Remembering the Cost

It was November, 2007.  A cold, dark and cloudy day.  I remember standing motionlessly, staring at thousands of shoes through a giant glass window.  No, I wasn't at Macy's holiday window on Michigan Avenue.  I was at Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Poland.  I remember staring in horror at over 25,000 pairs of shoes behind a huge glass case.  My friend and I stared in silence for a long time.  It was said that those shoes had been collected in one day at the peak of the horrible atrocities there.  My heart broke as I tried to fathom such loss of human life.

I can't always comprehend fully the freedoms we have here in the United Sates.  Freedom is all I've known.  When we're so used to having it so good, we forget to give thanks.  To appreciate.  To take note of those who've gone before us to give us the amazing freedoms we have.  I've not been extremely faithful about praying for those who are protecting our great country.  I often walk pass a soldier and forget to say "thanks." I can sometimes not even give thought to why we celebrate a holiday like Veterans' Day. Perhaps, today is a reminder to do so.  We live in a great nation.  We are free to attend the church of our choice.  We are free to have a bible.  We are free to vote for our leaders. We are free.

Today, we celebrate Veterans Day.  It was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month in 1918 when the world celebrated, as a treaty was signed ending World War I.  Today, Americans honor the service and sacrifice of our armed forces in the past and present.   We understand that our freedom came with a cost.  Take that moment today and give thanks for those who've gone before you for your freedoms.  Take time to write a note or email to someone in the armed forces, thanking them for their service. Say "thanks" to the servicemen and women who cross your path today.  Finally, thank God for this great country and for the freedoms that we have.  We have so much to be grateful for!  Begin this day with a grateful heart.  Life may not be going for you the way you want, but you can still give thanks!

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.