Tag Archives: thanks

May 25, 2012 · 2:14 pm

Sometimes “Thank You” seems inadequate

I never served in the military, but thousands of men and women before me did.  To them, I am forever grateful.  Today I served at a funeral at the Rock Island National Cemetery.  The Rock Island National Cemetery is on an island on the Mississippi River.  When you cross the bridge you are greeted with a security gate that always has at least two uniformed guards.  When they are told that you are there for service for a veteran or a veteran’s wife, they come out of the little kiosk, snap to attention and salute all the cars that drive by.

As we drove farther onto the island and then into the cemetery, anyone that we drove by stopped what they were doing and either gave a military salute or removed their hat and put their hand over their heart.  Today, the island was particularly busy.  Workers were all over the grounds preparing for Memorial Day.  Every one of them paused as we drove by.   I’ve done many services at national cemeteries before.  All of them are emotional.   Today though, was special.  Flags lined the streets, and little flags were planted in neat rows alongside the stone markers.

When kids in my parents’ generation were graduating high school, they were thinking about going to Vietnam.  When kids in my grandparents’ generation were graduating high school, they were thinking about going to Europe or Japan.  When I graduated high school, I was thinking about going to a party to try and meet a girl.

Today I thought of the people I went to high school with that served in the military.  They served for many reasons, and because they served, I didn’t have to.  I wish I could say thank you to all of them. Today as I looked out at the lines and lines of markers, I said a prayer of thanksgiving.  I thanked God for each of those markers, men, women, husbands, and wives that gave a part of their youth.  They put everything on the line so that I could worship, speak, read, raise a family, pursue happiness, work for justice, and grow old in safety.

Sometimes “thank you” just seems inadequate.

Click here for another reflection on Memorial Day

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Rock Island National Cemetery, May 25, 2012 (Photo by Robb McCoy)

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May 13, 2012 · 7:03 am

A Gift For Mother’s Day

I think the dandelion should be the official flower of Mother’s Day.

I have known a lot of great Moms in my life. On Mother’s Day the custom is to give a gift to the mothers in your life.  Today, I am reflecting on the gifts that I have received from the mothers I have known.

Thank you for the gift of strength.  You showed me strength beyond measure.  You lived out the true meaning of the word fight because you were fighting not for yourself, but for your girls.  You showed me endurance when the medicine and the disease were destroying your body.  Even when the possibility of cure was gone, your spirit lived on.  You reminded me what it means to live, and revealed to me a strength that comes with the abiding presence of God.

Thank you for your gift of gentleness.  Your last words to me were, “Oh Robby, she’s beautiful,” as I lowered my newborn daughter to your side.  Hers was quite possibly the last face you saw.  It was your last gift to me, the last of many.  Thank you for the ice cream and Wheel of Fortune.  Thank you for letting “my” dog live with you.  Thank you letting me help you with your word searches.  Thank you for giving me a glimpse of the Kingdom when I sat at your table, and revealing to me the aroma of heaven.

Thank you for showing me how to dance – even on the table if the occasion required it.  Thank you for loving me as your own and showing me what it means to be a friend.  Thank you for dividing my sorrow and multiplying my joy.  Thank you for the s’mores around the fire in the summer, and the songs of love and family around the fire at Christmas.  Thank you for providing a place I knew I would always be welcome.

Thank you for your gift of support.  Thank you for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.  You weren’t just my biggest fan.  For most of my life I thought that you were my only fan.  Thank you for helping me get back on my bike after I ‘fell off’ (we’ll just leave it at that), and for giving me lunch money when I forgot mine at home.  Thanks for teaching me to hail to the orange, for the letters, and for the surprise boxes of cookies in the mail.  I promise when I finally write my book, you’ll get the first copy.

Thank you for your gift of faith.  Thank you, not just for bringing me to church, but for living with Christ.  Thank you for loving Dad more than anything, and for loving God more.  Thank you for birthing in me a God-given vision, and for guiding me gently as I learned to see it for myself.  Thank you for buying me the watch I wanted – the one with the tiny little buttons that was so impractical.  Thank you for buying another one when I lost the first one.  Thanks for letting me tight roll my pants even though you knew I looked ridiculous.  Thanks for the sawbucks on Friday nights, and for staying up for me.  Thanks for letting me grow.  Thanks for letting me go.  I know someday I’ll have to do the same, and I pray that I can do it with the same amount of grace that you showed.

Thank you for your gift of forgiveness, grace, and love.  You make me a better person every day.  Your forgiveness reveals to me the grace of our God, and I know that the Holy Spirit has bound us with cords that cannot be broken.  Together we are more than we could ever be apart.  You have given me purpose, and you have given me two girls that fill my world.  When I see you read to them, play with them, laugh with them, snuggle them, correct them, and teach them I see the grace of God.  Even when I’m awfully low and when the world is cold, I feel aglow just thinking of you.  And I remain deeply, hopelessly, endlessly in love with you.

Thanks Mom.  Or should I say, “Thanks Moms.”  I’ve been loved by a lot of Moms in my life.  They’ve given me so much.  I hope you like this dandelion bouquet.

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Other FP links about Moms:

Yo Momma’s So Nice jokes

The legacy of the founders of Mother’s Day

A letter to my Mom before being ordained

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