God Has Big Shoulders: Big Shoulders Indeed!

Many in today's generation don't remember Island Hopping, Doolittle's Raiders, A Bridge Too Far, D Day, The Battle For Britain and or Blitz Krieg.  Long forgotten is Pork Chop Hill. Starting to fade are the memories of Da Nang and China Beach.  The Black Hawk Down heroism is fading before our very eyes.  They are being replaced with Desert war and the present day dangers of the Mid East.  Sadly only a few in America appreciate the gravity of our time.

Yet everyday, as I walk the halls of MVAMC, I see Veterans who have bought and paid for the freedoms of generations still yet to come. Some are still young who stepped up right after what we now call 911.  They volunteered to serve.  Some are VERY young who have followed in the foot steps of their older brothers and sisters in arms.  Some are getting older like me.   And others are my Dad's age.  Some are not even able to respond any longer to my conversations or blessings and prayers I give for them, much less be a part of a counseling session.  Most everyone of them have seen humanity at its worst and the horrors of war.  Indeed, they have been right smack dab in the middle of man made created hell.

They come from all ages and stages of life: Our World War 2 vets suffered battlefield fatigue, and the suffer with the ravages of aging as they die across the nation at a rate of 1200 to 1500 per day.  The 16 million young people who marched off to war now number only 2 1/2 million.  Some have families helping them walk to the end.  Some are all alone.  The Korean vets are a bit stronger.  They are in their 70s but, if they are here, they are wounded in some way.  You can see the Vietnam vets with their missing body parts and some with wounded broken souls.  They were the most maligned vets; however when their protective umbrella was removed as they were brought out of South East Asia, 2000,000 people lost their lives in the killing fields. They have nothing for which they need be ashamed.  You can see vets from Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Panama, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Operations Deny Flight and Restore Hope.  There are other operations, but now we see folks  who are younger than I would have imagined.  Broken hearts, broken bodies, broken lives and broken souls.  They have a new name for battlefield fatigue.  Now they call it Post Traumatic Stress disorder... an devastating malady for a sickness brought on by overwhelming trauma.

The rest of the story is that our folks at the VA do not leave them alone.  Some of our vets may not have family (some do) but they are not alone.  They are being put on a path to recovery, and as a Chaplain I get to be a part of the healing, the hope and the health.  I get to see God do things that are clearly miraculous.  Sadly... not all recover, but I see God make a difference with people who have made a HUGE difference in you and me... even if we do not know it.  They have been traumatized beyond anything you can imagine, and the one I served who experienced unbelievable trauma, even Jesus, understands them and helps them when they turn their lives over to him.  There once strong arms and bodies are weaker now.  But the LORD is stronger than ever!  

I hope you learn what some of our Veterans are learning: I hope you give the LORD brokenness, disappointment, pain and down right hurt.  As my wife, Vicki, once said to someone we love deeply when she was traumatized.... "God has big shoulders."   And I say... "Big shoulders indeed!"

Be Blessed 2day... Especially 2day

Al