Week 35

Positive post Sunday, October 15, 2017-Week 35. 

By the grace of God, our soldier Jeffrey Rendler has returned home safely to his family from his 5th deployment. As those of us with family members in our armed forces know, deployments are one of the major sacrifices our service men and women make to protect our freedom. Many making the ultimate sacrifice with family members only receiving that delicately folded and priceless flag to remind them of their soldiers’ service to our country. They have my deepest respect. May our fallen heroes rest in peace.

I am very proud of my son and thankful he is home safe, but this positive post is not about him but about his family. As they say, behind every strong man is an even stronger woman. That is clearly the case in his family (both mentally and physically:). His wife Laura is amazing, taking care of 2 young boys, fixing EVERYTHING in the house, replacing a car……you get the picture. All that and much more while going to school herself. I think the only thing that kept her going was knowing that soon she would buy her 200th pair of Vans shoes, or is it Converse now! I am so proud of and thankful for all Laura does for her family.

And let’s not forget those two energetic and imaginative little boys Andrew and Austin Andrew-Austin’s Page! They have been sharing their dad with the rest of our country for a very large part of their lives. It’s their sacrifice, which I’m sure they do not yet fully understand, that I am most grateful for. I know some day they will look back at these early years in their lives with the same pride and respect I feel today, knowing that their sacrifices contributed to our sustained freedom and safety in a very volatile world. 

My prayers continue to be with my son and his amazing family and all military families who make sacrifices each day so we can continue to enjoy our freedom, which we should never take for granted.