Here is a recent article I wrote that was published in the Fort Hood Sentinel. It is not the best writing I have ever done, but it highlights an important issue!
One of God’s greatest gifts is parenthood
One of the greatest gifts God has to offer is the gift of being a parent.
There is no joy that quite matches having a child climb into your lap and say “I love you.” But for many Soldiers who serve throughout the military, being a parent is bitter sweet.
“It’s hard,” Spc. Misty Polk who works in the S-3 shop, 3rd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, said. “I don’t feel like I get to raise my own children.”
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Misty, who is a single parent and the mother of two, Devan, 2, and Demie, 3 months, will be leaving her children with her parents while she deploys to Iraq.
For Misty and so many others who serve our country as single parents, the word “sacrifice” means so much more.
Spc. Guadalupe Lopez, also part of 3-4 AV Regt. and the mother of one 14-month-old girl named Samantha, is preparing to send her daughter to Mexico to live with grandparents during her upcoming deployment.
“It’s terrible,” Lopez said. “When I left her for four months, she didn’t know who I was. And now I am leaving her for 15 months.”
Misty and Guadalupe both shared their hurts, pains and concerns at a single parent retreat sponsored by the 3-4 AV Regt. chaplain’s office.
While visiting Tyson’s Corner Retreat Center in Lampasas, these and other single parents had the opportunity to share their deepest needs with each other while working through many of the fears and frustrations they had each been privately wrestling with.
The needs of single parents are often so very different than those of other parents within the Army.
These parents often feel that they are all alone in raising their children and that by leaving their children for such long periods of time, they are abandoning them to be raised by other people.
I know that retreats like this one can really help these Soldiers come to grips with their thoughts and emotions, and find ways for both they and their children to not only survive this deployment, but thrive together in spite of this deployment.
Retired Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Gene Tyson, the owner of Tyson’s Corner, shared perhaps, the greatest bit of encouragement that could have been given to these parents during the retreat. He pointed to a stone mounted on the chimney above the fireplace inscribed with the words God spoke to the Prophet Jeremiah.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11).
For these single parents, and for so many of you who are reading this article today, God has provided hope for you. He has great plans for you and a great future for you and your children’s lives if you will only turn your cares over to him.
Great post/article. I needed to be reminded to pray for our single parent Soldiers and their children. Praying God will use your article to speak to people about our need to lift them up in prayer, encourage them and to be available.
Laura
well done, bro