We Honor Our Veterans
Dear EBC Family,
Progress on Phase II is storming ahead this week, with contractors laying new carpet in the sanctuary, drop-ceiling in the new offices, and volunteers installing new cabinets in the foyer. My involvement today included a run to the lumber store this morning, and I was accompanied by one of our volunteers who is a veteran of the US Marines.
I asked Dallas how he came to serve in the military and what his experience was like. It wasn’t boring. He graciously gave me permission to share a bit what he shared with me. His story began with meeting a recruiter on his college campus and deciding he was interested enough to visit the recruiting office downtown. Dallas arrived for his appointment, but instead of welcoming him, the recruiter gruffly demanded to know what made Dallas think he should be allowed to join the Marines and then asked him to leave.
Dallas acknowledged it wasn’t the reception he was expecting, and he stewed over it all week. He finally decided to try again the following Saturday, and upon entry, the recruiter asked him what he was doing there. Dallas replied, “I’m back to have the meeting we agreed on.” The recruiter replied, “You passed the first test. Welcome in.”
Dallas’ story went on from there and included officer training, artillery training, and deployment in the Vietnam War. Having never served in the military, his experiences are quite foreign to me. He and countless others have lived things I have only read about in books or seen in movies.
Our unplanned conversation was a providential blessing on this Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor those who serve in the various branches of our military. Followers of Christ have great reasons to celebrate Veterans Day with full heart. It is a prime opportunity to fulfill the biblical call to show honor (Romans 12:10) to those who have given so much to serve our country. Our military personnel through the decades have fought for freedom, not only for Americans, but also countless others in the world who long for the same gift.
Veterans Day is also a good time to remember the larger battle for freedom being fought in every human heart. Our mission as Christians is to testify to the freedom from sin, death, and hell that Christ has won by his death and resurrection. May we who have tasted the freedom Christ brings be the first to thank our military personnel, both past and present, for their service on our behalf. I honor them today.
Pastor Toby Beck
Categories: Evergreen Connection