Day 11 of Thankfulness: The defenders of our freedom

Today, I'm thankful for our Veterans. Sundays are busy days for me and today was no exception. I remembered on the way to church that today was Veterans Day and I started thinking then about what I wanted this post to be about. I read many facebook posts today about our Veterans and I agree with everything everyone posted, so I kept wondering all day if I should just post about something else today and not even try to put into words how I feel about the Veterans, but I knew that wasn't an option. I wanted to honor the people who deserve to be honored.

In Worship Service this morning, my dad preached about the persecuted church. He talked about how we are very lucky that we don't face the persecution like many do in other countries, but that doesn't mean it couldn't still happen. To tie it in, I thought more about how thankful we live in a country where we don't really need to worry about persecution, not because we are a special nation, but because we have some awesome men and women who are defending our country to give us these freedoms. We so often take for granted these freedoms...the freedom to worship in public, the freedom to vote, the freedom to stand up for what we believe in. I know these freedoms don't come without a cost...the cost of lives.

I have had the privilege to know many Veterans in my lifetime. I used to just think of Veterans as old men who served in wars so long ago, but it has become so much more a reality as I see some of my former classmates and friends serve our country. Two Veterans that stick out to me are my Uncle Leland and Craig's Grandpa. I'm thankful that I had the chance to know Uncle Leland for about 25 years. He was a great man. And I'm so thankful I still get the chance to hear more stories from Craig's Grandpa Schulte.

I don't have a picture of just my Uncle Leland, so here is a picture of him with my dad, their sisters and my grandma before both my grandma and uncle passed away.