Skip to main content

Thankful Thursday - Prayer


I’m praying for the military today. I have never fully appreciated the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform until members of my family began to serve our country. I’m thankful to the people I meet who express their care for my loved ones in the military. Their prayers bring so much comfort.

Americans have changed. It wasn’t like this back in 1970 when my husband was finishing his second tour in Viet Nam. He, like so many his age, came home in uniform that spring and Americans at Chicago O’Hare Airport shouted obscenities to him. Taking the bus home to the suburb where he lived, war haters tried to spit on him. Thankfully, those days are behind us. I think we’re wiser today when it comes to our troops.

It appears that Michelle Obama is wiser for having toured the country during her husband’s campaign listening to Americans tell their stories of losses and sacrifices for this country that their loved ones make on a daily basis. Michelle said: “If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that when our servicemen and women go to war, their families go with them. I saw how they take care of each other, heard how they fill in whenever the system fails and discovered that the trials they faced always were matched by the hope they share that better days are still ahead.” She goes on to say: “As I watch Barack take that oath, I’ll be thinking especially about those members of our American family who stand guard across the world and the loved ones who await their safe return.”

Michelle said her main focus as First Lady would be our working families, especially the military families. I’m praying for Michelle Obama. She has a platform to do something great for America if she keeps true to her promise.

I invite you to read more on prayer and thankfulness at Lori’s Reflections. Many wonderful writers participate and you will be inspired to pray and be thankful!
Labels:

Comments

  1. DeniseJanuary 22, 2009 at 7:29 AM

    Praying with you dear.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laurie AnnJanuary 22, 2009 at 8:47 AM

    Praying with you, too! Happy TT!

    ReplyDelete
  3. CarrieJanuary 22, 2009 at 9:21 AM

    thanks mom.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Debbie PetrasJanuary 22, 2009 at 9:39 AM

    I also remember the Vietnam years. My cousin returned with similar experiences. I'm so glad that today people are so much more supportive of our military and their families. And yes, we need to pray that Michelle will use her platform in a good way to bring attention to those families and their needs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MelanieJanuary 22, 2009 at 1:33 PM

    Great post! I'm praying right along with you!

    Happy Thankful Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. BonnieJanuary 22, 2009 at 2:40 PM

    Oh what a beautiful post!! I am, like you, looking forward to what Michelle Obama will do with her time as First Lady. She strikes me as a caring, compassionate, brilliant woman who will take those "heart" issues and work on them, helping us help one another. Thank you for the reminder of just one more reason to admire the woman married to our President. Thanks for sharing! Blessings.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2009 at 3:18 PM

    let's pray together.

    thanks for dropping by my TT.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LoriJanuary 22, 2009 at 7:24 PM

    Amen. I married a man who grew up on military bases. He traveled his whole life. I too am thankful for all they do. Have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. iJanuary 22, 2009 at 9:55 PM

    A lovely post! Your post reminded me of the time I grew up near the naval base. Sometimes I get to see them going for some gruel running outside the base under the hot scorching sun. Such rigid daily training and sacrifices made to protect the country. Thankful for them. God bless them!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Memorial Day Reflection

  Memorial Day is always noteworthy for me and my girls.  Next Thursday marks the third year of missing their father, my husband. So many thoughts  run through my mind.  The journey of loss takes on various emotions.  The strongest feeling, at first, was emptiness.  In a split second, I would forget he departed forever.  I imagined things I needed to talk to him about when he got back home.  My mind is realistic now.  He's not coming back.  There will be no more times of sitting on the porch swing together on the front deck staring at the moon and the stars.  He would tell me all he knew about the majestic night sky. I have so much I wish I could tell him, like the excitement of seeing our oldest grandchild make a decision to follow Jesus and get baptized on Mother's Day!  And our little Amy, 11 years old, I wish he could have seen her on stage receiving her induction to the National Honor Society. Our daughters have their own ...
23 comments
Read more

Abba's Lap

I noticed a behavior pattern in little Amy, twenty months old, that I want to imitate.  She moves fast engaging in one toddler activity after another spinning like a whirlwind from one room to another.  Yet, she pauses,  intermittently , long enough to get refreshed.   I want to be like this grandchild of mine because she knows where to go and how to get comforted. Amy moves at record speed, putting more miles on a pedometer in one hour than my accumulated weekly workouts at the gym.  She can build a skyscraper so tall, I wonder why those bright pink Lego’s don’t topple to the ground as she continues to stack just one more piece on top. I learned never to leave the room to get another cup of coffee.  Once, when I returned, I found her climbing past the couch with hands and feet reaching for the living room drapes. She has a consistent habit that I admire.  In the midst of her activities, as she moves robustly from one play...
51 comments
Read more

A Surprise at the Mall

I lost touch with a writer friend.  I missed her and her cheerful blog posts.  We met up in a most unusual way!  I’m still in awe of how it happened. I finished my shopping at the mall and took a short cut to get to the parking lot.  The path led me through the food court.  The smell of Chicken Fajitas stopped me in my tracks.  I planned lunch elsewhere, but now I followed my nose. I chewed my first bite of chicken taco salad when, out of nowhere, a loud redhead moved rapidly past the tables and into the booth with me.  “I know you !”  She shouted.  I pondered if I knew this crazy lady.  Did she mistake me for someone else?  She shouted louder and stuck her finger in my face:  “ You’re Mary; you have a blog called Pile of Smiles and you live in the Verde Valley .”   It took me a second to compose myself.  I stopped chewing my food.  I know I stared too long at her face and then she said:...
48 comments
Read more