Fitting and Great Tribute to our Veterans (by Todd Green)

Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 2:39pm

Hello Friends,

Back on November 13, I attended a wonderful chapel service at Eastside Christian School. Here's an excerpt from the Veterans' Day Chapel service message delivered by Eastside Christian’s Director of Student Ministries, Todd Green. Eastside is a great school. Let me know if you’re interested in learning more about this great place for kids to learn.

Veteran’s Day Chapel (by Todd Green - Eastside Christian School - 11/13/08)

Our Veteran’s Day chapel is an annual event for us and it is our opportunity to honor the people who have served our country in the military – it’s our way of saying thanks and showing our appreciation for what US soldiers have done for us in the past and continue to do for our world even as we speak. It is also a way for us to think about what is important for us to do in the future.

American veterans have sacrificed for all of us in order to secure our freedom and protect us from harm.

A sacrifice is something of great value that you give up. It’s a choice that you make in order to obtain a greater good. And in the case of Veteran’s it’s not just for themselves – it’s a greater good that’s enjoyed by everyone.

A relative few have made that kind of sacrifice but all of us enjoy the benefits of it.

Throughout history U.S. soldiers have made that sacrifice by putting others before themselves – putting their own careers, and dreams on hold in order to serve our country.

And not only our country. US soldiers have fought, and many have given their lives, for the sake of people they never knew, for people who didn’t speak their language or live like they did, people who never would have a chance to thank them.

In 1961 John F. Kennedy spoke these words that so accurately encapsulate this ideal – He said: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to ensure the survival and success of freedom.”

US soldiers living out this creed is to me is the epitome of courage, it is the height of selflessness, it is the absolute definition of heroism.

That kind of heroism has it’s root in a far deeper place than just the human heart. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Whenever I think of the Veterans of this country I am unable to ignore the link between what they’ve done for our nation and what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross. The sacrifice made by these men and women is a vivid reflection of what Jesus did for each and every one of us. The only difference is that to Him, none of us were strangers – far from it - He went to that hill knowing every fragment of our sinfulness – and He poured out His life for each of us anyway. That is courage, that is sacrifice, THAT is heroism.

So today we give glory to God, but we also honor you Veteran’s today. The entire nation owes you a debt that we can never repay. May God bless you and your families and may these young people fully grasp the example that you have set before them.

Change of Perspective - A Robbery Story (or two)

This was first posted on my "Facebook" notes. It was a perspective changing event that happened on Veterans' Day Monday this year.

Sad but true - Robbery in broad daylight at Bellevue Square Mall.

We went to the Mall on Monday, November 10th to exchange a pair of shoes and visit the Apple Store. After all this had been done, we went to the center of the mall to get an Orange Julius to share between my boys and their friend. The three of them were sitting by the elevator on the new comfy chairs recently added to Bel Square as Anna and I, along with our baby went to order the drink. What happened next was pretty much the last thing we would have expected...

We heard some kids yelling and screaming and out of the corner of my eye, I saw OUR boys running down the mall towards the Bon Marche. In an instant, I realized what had happened, that someone had stolen something from the boys! Instinct kicked in and I immediately gave chase (with computer backpack on) and saw the thief running down the mall. When he came toward the entrance to the Bon, he went left behind the escalator and was cornered. I came from the right and he made a dash for the Bon entrance. I took a lunge at him and had a hand on him, but missed and he got by me into the Bon and down the stairs.

I gave chase down the stairs (and let go of the backpack mid-stairs) and chased him out the east door of the mall. He took off around to the south past Red Robin and I continued the chase into the lower parking garage. He continued running through the garage and unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) my shoe started coming off so I slowed down and walked. I picked up again after a few seconds and when I rounded the corner on NE 4th by Penny’s and saw him further up the sidewalk walking. I flagged down a motorist and she gave me a ride in the car to chase him. I think he must have ducked into the bushes so we lost sight him.

We rounded the corner of 100th and did not see any sign of him. We turned into the SW parking garage and looked around but to no avail. Around about that time, the police arrived on the scene and swarmed all over the perimeter of the mall.

An interesting twist, I learned later was that when I began my pursuit in the mall, another young man took off in case AFTER ME! This according to what my family saw. Of course this concerned them, thinking – what if these guys are armed and I actually ended up in a physical altercation!?!?
That’s why I said “perhaps fortunately” I was not able to catch him.

This guy that took off after me, it turns out had earlier asked my son if he could borrow his cell phone to make a call. My son was very smart – he asked him, why not just go over to guest services and use their phone? They guy simply said he didn’t want to. So my son did not give him his phone, but gave his Bluetooth earpiece and dialed the number for the guy. Of course later, the number was still on my son’s phone so we were able to give that number to the police if in fact this young person was an accomplice involved in the robbery.

Statements were given reports filed and we’re waiting to hear if anything happens.

From this experience, I learned a great deal of things. First, people are more important that property. In the future, I don’t know if I would give chase in such a situation. What if I had caught him? What if he had a gun or a knife? It’s possible that I would not be typing this right now had that been the case.

Secondly, it’s amazing how relax we can get in our sense of safety and security – again, this was just a “thing”, but when something like this happens, it robs you of your sense of security and peace of mind. It’s a good reminder that Bellevue is becoming a “bigger city” and with that comes more of these types of incidents. We must always be aware and far more careful and wise.

Finally, last night as Anna and I prayed before bed, we asked the Lord for His protection and care and thanked him for watching over us during the trauma of that day. We also prayed that our boys’ hearts would be guarded from becoming hardened and especially against becoming racist. I don’t want our boys to judge people because of the color of their skin just because these assailants were “people of color”. We also prayed for the young man who committed the crime. While I was still very angry with him for what he had stolen from us (not just property), I prayed for God to have mercy on him and I prayed that God help me not to have a hardened heart.

From this, there are huge opportunities to learn and grow and to be thankful for God’s care, protection and provision in our lives.

So if you’ve read this, my hope is that you will be careful, wise and are able to learn from the experiences that we’ve had forced upon us.

Garrick

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Three weeks later, while preaching at a church up in Everett, my car window was smashed and my brother's computer and bag were stolen from my car. At the very moment that I was informed of the break-in, I was shaking hands with a gentleman from the church whose Leukemia had just returned after having been in remission for several years. For obvious reason anything stolen from the vehicle and damaged property paled in significance to what this gentleman had shared with me.

Entering the New Era of Communication

Hello Friend*,

For a long time now, I've contemplated entering the world of the "blogosphere" so now here on the 6th day of December in 2008 -- here I go.

I always have quite a few thoughts and a HUGE variety of topics, so I suspect blogging will be fun. I hope you will come and share your thoughts and opinions too. But please be respectful and I will do my best to be in my blogs too.

Please join me on the journey in the blogosphere. Enjoy the Pang Pages.

Garrick

* If you're reading this you quite possibly are a friend of mine. If I don't yet know you, I hope that one day I will call you friend.