American Soldier

American Soldier,

We owe you
Our praise for your service
Our patience when you struggle
Our prosperity when you come home
Our tears when you fall
We owe you
Our help
Our respect
Our gratitude
Our love
We owe you
The country in which we live
The flag we all salute
The liberty we all enjoy
Things we take for granted
We owe you
A debt we cannot pay
With money
Or words
Or statues
Or parades
We owe you
The peace with which we sleep at night
More that we can say
More than we’re willing to admit
Compassion, strength, honor, grace
We owe you
So please accept this humble genuflection,
to who you are and what you do.
A simple “Thank you,
American soldier.”

Images

There are a lot of images in my head that I want to remember forever. Images I don't have pictures or video to remind me of, just the memories. I'm going to try to remember to at least write them down here as they come to me over time...

Image: Anna screaming louder and longer than I've ever seen or heard as she won the 2009 AWANA Grand Prix at Forest Park Baptist Church. No birthday or Christmas ever produced such a reaction. She was ecstatic like never before as she ran the length of the track to be surrounded by friends who all held hands in a ring and jumped and screamed together with her.