veterans!

Thankful For Our Veterans

When you serve on behalf of others; when you put yourself in harm’s way on behalf of others; when you give of yourself on behalf of others; when you do these things in order to provide protection and freedom for others; you are doing something good, noble and right.  I am thankful for the men and women who have served and who continue to serve in our armed forces—what you do is significant!  God bless you all!

Tell A Vet "Thanks!"

We live in a tremendous country that offers us lives of remarkable freedom.  These privileges were paid for by men and women who have literally fought and suffered and, in many cases, died to protect our liberties.  What they’ve done is a big deal.  I am grateful for their service.  Tell a vet, “Thanks, I appreciate what you’ve done!”  Happy Veterans Day!

A Sincere "Thank You" To All Of Our Veterans

My dad was an infantryman in WWII.  His stories from the battlefield have always helped me to realize the hellish nature of war.  Sometimes, while listening to my dad’s experiences, I would try to imagine what it would have been like.  The idea that a group of people are coming in your direction and their primary intent is to kill you and your primary intent is to kill them—you won’t both survive—is more than a little bit frightening, sobering, motivating, strange, and no doubt several other feelings that I could never describe or understand, having never been there.  Have you ever tried to imagine such a thing?

Dad told me some of the ways that the brutal and ugly realities of war would mess with a young man’s mind.  I can understand how the stress and fear, along with the constant life and death stakes could easily “do a number” on a person.  One of the things that always stuck with me was the comment that I heard him say about war on a couple of occasions.  He said this, “there are things that happened that I would never tell people because they just wouldn’t believe it.”

As I think about my dad’s experiences, I am reminded once again, that I can sit here and freely share my thoughts because men and women have paid a price—and are continuing to pay a price—to make these freedoms and other kinds of freedoms possible.  Freedom has a cost.

By the way, even if you disagree with what I’m stating in this post, it’s interesting to think about the fact that your freedom to disagree was also paid for by the people who have protected my freedom to write it.

I do not, for a moment, discount the role of God in the freedoms we enjoy, all good gifts come from Him.  But God has clearly worked through people to allow us to experience the wonderful freedom and liberty that we enjoy.  It’s helpful for us to remember that in the entire history of the world, the freedom that we have in the United States is a rare, unusual, and extraordinary gift.  We are blessed!

So, to ALL OF THE VETERANS who have served to protect our freedoms, I express a heartfelt THANK YOU!!!  What you have done and what you are doing is good and honorable and GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Thank you and God bless our Veterans!

Dan Marler

Veterans Day 2010

E-Flash From Dan, November 8, 2010

Dear E-Flash Friends;

I was having a conversation recently…

“Tom and his troops really have a need for certain items,” Grace told me.

Grace is Marine Lieutenant Tom Schueman’s mom.  Tom is a young man from our church who is currently stationed in a dangerous location in Afghanistan.  (That's Tom in the photo above.)

I said, “Grace, if we would make those needs known to the church, I believe people would respond.  I believe they would want to help Tom and the guys who are serving with him.  Would you send us a list of the items that they need?”

Grace said, “Yes, I can do that.”  And she added, ““If we collect some of these items at the church, I will make sure that they are boxed up and sent to Tom and his team.”

I said, “Good.  Let’s do that.”

Grace said, “Alright, I will get a couple of boxes and put them in lobby.”

I thought to myself, “Yes, I’m sure people will respond and fill up a couple of boxes.  I really believe that the folks in the church want to help when genuine needs like this are made known.”

Last Sunday—a week ago—the announcement was made to the church that there is a need.  And a list of items was provided on an insert in the weekly bulletin.  And two boxes were placed in the lobby along with pictures of Tom and some of his guys.

Yesterday, after the 11 o’clock service, I was thrilled to see the two boxes filled to overflowing along with additional bags of the requested items surrounding the floor space next to the boxes.  It’s a great response.  THANK YOU!  Your response is a blessing and it’s an extension of God’s love to those who can really use it.

We will continue to collect goods for a couple more weeks and then we will ship your gifts of help and support and encouragement to these terrific young men and women who are serving us valiantly.  And let’s continue to pray for Tom and for all of the young men and women who are serving us in the military.  We have several others from our church who are serving, as well.  Please include them in your prayers.

By the way, speaking of “serving us valiantly”, Thursday of this week is Veterans Day.  We know that all the good things in our lives are gifts to us from God and we thank Him for that.  However, we also know that God works through people.  We enjoy the incredible freedom and opportunities of our country because people have served—many of them even giving their lives—to make these wonderful gifts possible.  Let’s try to offer a word of gratitude and appreciation to our veterans.

We are very blessed!  I hope we will all have a genuine sense of that truth.

Love and blessings,

Dan