Two Thanksgivings ago, when my husband was deployed to Afghanistan, my children and I were supposed to drive six hours to be with family. But some of the family had bronchitis, and some of them had strep throat. I prayed and decided catching all of that would make the deployment even harder. And so we stayed home. Some friends invited us to their house and I will always appreciate that gesture.
So many things are hard about Thanksgiving without our husband. He does stuff. The guy stuff. You just feel weird and can't wait for the day to be over.
I tried to focus on the actual meaning of the holiday, and realized that I wasn't being thankful at all. I found the original words that George Washington wrote when he first established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. I couldn't find anything in there at all about pilgrims or turkeys or even family. Everything George Washington wrote was all about being thankful to the Lord.
During the holidays especially, when I am really missing my husband, and nothing else will do, it helps me to turn to the Lord. The moments that I wish I could talk to my husband or hug him, I talk to the Lord instead. When I get those pangs of sadness or loneliness, I sit down and read my Bible. Run to your heavenly Father's arms the way you wish your husband could hold you in his.
The Psalms are my favorite thing to read when my husband is away. You realize when you read the Psalms that the Lord truly does understand how you feel. There's a lot in there about battles and triumphing over those. King David was really pouring his heart out when he wrote those Psalms. We don't have to read the Bible in order, ladies. No one's going to tell on you to your 3rd grade teacher if you skip some parts. Reading the Bible is just spending time with Him. Open up to the Psalms and you will have a rush of love pour over you that says you are not alone after all.
Thank you so much for giving up your husband for all of us this Thanksgiving. I'm so proud of you and your service to our country. It does matter what you are doing every day. If every single wife in the military gave up right now, the stress of that would get to every service member right now, and America's military would completely collapse. Today. Just like that. You are holding so much together, not just your own family in his absence. You are the glue holding our nation's defense department together. Everyone in our nation is very indebted to you and I thank you.
So hold your head high this Thanksgiving. Sometimes it feels like it will never end but he's coming home one day, and you are home to him. You are his everything.
If your husband gave his life for his country, you can know that while he was with us, you were his special everything. And you will see him again after this life, which the Bible tells us is just a twinkling of an eye. I can't begin to imagine the depth of the pain and strength that you have. Everyone in this country is so in awe of you that we barely know what to say. I know you miss him. Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice.
So many things are hard about Thanksgiving without our husband. He does stuff. The guy stuff. You just feel weird and can't wait for the day to be over.
I tried to focus on the actual meaning of the holiday, and realized that I wasn't being thankful at all. I found the original words that George Washington wrote when he first established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. I couldn't find anything in there at all about pilgrims or turkeys or even family. Everything George Washington wrote was all about being thankful to the Lord.
During the holidays especially, when I am really missing my husband, and nothing else will do, it helps me to turn to the Lord. The moments that I wish I could talk to my husband or hug him, I talk to the Lord instead. When I get those pangs of sadness or loneliness, I sit down and read my Bible. Run to your heavenly Father's arms the way you wish your husband could hold you in his.
The Psalms are my favorite thing to read when my husband is away. You realize when you read the Psalms that the Lord truly does understand how you feel. There's a lot in there about battles and triumphing over those. King David was really pouring his heart out when he wrote those Psalms. We don't have to read the Bible in order, ladies. No one's going to tell on you to your 3rd grade teacher if you skip some parts. Reading the Bible is just spending time with Him. Open up to the Psalms and you will have a rush of love pour over you that says you are not alone after all.
Thank you so much for giving up your husband for all of us this Thanksgiving. I'm so proud of you and your service to our country. It does matter what you are doing every day. If every single wife in the military gave up right now, the stress of that would get to every service member right now, and America's military would completely collapse. Today. Just like that. You are holding so much together, not just your own family in his absence. You are the glue holding our nation's defense department together. Everyone in our nation is very indebted to you and I thank you.
So hold your head high this Thanksgiving. Sometimes it feels like it will never end but he's coming home one day, and you are home to him. You are his everything.
If your husband gave his life for his country, you can know that while he was with us, you were his special everything. And you will see him again after this life, which the Bible tells us is just a twinkling of an eye. I can't begin to imagine the depth of the pain and strength that you have. Everyone in this country is so in awe of you that we barely know what to say. I know you miss him. Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice.
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