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Take - Happy Birthday America
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Take– Happy Birthday America
Num 1:22
The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The Message.
Freedom is not free. On 4th of July, I looked around at the former military men in our family. My Daddy, Cecil Milligan served in the Navy during World War Two and in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. My Uncle Bobby served in the Marine Corps and my brother, Vaughan Milligan served in the Air Force. I proudly thanked each one of them for their service as we began our meal together. The word army is in the Bible hundreds of times. Military sacrifice has always been necessary. As I write this, our country is at war and military men and women from all over the country are putting their lives at risk for our freedom.
Take a moment and go to the Photo Gallery. Look at the file labeled Texas Rest Stop – Picnic Lunch and pray for the young military family. In November, Chris will be leaving 3-month old Christopher, wife, Talliah, and their 7 week old puppy to take the yoke of sacrifice by serving our country in Iraq. Chris is in the Army so he will most likely come face to face with active combat.
“You have a new baby and a new puppy,” I laughed as I walked up. “Most people do those things one at a time.” They both laughed. I had watched a big U-Rent-It style truck pull up to the curb. The mother got out, walked over to the picnic table, to nurse a baby. The father had walked the puppy. I wondered if they had even thought about lunch for themselves.
“I just finished my basic training,” Chris said. “We’re on our way to a new base. We’ve been driving straight since yesterday morning and are tired. To make matters worse, the air conditioner in the truck broke. We’re hot.”
I looked at the truck with horror. It was 105 degrees outside and they had a baby. “You can’t even take the truck back because you’d have to repack it,” I said with sympathy. He nodded glumly.
“Thank you so much for serving us,” I told Chris as I left.
He stood proudly. “You’re welcome.”
I turned to Talliah, still holding the baby. “Thank you too. You will be back home handling so much while he is gone. I appreciate what you both are giving for our freedom. I hope you’ll find a good church when you arrive. You’ll need the support of people loving you.”
They looked at each other. “The base has a church,” Chris said. “We should probably go.”
I asked if I could take their picture and promised them people would be praying for them. Because of faithful servants like them taking the difficult yoke of military service, you and I get to continue to celebrate America’s birthday, year after year. Please take this simple yoke and add this young family to your prayer list.
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