We Love Our Military Heroes

Today I want to take a few minutes to say thank you to all of our military families and our veterans. Your service to our country is something I deeply appreciate. When a young man or woman makes the commitment to serve in the armed forces, he or she fully realizes the risk involved. The military is dangerous! Yet without the service of these young men and women, we would not have the amazing country we have. The freedoms we enjoy have been bought with a high price.

Lance Corporal Kendall Bane with his girlfriend
Jessica Stender before the Marine Ball.

Saturday was the birthday of the Marine Corps and the Marine Ball. One very special young man was in attendance. Lance Corporal Kendall Bane graduated from Westminster Christian Academy in 2011 and joined the Marines. He deployed to Afghanistan on May 4, 2012. On September 20 his family was notified  that he was shot several times. The first shot was taken straight to the head. Fortunately he was wearing his helmet. He took three more shots: one to each leg and one in the abdomen.  Since September 28 Lance Corporal Bane has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. However, last week he came home! His family and girlfriend Jessica have been by his side throughout his recovery. He is still in a wheelchair and has a long way to go, but he has an indomitable spirit.

In our ANM family, we have many military men and women who have faithfully served this country. Military wives deserve special recognition because of the sacrifice they are making. It isn't easy raising children when Daddy is gone. We appreciate each one of our military families so much. Please take a moment to share about your military hero in the comment section. We would love to hear your story. And to honor you today, we have a special sale!

A Special Thanks to our Military Men and Women

We are so blessed to live in a country where we take freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom from servitude for granted. Is the USA perfect? NO. But the freedom we have here to pursue the American dream, to worship as we please and to raise our children according to our values is truly a blessing. We have an immigration problem in part because people from other countries don't have the same opportunities we do here!

So today it is appropriate for us to pause and say THANK YOU to the men and women who have made the sacrifices necessary to serve in our military. There are lots of ways to do this:

• If you own a business, give them a special discount. We are offering a 20% discount today, but we always have a 10% military discount.
• Say Thank You to any service man or woman you see in uniform.
• Send a letter to a soldier who is serving overseas. If you don't know anybody who is serving, you can still get involved here.
• Get involved as a volunteer with the National Military Family Association. This is a great way to support the families who also make real sacrifices.
• Are you interested in childbirth and supporting mothers? Operation Special Delivery provides doulas for military moms whose husbands are deployed.
• Send a care package to a deployed service person through Operation Gratitude.

If you are in the military or married to a service person, please let me take this opportunity to say a heartfelt THANK YOU so much! God Bless You!