Support Our Troops

Yesterday Courtney and I flew to Tennessee to visit Paul for a couple weeks. Our first flight was to Atlanta where we had a little over an hour before the next flight. We went to Starbucks of course then back to wait for our plane. I couldn't help notice ALL the military men and women in the airport and most of them were on our flight. I was instructed to get a picture with one of them and Courtney, but I went for it and ask a bunch of them to get a picture with her. They were happy to do so. I had originally placed Courtney down in front of them and this nice man picked her up for a better shot. She didn't even mind. I ended up talking to them for a while and they really touched my heart in so many ways. They were all 'on leave' from Iraq. They had been there for months and were going home for 18 days, then back for 3 or 4 months. They had been traveling for over 54 hours at this point and they were all so polite and happy and played with Courtney. One guy (around my age) was going home to his wife and 1 year old daughter. I asked him when the last time he saw his daughter was and he told me not since the day she was born. That broke my heart! He was very interested in Courtney and so sweet to her. He was nervous that his little girl wouldn't recognize him. I can't even imagine. That reminded me how blessed I am to get to see my little girl every day, all day, any time I want; oh how I take that for granted.

I had sent the picture of Courtney and the guys to Stefani (Ethan's mom) and she said to hold on...and she sent me a picture of Ethan and Anna with a sign that said "Thank You". I showed all the guys and they were touched, then one guy said 'hold on'...and he drew a little sign that said "You're Welcome" for me to send back to Ethan and Anna.

As we were boarding, one guy came over and handed a patch to Courtney - said he wanted her to have it. That about brought tears to my eyes, how sweet is that! What a great bunch of people. I hope we are all so grateful for these men and women and what they are fighting for. They are tough, they are strong, they have drive to protect our country and they have huge hearts.

When you support our troops, I hope you do it in many ways. I personally pray for them often (especially now that Blaine is one of them) and I always say "thank you" when I see one in uniform, but yesterday I realized that they often need more support than that.

When we arrived to Nashville I didn't go the way I should have; down to baggage claim. I'm not really sure why I didn't, I guess I was being put in a different place by the Lord. As I walked around upstairs (when I should be down stairs) I found my way to go down stairs and also saw a guy in uniform using a pay phone. I didn't think that was right so I offered him my cell phone. He reluctantly used it to call his father; who was not at the airport and was not going to be at the airport any time soon. I couldn't believe it, this guy is off in war, comes home for a mere 18 days and his family isn't there WAITING for him? I can not even imagine that. I heard him tell his dad that he would just get a cab and a hotel and get off the phone. When he handed me the phone back I asked him if he needed a ride to his Dad's, and he said he had moved while he was at war and didn't know where his new place was. I told him Paul was down stairs and to come with me and we'd take him where ever he needed to go. Again, he reluctantly came with me. As we were walking away there was another guy on the pay phone and I gave him my phone also. He called his mom and she was on her way. In the elevator going down to baggage I jokingly said 'you guys need a new family' and they both agreed and said that is why they joined the Army in the first place. As I talked to Julian (the soldier we were going to give a ride to) I found out that he has been enlisted for 2 1/2 years, he's stationed out of Kansas, will be in Iraq for almost another year, only has his Dad and some distant brothers and sisters in Nashville, and does administrative work for the Army. We didn't end up giving him a ride, he called a buddy who said he would come get him but as we were walking away I stopped and went back to ask for his email address. I thought, this is such a great opportunity to try to make a difference, to be some one who cares. So I got his email address and thanked him again.

So when I say "Support Our Troops", think about how else you can support them next time you see a man or women in uniform.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.



This patch is apparently a 101st Airborne Infantry patch. I sent the picture to Blaine and he was literally speechless. He said that was the sweetest thing for the guy to do and it isn't just an every day thing for someone to give that away.