thankful thursday - a day of remembrance

Memorial Day is the last Monday in May, and this year it falls on May 30th, the date originally ordained for the holiday before Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 which reordered several holidays to Mondays creating three-day weekends. You can read more about that in my blogpost Wacky Wednesday - Monday Holidays.

Many people confuse Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. And then there's Armed Forces Day thrown into the mix to confound folks even more. Consequently, those currently serving in the military as well as veterans are often wished a Happy Memorial Day, Happy Veteran's Day and Happy Armed Forces Day, all in the same year, year after year.

Armed Forces Day is the third Saturday in May and honors those currently serving in any branch of the military. Veteran's Day is November 11th and honors those who once served in the military. And Memorial Day is the last Monday in May and honors those who died while serving in the military.

We were in Williams, Arizona on May 18th and a shopkeeper asked us if we wanted a small American flag to wave when the bikers came in an hour or so. She said they were a group who were riding to Washington, D.C. for Memorial Day. We were intrigued and decided to wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

I noticed a man and his wife (and their cute dog!) seemed to be waiting, too. I asked if they knew anything about the bikers that were coming and the man smiled and said, "Why yes I do. They are bikers from all over who have served in the military or know someone who did. Most of them are Viet Nam veterans and they are part of the Run For The Wall organization." We started talking and it turns out he is a Viet Nam vet who is a member of the group but broke off early that day to meet up with his wife.

Run For The Wall's mission is to "promote healing among all veterans and their families and friends, to call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA), to honor the memory of those killed in all wars (KIA), and to support our military personnel all over the world." One way they accomplish that is their ten-day ride from California to Washington, D.C., arriving Memorial Day weekend. I was told that they ride for those who can't. There are so many bikers going this year that they added a third route with SEVERAL HUNDRED bikers in each group.

I asked him a jillion questions and he told me a jillion stories. In what seemed like no time at all, it was time for the bikers to arrive. The police cleared the streets and folks lined up to cheer them on. It's like that in every city they ride through or stop in all across the country.

(This is the very end of the parade of bikers... hundreds went before these... but you get the idea!)

They meet at the Viet Nam Memorial (aka the Wall) when they arrive in Washington, D.C. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. They run their fingers over the names of friends who didn't make it home. It's a time to remember fallen comrades in arms. They lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery.

While this Monday is a day to remember those who have died while serving our country, I think it's also appropriate to remember, to pray for the POWs and MIAs and their families. May we never forget.

thankful thursday - birds

Do you remember Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 movie, The Birds? Hitchcock was a genius at taking ordinary things and making them suspenseful, earning him the nickname "The Master of Suspense." In the movie, there is a mysterious bird infestation in California. The ever-increasing flocks seem to target the main characters played by Rod Taylor and Suzanne Pleshette, attacking them over and over again. If you haven't seen the movie, it's worth watching but remember it was made before computer graphics and special effects. What it lacks in special effects it more than makes up for with story line and plot development.

I first watched the movie on television (not the silver screen) when I was about 12 years old - and the birds scared the daylights out of me! I couldn't look at a flock of birds (meaning more than two!) without wondering if they would attack. I knew in my head they wouldn't, but there was that tiny seed of doubt that always wondered, "What if..."

Somewhere between junior high and adulthood, the doubt and fear disappeared and I began to enjoy birds again. Their sweet voices are each so different. Some are melodious and tinkling like the music of a harp. Others are sharp and staccato-like, similar to a car horn. There are sopranos, altos, tenors and baritones. Most birds glide gracefully through the air as they go from perch to perch. Others, like ducks and chickens, spend some of their time waddling on the ground. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly both forwards and backwards, in addition to flying sideways, upside-down and hovering in mid-air.

I have come to appreciate their similarities and differences. I enjoy listening to and watching them. I love how they frolic in our birdbath splashing water around until they are wet and then fly up to the fence to shake and air dry. We live in a lake community and often have to stop our car to let the ducks cross the road - it always makes me smile. We get to watch mama ducks take care of their babies. We welcome the arrival the arrival of the "snowbirds" - the real ones! American coots fly down from snowy, northern states to winter with us. Their arrival means winter is not far behind.

While the birds in Hitchcock's movie brought fear into my heart, the feathered creatures I hear and see around me now are calming. They make me smile. And feel thankful for what God has created.

thankful thursday - a perfect morning

The fog in my brain starts to lift as I hear the beep of the coffee-maker alerting me that the coffee is done. I stretch... and sniff. Yep, the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee is wafting down the hallway into the bedroom. With one eye cracked open and the other tightly shut, I stumble into the kitchen, grab a mug from the cupboard and pour a cup of liquid encouragement - and not the alcoholic kind that only encourages you to do something regrettable.

I watch the steam float gently upward and inhale deeply. A smile slowly creeps across my face and I anticipate the robust flavor on my tongue, the heat in my mouth. I bring the mug up to my mouth and gingerly take a sip, not wanting to burn my lips.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! It is perfect! I take a big gulp. And then one more as my closed eye pops open.

I notice the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Birds are chirping. My heart begins to sing. It's gonna be a great day!

I am thankful for perfect mornings like this. And for coffee!

thankful thursday - books

I grew up in a home with books. Lots and lots of books. My parents read all the time... newspapers, magazines, books of all kinds. We had family reading time. I always received a book or two for Christmas and my birthday. "Good behavior" during the week was rewarded with a trip to the public library on Friday evening where I could check out as many books as I could carry. And "bad behavior" meant you forfeited the privilege of going to the library - something that happened only once or twice! We talked about the books we were reading. We took books to appointments to read while we waited. We read in the car on road trips.

Yes, I grew up with a love for books and reading. As I got older, I was surprised to discover that not all families had books in their homes or read for pleasure. How did these people learn things? When I was in fourth grade, I was intrigued with sea horses and read every book about them I could find. My family soon grew tired of sea horse trivia and was happy when I moved on to the next thing.

And how did nonreaders escape reality? My older sister gave me A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett one summer when I was sick and had to stay in bed for several days (back in the day when bedrest was prescribed and we had no television!). In my imagination, I escaped my sick bed and entered the life of Sarah Crewe, the young girl the story is about, and the days of confinement flew by.

As an adult, I continue to enjoy reading and appreciate a "good book." Not surprisingly, my sweet hubby also enjoys reading, although our reading interests are sometimes quite different. We encouraged our daughters to read - for knowledge, for fun, for escape.  And we are delighted that as adults, they both enjoy reading, too. It gives us another thing we can enjoy together as we recommend books to each other or introduce one another to a different genre.

Several years ago I was convinced that I would not enjoy the "young adult" trilogy, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I was sure I wouldn't like the premise of the book - a society that sends children to fight and kill each other for entertainment. After they read them, my daughters thought I would like the books and encouraged (read: nagged!) me to read them for myself. To my utter surprise, I did enjoy them and learned there was much more to them than what I had originally thought. You really can't (or shouldn't, anyway!) judge a book by its cover!

Reading is a lot like eating. There have been a few books I've started reading and didn't like just as there have been some foods I've tasted and didn't care for. It's okay to quit reading a book just as it's okay to not eat certain foods. On the other hand, there are some foods I absolutely didn't care for as a child (cantaloup!) but really enjoy now. And the same is true for a few books I quit reading when I was younger but picked back up to read years later and loved. Tastes change. Once in awhile you find a book you want to read again and again. I have read Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell eight or ten times. It reminds me of my grandmother who introduced me to the book and then the movie. It's like chicken noodle soup - comfort food!

There are many things concerning books and reading that I am thankful for. Things like having the freedom to read any book I choose - and God-given discernment to choose wisely. And that God gave me, and my parents nurtured, a love of reading from an early age. And that God gives some people the gift of writing well. Where would we be without such gifted and talented authors as William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl, C. S. Lewis, Mark Twain, Dr. Seuss, ...

May is National Get Caught Reading Month. Are you a book lover? Great! Or was the last book you read one that was assigned in school? I challenge you to pick a book and read it this month. You just might be surprised and really enjoy it.