Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veteran's Day at church

I wanted to write about this on Sunday, but I got a little occupied with my "girl's night out" and my dad being so sick in the hospital. But, it hasn't left my mind...

Sunday was my first time at church since B left last week. I was actually dreading going by myself because for some reason I have a hard time sitting there alone. I frequently get very emotional when I am there alone worshipping God through song. Singing His praises through my own troubled mind and heavy heart is very difficult. Its like, I know He is still good and is still there and has not changed, but its hard when I am so sad and lonely. Praising God through a hurting heart isn't easy for me. Anyway, I wanted to go to church though because I love the fellowship and message..and because its just what we do...we go to church every Sunday.

So, when I walked in the door and dropped the kids off in the preschool department and walked to the sanctuary by myself, my heart kind of sunk when I picked up the bulletin - the service was to be a celebration for Veteran's Day. That meant we were going to be singing patrotic songs and talking about our wonderful nation. Yes, this is a GREAT thing to be doing...but to be doing it just days after my husband deployed on behalf of this country just didn't sound all that appealing to me.

As I sat down, I prayed for strength to make it through the service without crying so much that I'd have to leave to freshen up. Well, low and behold, God gave me just the strength I needed. It was actually such a beautiful and touching service that I was almost too "in awe" to cry too much. The pastor asked all the veterans to come up to the alter and pray for those men and women currently serving around the world while a video played honoring those currently deployed. I don't know exactly what I was expecting..maybe that not many of the vets would feel comfortable enough to go up to the alter and publicly pray - I'm not real sure, but I was completely speechless when probably 100 men and a few women immediately stood up and made their way to the front of my huge church. There were elderly men in grey suits, younger guys with beards, and some in jeans that made their way to the alter. Most knelt down to pray with hands laid on one another, but two men stood and simply bowed - clearly to old to kneel and simply get back up. They filled the entire alter and flooded into the aisles. As these men and women prayed, a video slideshow played showing pictures of the men and women currently serving. The song playing was called, "Somebody's Praying for Me" and as I took it all in, I tried to capture the beauty of these older men praying for our guys. Other women sitting around me in the "preschool parents" section cried as they sat alone as well. Undoubtedly, these were women just like me. These were the wives of the men these veterans were praying for. God gave me the strength to make it through those few minutes with only a few tears shed. I honesty don't remember the message the pastor spoke that day...but I know that I will never forget how the older men bowed at the alter in prayer for my husband and the rest of our soldiers. What a great day to be in the house of the Lord!

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