Entry for February 20, 2009: Thank God It’s Friday!
T.G.I.F. !!!
I remember a song by that title. The chorus lyrics were repetitive, “Friday. Thank god it’s .... Friday!”
And the song went on about working all week only to reach Friday to relax, play, get time off from a hum-drum job at a car wash. Do any of you have memories like that?
Mine carried over into the military as well. Man, I could not wait for Fridays. Sometimes the platoon sergeant would finagle us an early time off. Sometimes we’d work one in on our own. Maybe the, “Old Man,” would be cool and let the company go at noon (mainly ‘cause he wanted to get home to “Momma” too.) There were the long, holiday weekends where Fridays were only one day of a three or four day weekend. Those were the good times. We could really get some travel in if we had cars or were close with friends who did.
I also remember the times spent when Fridays meant nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Friday was just another day, because so was Saturday, as was Sunday, as was Monday, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and on and on and on. So much so in fact I forgot at times what day of the week it was. To tell the truth, I didn’t care. All I cared about was, I was another day “short.” How about that? Do any of you remember counting down the days? Watching the days until you could leave your particular hell hole?
For me it was Vietnam . . . and I’d asked for more days! Still, I wanted out of there. Would I have gone back? In a heartbeat. Yet I couldn’t stand the place while I was there. Confused yet? I’m sure you are. Confusing? You bet. For those who might read this who have never been in a place like Vietnam (or Korea, Somalia, Grenada, Iraq, Kosavo, Bosnia, or Afghanistan), you truly have no way to comprehend this message. You really can only guess at best. For those who have been in these places, or nameless others like them, you truly know the meaning of, “Freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” Except for one little issue.
Far too many of us who have tasted the price of the cost of freedom, have never been able to wash it out of our mouths. Since we’ve been home from theater, or what’s also known as, “in country,” those around us have begun to taste it too. Unfortunately they don’t recognize it as the cost of freedom. They see it as, “Something’s wrong with [my husband, brother, son or friend] and I don’t know what to do to help [them].” Some of you have progressed to, “I have no idea what’s wrong with [him or her] but I’m sick and tired of [their] garbage [perhaps even substance and/or physical abuse] and I’m outta’ here.”
These Fridays, these ends of something, are not fun. They’re not that thing; that day we’re looking forward to. These “Fridays” are the end . . . the bitter and tragic end of relationships, families, even lives. But there is a different, T.G.I.F. That T.G.I.F. is, "Today, God Is First."
Jesus said that when we are burdened, when the loads of life are too much, we should come to Him and He would give us rest. He promised His load is easy; His burden is light. There is, however a sort of companion Scripture I want to point out. It reads, “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:6, NIV)
Let me offer that we, especially as warriors, know, war steals more than just the lives of heroes and of the innocent. War destroys more than just property and governments. War takes away emotions, damages reason, robs the warrior of the ability to give and receive trust. Yet most important is the loss of the ability to give and receive love. (I cannot simply say men or fathers only are warriors any longer as in Malachi's Scripture. Because in our modern society our women are now warriors too.)
You see Dear Ones, love . . . is straight from heaven. Love is the very heart; the essence of God himself. First Corinthians 13 describes the attributes of love as living attributes. Love . . . . is alive.
God has created us in His image. In that image He gave us the capacity to give and receive love. Our enemy the devil, comes to us by the horrors of war and steals or silences our capacity to love. Taking our capacity to love is that curse mentioned in Malachi. The only way to regain that ability, the capacity to love, and thereby restore our peace of mind and heart is making the choice that:
TODAY GOD IS FIRST !
I remember a song by that title. The chorus lyrics were repetitive, “Friday. Thank god it’s .... Friday!”
And the song went on about working all week only to reach Friday to relax, play, get time off from a hum-drum job at a car wash. Do any of you have memories like that?
Mine carried over into the military as well. Man, I could not wait for Fridays. Sometimes the platoon sergeant would finagle us an early time off. Sometimes we’d work one in on our own. Maybe the, “Old Man,” would be cool and let the company go at noon (mainly ‘cause he wanted to get home to “Momma” too.) There were the long, holiday weekends where Fridays were only one day of a three or four day weekend. Those were the good times. We could really get some travel in if we had cars or were close with friends who did.
I also remember the times spent when Fridays meant nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Friday was just another day, because so was Saturday, as was Sunday, as was Monday, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and on and on and on. So much so in fact I forgot at times what day of the week it was. To tell the truth, I didn’t care. All I cared about was, I was another day “short.” How about that? Do any of you remember counting down the days? Watching the days until you could leave your particular hell hole?
For me it was Vietnam . . . and I’d asked for more days! Still, I wanted out of there. Would I have gone back? In a heartbeat. Yet I couldn’t stand the place while I was there. Confused yet? I’m sure you are. Confusing? You bet. For those who might read this who have never been in a place like Vietnam (or Korea, Somalia, Grenada, Iraq, Kosavo, Bosnia, or Afghanistan), you truly have no way to comprehend this message. You really can only guess at best. For those who have been in these places, or nameless others like them, you truly know the meaning of, “Freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” Except for one little issue.
Far too many of us who have tasted the price of the cost of freedom, have never been able to wash it out of our mouths. Since we’ve been home from theater, or what’s also known as, “in country,” those around us have begun to taste it too. Unfortunately they don’t recognize it as the cost of freedom. They see it as, “Something’s wrong with [my husband, brother, son or friend] and I don’t know what to do to help [them].” Some of you have progressed to, “I have no idea what’s wrong with [him or her] but I’m sick and tired of [their] garbage [perhaps even substance and/or physical abuse] and I’m outta’ here.”
These Fridays, these ends of something, are not fun. They’re not that thing; that day we’re looking forward to. These “Fridays” are the end . . . the bitter and tragic end of relationships, families, even lives. But there is a different, T.G.I.F. That T.G.I.F. is, "Today, God Is First."
Jesus said that when we are burdened, when the loads of life are too much, we should come to Him and He would give us rest. He promised His load is easy; His burden is light. There is, however a sort of companion Scripture I want to point out. It reads, “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:6, NIV)
Let me offer that we, especially as warriors, know, war steals more than just the lives of heroes and of the innocent. War destroys more than just property and governments. War takes away emotions, damages reason, robs the warrior of the ability to give and receive trust. Yet most important is the loss of the ability to give and receive love. (I cannot simply say men or fathers only are warriors any longer as in Malachi's Scripture. Because in our modern society our women are now warriors too.)
You see Dear Ones, love . . . is straight from heaven. Love is the very heart; the essence of God himself. First Corinthians 13 describes the attributes of love as living attributes. Love . . . . is alive.
God has created us in His image. In that image He gave us the capacity to give and receive love. Our enemy the devil, comes to us by the horrors of war and steals or silences our capacity to love. Taking our capacity to love is that curse mentioned in Malachi. The only way to regain that ability, the capacity to love, and thereby restore our peace of mind and heart is making the choice that:
TODAY GOD IS FIRST !
2009-02-21 06:59:06 GMT
