My daughter and began our last Christmas shopping trip by stopping at Subway for lunch. As we were waiting for our sandwiches to be prepared I got into a conversation with the lady who was fixing our lunch. The conversation was sharing our general plans for Christmas celebrations with family. She told me that her family was planning a really big Christmas gathering, and welcome home party for her brother. This brother is a soldier, and no one in the family had seen him for three years! I couldn’t imagine not seeing a family member for three years under those circumstances. I wished them a very good celebration, paid for our lunch, and enjoyed my meal.

As Lizanne and I visited, I couldn’t get this lady’s brother and family off my mind. I had to go back by the counter before we left, and ask her to please tell her brother, “Thank you,” for me. She smiled deeply, and said she would do that. This man and his family have sacrificed a lot for his/our country. I appreciate it so much. I don’t know how long his visit will be, but hopefully he will have an extended visit at the least.

Service people and their families are on my mind during this season. I pray for them; for their safety and provisions while they are there and safe return home. I pray for their families for faith, courage, and peace while their loved one is away. I pray for all of them to know God; to know who Jesus is, and to ask Him to come in to live in them and be their Lord and Savior. If they do pay the ultimate price with their lives, I would love to be able to thank them in person in Heaven one day.

Won’t you join me in praying for all service men and women, and their families? The best gift we can possibly give them is to hold them up to the Lord Jesus in prayer. Jesus did give the ultimate price when He died for our ultimate freedom, and paved the way for us to spend eternity with Him one day if we accept His salvation.