As many of you know, my brother is in the Army (you can check out his blog at www.tommienotes.com). I’m actually from a military family I guess. It’s never been a big deal in our lives – it was just something that my grandfather and dad did. My grandpa was in the US Navy during World War II, and my dad was in the Army.  We never really encouraged my brother that he needed to be in the military, but boy are we proud that he is. While we’ve always been a patriotic family, his enlistment has brought out a new and stronger sense of patriotism in our family.

Today I found a super organization that I signed up for, and I would highly encourage all of you to give it a serious look. I know that for many Americans, times are getting tougher as the economy is taking a plunge, but I’m proud to say that I’ve adopted a soldier. This consists of sending regular letters via the postal system and a package every month. These do not have to be anything elaborate. They are simply to make sure our soldiers know they are supported back home. It doesn’t matter if you think this war is just or not – our soliders enlisted to protect our freedoms and deserve our support. I also signed up my brother and he was adopted in less than 6 hours!!  The website is called Soldiers’ Angels. Even if you do not feel comfortable taking on a longterm commitment and adopting a soldier, they have many other programs that only involve a one time commitment. You can choose to make a one time financial donation, participate in different drives such as those for blankets or first response backpacks.

I’ve talked about this great site with my family, and my mom is adopting a soldier too.  Soldiers’ Angels has a separate group called Ladies of Liberty. This is where you support and adopt our female members of our proud military with needs that are specific to women.  I think we are also going to join this program in my house and let the girls actually adopt her (even though due to age requirements, it will be my name on the adoption). 

I’ve mentioned before that I think there are many things we need to teach our students besides the listed items the state sends us. Pride in our country and military is one thing that I like to instill in my students. In addition, the importance of giving and charity are important lessons. Today’s youth have a horrible habit of only being concerned with how something will benefit them in the present. However, I’m hoping by starting habits now (even if they are rewarded), we instill these lifetime habits. For this reason, I give my students extra credit for donating blood, bringing donations for food and coat drives, or any other opportunity for charity that presents itself during the school year. I’m thinking of giving them extra credit for forming small groups and adopting a soldier. The condition will be that each piece of correspondence must be given to me, and I’ll take it to the post office (so that I can verify they are living up their obligation), and by allowing them to form small groups, it will alleviate the pressure of one family to have to put together a package each month.

With all of that said, I encourage each of you to check out Soldiers’ Angels and look deep in your heart to find some way to contribute to our soldiers. They need to know we are here thinking of them. They need to know they are appreciated.  I’ve read over and over and been told by various friends and former students of how important mail call is to the soldiers who are away from their families. I think in this day of cell phones and emails, we sometimes forget about things such as these. I know since we leave comments on my brother’s blog, I had neglected sending much via snail mail, but I will be correcting that immediately.

At a family reunion yesterday, I heard a great quote by an apparent wise elder of mine. I urge you to consider it as you continue through your day -

“Give until it feels good – not until it hurts”

Think of our military serving our country, protecting your freedom, failing to talk or see their friends and family members for months on months and then be thankful for all that you have. And if God has seen fit that you are taken care of, consider finding a way to show your support for our military. Also, if you know of any members of the military serving overseas, check the site out and consider having them sign up to be adopted.