In memory of the fallen...

Today is a day of Remembrance in our home.

November 7th, 2003 was the last sunrise that those brave men, Kyran, Ben, Paul and Scott, who were aboard the Lancer 431 would ever see.

Today, even more so than any other day of the year, I watch Bradley's head hang low and tears fill his eyes as he reflects on the lives of those 4. Men who he lived with, laughed with, cried with, and fought with to keep us free.

He got to know those men he worked along side in a way that the majority of our working population will never experience. They were brothers. Not of the same blood. Not even of the same faith. But brothers in a way that only they would ever understand.

I can't help but feel guilty that I am eternally grateful he was held back that day. He should have been there, on that flight, with them. But instead he was sitting in that classroom unaware that the news he would receive would change him forevermore. This news that his best friend, along with the others, were drawn from the sky by a rocket propelled grenade was the farthest from his mind but cut him straight through the heart when it came.

We pray for those families that I've never met but he has heard all about. I can't picture the faces I've never seen but I can see their hearts as I look to the heart of our Father who has created them in His image. He feels all emotion and has given us the ability to do the same. My heart grieves for them knowing that they too grieve in the memory of today.

I pray for him as he speaks about his best friend Scott as if it happened yesterday. This man who acts so tough while he talks the talk is torn inside today. All I can do is hold him, wipe tears as they shed. I feel helpless because nothing I can say or do will bring them back or change what is inevitable for this sin cursed world.

It's not how God the Father desired this world to be: famine, brokenness and war. I am so proud to know that it will not last forever. That the eternal battle that rages on has already been won by the blood of Christ Jesus. Until His return, we give thanks to those who fight and shed their blood to keep our earthly body's safe from harms way.

These men who gave their life and those men and women who continue to place more value on our freedom than their own are just a glimpse of the goodness that God intended for us in humanity.

As we spend time in remembrance this week, I pray that our hearts would be mindful of these fallen soldiers, their families and those who survived physically but will never be free from the experiences they endured.
 
Bradley, I am so proud of you! To all of my other family and friends who have served or are serving still, we thank you and continue to pray for you!

Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’