Veteran’s Day – All Gave Some, Others Gave All

Today is Veteran’s Day.  Joining the military was without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever done.  I will forever be grateful that circumstance led me to that day when I swore my allegiance:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

The day before taking that solemn oath of enlistment I celebrated my 19th birthday.  Like most new recruits I was young and not well prepared for those days of training, discipline, rules and the rites of passage just ahead.  But, I learned a lot and even shaved for the first time during those first few weeks.  I’d like to think I grew up a lot during those next four years.  The military changed my life for the better and it’s been a big part of me ever since.  It’s an honor to be a veteran.

Age Has a Way

I never thought I would live to be this old.
Billy Graham – Nearing Home

I was thumbing through a brand new book by the celebrated Evangelist Billy Graham just the other night.  I remember Graham from the time I was a little boy and watching him on television.  Charismatic and a powerful speaker he’s lived an amazing life and has preached to more people than any other in history, an estimated audience of more than 2.2 billion!  Early in his career he was offered a lucrative network television contract that would have made him a millionaire several times over, but turned it down to continue his ministry.  Billy Graham is hugely popular and ranked 7th on Gallup’s list of most admired people for the 20th century.

Graham celebrated his 93rd birthday yesterday and his latest book Nearing Home shares his personal experience of growing old and teaches valuable lessons on how to view our time here on Earth.  It got me to thinking….