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Today’s Teachers: Frontline of Defense for Military Children
Today’s Guest Post is from Levi Newman of Veterans United Network Today’s military children have to adapt to more stressorsthan ever before. Their parents are deployed more frequently and many kidschange schools anywhere from four to twelve times during the course of theirparents’ military service. It’s a stress many outside the military are unfamiliar with,especially teachers. The biggest service we can offer to these children andtheir teachers is to preparethem both for these transitions. And while the children can ask theirparents how to prepare for these changes, who is there for the teacher? You may be thinking, “What does a teacher need to know aboutthe child’s move?” Well, it really depends…
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An Open Letter to Teenage Drivers
Dear Teenager Driver whose path I crossed yesterday, In some ways I am sorry for yelling yesterday. I know I yelled loud. Adrenaline kicked in and Mother Bear came out. I now know you were scared. You see there are three very special boys to me – VERY special. They frequently play on the sidewalk that you careened over. There are at least nine other neighborhood children who are all very dear friends. Children that we cannot replace. Children who play in our quiet street in our quiet development. A black-hole could have easily been created in our hearts that day had only one of our precious jewels from heaven been standing on the…
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Dedicated Dads and Moms and the Month of the Military Child
April is Month of the Military Child and it is a very appropriate recognition: therefore, a big shout out and thank you to these patriots! They have certainly served our nation in their many sacrifices and the challenges they face as children of active duty, reserve and guard parents. So just before that month of recognition I thought maybe we should recognize another group of folks that are rarely mentioned in the media or at the Department of Defense. In fact, unless there is a tragedy it is a like a silent majority type of group. The parents of our soldiers, airmen, marines, coasties and sailors have raised children that…
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Grandma’s Thunder Cake
Tomorrow is Grandparent day in my 1st graders class. Can you tell we aren’t near a military base? Clearly, this isn’t something I grew up with when I was in 1st grade, stationed at Sheppard AFB thousands of miles from either of my grandparents. My first grader is fortunate. His Grandpa and Grandma Kocsis live close enough that they are going to join him in his class for the morning. I am filled with a sense of love. Then at the same time I have a sense of some sadness. My parents (his Grandpa and Grandma Kissinger) don’t live close. They don’t get to see each other often enough in my…
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But Serve They Did – A Story of Service from WWII
Members of the 442nd – See belowWe continue to highlight the efforts of our veterans to protect our freedom and illustrate why we celebrate Veterans Day! A ceremony in the nation’s capital will honor a special group of American veterans from WWII tomorrow. Many of us do not remember the fear after the Pearl Harbor attack of the possible invasion by Japan. I remember my grandparents and parents speaking of it fiercely. Orders followed to intern Americans of Japanese descent in camps as a response to this fear. Imagine those Americans’ feelings! Originally, some service members were released from active duty, many had families in internment and yet they were…
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Mom Means Business
My boys are a hurricane. A tornado. A path of destruction. We are working hard at starting good habits, staying organized, picking up when they are done playing, not waiting till Mom blows her top tells them to. I have found if I help organize the toys in their room that it only gets me very frustrated and my ideas fall apart in less then a couple of days. So now they are left to their own vices. I sent them to clean their room the other day, and told them anything left on their floor when they were done was going into the garbage. Sure enough they came down 30 minutes later declaring they…
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Swim Lessons: Two Year Later
There are a few things I have done in motherhood that are questionable. As an example, cutting my then 9-months old hair by myself. Disastrous. Thinking I could travel across state-lines, 200+ miles, as a new mom with a six-week old. Excruciating. Attempting to convince my boys that they should like asparagus because it makes your pee stink. Bad choice of reasons. But this weekend I was reminded of one of the best things I have done for my boys in their eight and six years of existence. Swim Lessons. When hubs was in Iraq with the Army National Guard we used our free membership at the YMCA and the boys hopped in the pool every Saturday morning. …
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Sermon Notes: The Soldier’s Psalm
Psalm 91 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at…
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Sermon Notes: We are Equipped
Many years ago (back in high school) I read a book This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti. I was never a big reader but this book captivated me, scared me, reminded me of the Protection that surrounds me. I can distinctly remember going into my family room while in the midst of this book one late night, turning on my parents’ new CD player, finding my dad’s good head-set and blasting the song, “Ashton” by Michael W. Smith…. (ok, maybe there is a reason I’m a little deaf. But I digress.) Ashton is also the name of the town that This Present Darkness takes place in. A town where…
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Virtual Reality and PTSD – DoD Roundtable
Our combat veterans see things with a different shade of glasses! Their survival instincts and experiences have highly toned their ability to react when facing combat situations. These same experiences and instincts are embedded into their brains upon their return from the combat arena and would surprise many Americans with little contact with the military or their families. These responses can lead to PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) and the symptoms of heightened heart rates, high levels of awareness of surroundings, sweat, anxiety, fear of crowds, strong emotions and many others. Seeing or feeling circumstances similar to combat threats such as a pile of garbage along a road (IED location)…
