This morning, Beck and I, along with Katie, Matt and Anna, went to the early church service at First Baptist Church of Ellisville. We’ve been going there since we moved into Ellisville, and I really like the place. Nice people, good message, and quite reminiscent of the churches I attended in the South.
Anyway, being the Sunday before Memorial Day, much of the service and hymns focused on honoring our veterans. One by one, the pastor mentioned groups of vets, and had them stand: WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars. And when he was done, I was still sitting. I served during none of those conflicts. I wasn’t offended, as this oversight is frequently and easily made, especially with the nation focused on the war in Iraq, but there’s a big chunk of folks that served between the end of the Vietnam Conflict through the beginning of the first Gulf War that held the fort for 28 years of relative peace. I figured I’d drop him an e-mail later, not to complain, but just to remind him that there are others that served during relative peacetime.
While the pastor thanked them for their service and what they sacrificed, Becky explained to the Colorado Days that I was a vet too, having served during the Cold War.
So with all these vets standing, he encouraged us to find vets close by, lay our hands on them, while he led us in a prayer for them and those that didn’t return. As we sat there, heads bowed, my arm around Becky, I felt the most wonderful thing: hands on mine.
You see, Katie, Matt and Anna reached over and prayed for me, presumably in thanksgiving of the service I’d had in our nation’s armed forces. I was moved so deeply and profoundly… there’s no way for me to even try to explain it.
Shortly into the service, the pastor realized that he’d left out my group, the peacetime volunteers, and he publicly recognized that, and asked us to stand. Both of us.
There was no need for an e-mail, and there was really no need for any kind of recognition, but I felt good that this omission had been fixed. I wasn’t looking for glory by any means, but I’ll take all the prayers I can get! 🙂