To the young man behind me at Panda Express. I want to share
with you a little bit about me and my family. During the day I serve families
that need assistance in meeting their basic needs. I work across the country in
hopes of causing awareness about people living in poverty and sharing ways to
better connect with people living in poverty. I do my best every day to live my
purpose in life. Isaiah 61 The Spirit of
the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good
news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. When I’m
not at work I am a wife, mother to four beautiful children and I am Nama to a beautiful
little boy named Tristan. My husband Jacob serves with in the school district. My
daughter Keila serves in a different corner of the city. She serves cancer
patients 8-5 Monday through Friday. My younger daughter Christian is 12 hours away
at the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota and every day she serves 22
young ladies that live on her floor. My youngest son Josh recently injured his ankle
and is now recovering from surgery and he too serves at whatever capacity he is
able to. Now my oldest son JD, well he is a Marine and he too recently had
surgery. He was injured during training and it has taken almost two years to
finally get him the surgery he has needed since his accident. It was difficult
at home when my son was away at boot camp but we honored the way he chose to
serve. So as his family we supported him 100%. It was hard to see our grandson
struggle because his uncle was away. This little guy didn’t understand why
someone he loves so much wouldn’t come home. As a family we found it difficult
to sleep, at night, not knowing what our son was going through. We spent many
nights on our knees in prayer.
Young man behind me at Panda Express our family has had a
trying few months with injury, surgeries, loss and goodbyes. To be completely honest it has been overwhelming.
You caught me at a vulnerable moment. I was sitting in line asking God for my
son.
Young man behind me at Panda Express I want you to know I am
not a political person and I have recently began working on guarding my heart.
Which for me simply means I am careful of what I read in the paper, social
media and careful what I watch. I find it hurtful to read things like men and
women choosing to kneel or sit when they should be standing in honor of the
flag. A while back my son made the decision to enlist and by doing so he
understood that he would serve those that honored him and his family as well as
those that didn’t. He was willing to
sacrifice himself in order that others may have the freedoms we have today as
well as the freedoms we are working towards. We have come a long way in our country but we
still have a long way to go.
So to those that choose to sit or kneel your lack of respect
will not deter our military. Every day they will wake way before any one of us
and every day they will stand watch and make sure our freedoms are intact. So let me take this opportunity to encourage you
to make your point in a different manner. Instead of sitting please stand, together
we can work towards more freedoms. If you want to kneel, kneel in prayer and
pray for our military and their families. Kneel to help someone out of an
unwanted situation. Kneel as you lay flowers on a grave for some that has given
their life for our freedom.
So young man behind
me at the Panda Express, today I extend a heart filled thank you. Tears run
down my face as I pray and ask God on your behalf. Thank you for honoring the
momma of a Marine. Thank you for honoring my family. Thank you for honoring all
military and their families. When you honor one of us you honor all of us but
most of all thank you for honoring my Marine.
