thankful for commitment....

yesterday, as we all know, was a special day. as this day got nearer i thought how am i going to be on this day compared to previous years? of course for us it was not a single day. there was the observance of the service members in church. just a simple stand if you fit in that category. our church being almost all military you can imagine how that looked. Sunday also had a call from Maw and Paw. this was funny because i had planned to call my Paw this weekend because of his service, but also because it was both of their birthdays this weekend. just so you know these two people have been two of the biggest influences in my life. providing everything from love, to a place to live, to cars and dance lessons. these two people care so much about their family. they are commited to them beyond a shadow of doubt. there is no way for me to tell them how grateful i am for all the love, culture and grace they have shown, so i have to make do with lame phone calls across the world. on this particular call i was talking to Paw and i thanked him for his service and he just said your welcome and moved on by talking about the tree leaves changing color. just like him. not wanting to draw attention to what he did. he feels, i would imagine, similar to the way a lot of service members do including my hubby. this is the job. these are the requirements. these are the risks. everyone knows that going in. so in that spirit we spent Monday hanging out with fellow servers and their families. laughing, playing games and eating. the fact that we spent the day doing these things does not in any way negate what is going on everyday or that we have forgotten or are ungrateful and don't realize the true sacrifice that takes place each and everyday. we spent our little weekend doing things that we know if places were switched "they" would be doing as well. and that's why i am thankful for commitment. commitment to some things we may not always agree on. things that are hard to carry out. things that take time, sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears. things we are committed to because we feel there is a need and we want to help by trying to fill that need. i am thankful for those who served, are serving and will serve. thanks for the commitment.