Jumbled

November is upon us. Things to look forward to: Thanksgiving! Visiting Twin Falls. Knowing that my missionary sister is going to be home at the end of the month. One thing that is a bit halting: getting a call from my little brother to say goodbye before he flies off to Afghanistan. I've had to admit to myself that he is now an adult. Someone who made a choice to join the Marines and because of the commitment he made, is now being sent across the world to a place where his training will actually have to be used. Before, I think I could still play it off as something that he was learning that he wouldn't actually need except to help him grow up a little more. It's made him do that faster than I want. An old friend of mine used to say "He's only 4", the age she last remembers him before going off in her own life. I have thought that too. he's only 4. Well..that was a very long time ago and now he's heading off to a dangerous place to serve our country and hopefully help that part of the world a little bit. I have been completely naive in this process. Haven't paid enough attention to details of what he's going into. But I pray for him and his fellow marines and their commanders that they will be inspired when in danger to do that right things and stay safe so that he'll come back and be given the chance to grow even more.

At this time, I'm also impressed with my mom. She's not a woman to get overly excited about things. She takes things in stride and doesn't get easily frazzled. She has been nervous though. I hope to be like her because when something happens that could be overly nervewracking to someone, she throws herself into service. She will find out all she can and figure out how to be involved! And she's doing it again. She has found a group called the Camo Quilt Project and in a week, she's gathering a group in her area who will be making their own quilts to send to my brother's company. I can't fly out there and be an active participant, but if you want to write thank you letters to military men or donate some money to help send the quilts across the world, I'll be passing some of my own to her.

Mitchell & Mom in 2009.

So I did warn you that this post was jumbled. I want to end with the thought of gratitude. Gratitude for service men and women who have committed their bodies, their minds, their lives to protection of how we live and what we believe in the United States. Gratitude for caring men and women who not only want to show their own gratitude, but have the skills to pull off projects for these individuals. Gratitude for the love that is in these people.