This week I experienced first hand the sacrifice that a soldier makes when he or she is deployed. My brother is a US Marine. Just a couple of weeks ago he was deployed for Afghanistan. Right now he's just in the training part of deployment, but since he lives an hour and a half from his base, he's been gone for three weeks. With a 9 month pregnant wife. The past two weeks he's been in CA. We knew he'd probably miss the birth of his son. BUT the night before being induced he got permission to be home. He left his base in CA at 6 a.m. Monday morning. 8 a.m. our time. Flew into Dallas and had another flight to get him to his local base, then to drive an hour and half to get to the hospital. He made it to Dallas with no problems. Knew he had a flight at 4:15. At 4 o'clock, a mere 15 minutes before takeoff, his flight was canceled. No other flights were available. He's 5 hours from the hospital. If he'd know when he landed earlier that this flight was going to be canceled, he could have left and been at the hospital. No rental cars were available. AT DFW AIRPORT he couldn't get a rental. So to get him to Texarkana, 3 hours away so he could get his car and dive to Mena to see his wife, we had to hire a car service and have someone drive him. As he was getting into the limo service car, Danielle, his wife, has started pushing. He's on the phone with her as she delivers their perfect sweet Bentley James. What a sacrifice. To serve our country. Missing the birth and first few hours of his sons life. Billy finally arrived at the hospital a little before midnight. To meet his 5 hour old son. Something that most women take for granted that thier husbands will be right there when they have their child was something that we tried SO hard to make happen. It was not meant to be.
The Lord has plans that we don't always understand for His ways our higher than ours. Thank you Lord for a country that has men and women that volunteer to serve. That sacrifice so much to serve and protect.
