WE HONOR OUR OWN

It was a busy, fun, sad kind of weekend.  I received pictures from my cousins who live in Kansas. They visit our families who have passed and put flowers on all the graves. One particular gravesite sticks out for me.  I had an older brother who lived 8 hours.  After all my parents passed and most of my siblings, I find out that my brother who passed had an actual gravesite.  I was able to see it when we made a trip to Kansas.  I just never thought about him having a grave site.  All it says on the headstone is, “Infant baby born to Win Free and Edith Baker.” My Grandfather chiseled out the letters on a stone that had someone else’s name on the other side.  I went from front to back and back to front!  Yes, definitely for a woman. I have thought of all kinds of reasons why this happened, but there probably wasn’t much money and he found a headstone in kind of a dump for stones that were printed wrong and so Grandfather inscribed the clear side.  We could barely read what it said.  The headstone was refinished a few years ago. It looks much nicer.  It is kind of fun to imagine that Grandfather took somebody’s headstone while they were still using it.  Wait! That didn’t come out right, but you know what I mean!

This weekend we had the privilege of serving at a Memorial by helping place 600 flags in a Cemetery and honoring those Veterans who served. The big flags are 5×8 and take 2 people to put in place.  One person to manage the flagpole and one person to keep the flag from touching the ground.  The flags are alphabetically arranged, and each flag has a Veteran name on it.  I had no idea of any of this.  It is all very organized.  First people come and clean the cemetery and make sure all the flagpole holes are ok and will be able to hold a flag.   Then people come with the poles and deliver them all over the place.  Next is the wooden trunks with the flags.  Of course, in the count of 600 flags there are big flags and little individual flags for each grave site.   After all the flags were placed it was fun to walk down the middle of them.  We could see the flags from the Church parsonage a mile away.  It was a sea of red.  After all the flags are placed then come the lights.  What a sight this is!

Memorial Day is the day of the ceremony.  It started with a woman singing the Star-Spangled Banner.  I am honored to be able to open the ceremony with prayer. There was a Memorial Address by a Commissioner. The Scouts did a ceremonial folding of the American Flag, led by US Army woman retired. The Dedication of 14 additional flags of deceased Veterans for this last year including two Veterans from Grand Coulee Church of the Nazarene.  The placing of a Memorial Wreath and then the closing prayer by a Baptist Minister.  God was talked about by everyone.   It was a very moving ceremony.  The highlight for me is the 21-gun salute and Taps played by a Lutheran Minister who is an Army Veteran.

All of this assembly was honored God.  It was a privilege to be part of a group of men, women, boys and girls who made this day worthy of all who came to be part of the Assembly.

There is a freedom that is freely given.  Not as the world gives.  Only Jesus gives this kind of freedom.  Many of the ones involved know this Jesus, personally.  I leave you with His words.

Matthew 10:8b NIV Freely you have received; freely give.

Pastor Wanda Aller