Today he leaves for boot camp. Yesterday he played the acoustic bass in church. Tomorrow... who knows? That's yet to be revealed.
I've known him for just about two years now. Our paths crossed at church where we both play in the orchestra, and for most of that time he has been the only string player in the band. He has been faithful to be there Wednesday nights for rehearsals and Sunday mornings for worship services. What surprises me about his steadiness is that he is a single young man who could find many other ways to spend his time and many other places to be. However, he chooses to be at church.
But now, he won't be, and we will miss him. Will miss his smile, his music, his gentle presence, and his testimony. We shall continue to think about him and lift him up in prayer, his mama, too. It must be hard seeing your child choose to walk away from the security of home, family, and friends into the vices of the military. I don't know first hand what that's like, but I do remember how hard it was just to leave my son on his own at college. It is so hard turning loose. We moms & dads tend to panic and ask ourselves, "Did we do our jobs as parents? Did we do it right, and did we do it well? Did we love them enough, and did we teach them all that they need to know to survive out there?"
I personally don't know his parents & family very well, but just by association with this young man, I'd say they did a fine job raising their son, and he will make a fine soldier. It seems to me his feet are firmly planted on the Solid Rock, and that's exactly what it takes to make it out there. A firm foundation can weather the storm: be it military, civil, or private.
We will miss him: our light-haired, soft-spoken young friend. While there will be a gap in the flow of music, there will be new steps in the marching corps. When there will be murmurs in the congregational prayers for his safety, there will be shouts of command in the corporal ranks. Where there is war, there will be prayers for peace. He, our friend the soldier, is doing his part to make men free. It is now our turn as a church and community to voice our petitions to heaven. Pray for others. Pray for our leaders. Pray for peace, and pray for William.
Blessings to you, my friend Private William... may God protect and keep you. Thank you for serving our country! We will miss you until you come back and join us once again in the band. You can wear your military uniform or your civilian clothes as you play... doesn't matter to us. We just want you to hurry back home, today, tomorrow or several tomorrows from now. Yes, hurry home, please... your music and your chair await you.
Sincerely your friend,
Cindy Lou
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But eveyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
---Matthew 7:24-27 Holy Bible, New International Version
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
---John 3:16 Holy Bible, New International Version
@Copyright 2010, Cindy Lou Hodges
All Rights Reserved
