The Holidays Are Coming!!

The holidays are coming!!!

We just finished Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving is around the corner. Less than a month after that Christmas will be here. Then a week later we start a new year.

The Christmas decorations have been in the Walmart here in Vicksburg, Mississippi since the beginning of October. The kids are going to start getting excited while visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.

For many, this is a very sad time of year. Folks who have lost loved ones this time of year feel the sting of the holidays. It is not a time of happiness for them. Rather its a time for loneliness and depression.

There is another group of individuals that are often over looked during the upcoming holidays. Many of us know some of these very special men and women personally. To others, they are just acquaintances or someone we have heard of through church or other prayer group.

But each and every one of us owes these very special men and women a debt that we can never repay.

Many who read my blogs regularly or listen to my show called Wakeup Call on Saturday mornings on NowLive (www.nowlive.com) have probably already figured out who I am talking about. Those of us connected with the Redneck Radio Network talk about these men and women often.

The special men and women I am referring to are those currently serving in the armed forces of the United States of America.

During this time of year we get, or at least I get, hundreds of emails for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I get holiday jokes by the dozens. Then every once in a while I get an email like the one I got this morning from a very dear friend, I call him Jakey. An email that puts everything in such focus and contrast.

Here is the email. I pass it a long to each of you.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
‘SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY! COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'


Please pray for our troops this holiday season. Pray for their safety. We don't need another family to have the holiday season because it was at Christmas that a son, daughter, mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt or uncle was lost.

Pray for the meaning of this holiday season not to be lost on all those serving so far from home. Pray that they realize that we are all here at home missing them and praying for them.

May God richly bless our service men and women. And may God bless America!!!