I am a mom. I’m a writer. I’m an encourager and I love doing what I do every day in my home with my children and on this website.
But why do I do it?
I do it because every breath I take…every opportunity I have…even my ability to worship freely came at a great cost. Someone paid for that freedom with their last breath. Someone gave me those simple rights by freely sacrificing their life on the Lexington Green during the Revolutionary War. At the Battle of Somme during World War 1. On the beaches of Normandy during World War 2. During the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. During the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War. In Kuwait…Iraq… and…Afghanistan.
My God in Heaven gave me the incredible privilege of being born an American and someone else had MADE America such a privilege by spilling their blood for the cause of freedom. Now we have a way to show the kind of gratitude befitting such sacrifice.
Better yet, we have a way to give other people the chance to do the same.
Join us in making this Mother’s Day the best ever for America’s Gold Star moms who have lost a son in the service of our nation’s military. Do it because today you woke up free and said a prayer without fear. Do it because your children get to play baseball tonight without fear of ISIS. Join us in encouraging Gold Star moms that their incredible sacrifice was NOT FOR NOTHING and show them appreciation for their loss on your behalf with a simple donation.
This handsome fella in the picture is Major Samuel Griffith. After graduating from Penn State in 1997 he joined the Marines and became an F-18 pilot. Yeah…F-18!!! Those amazing jets that break your eardrums when they fly overhead? That was Sam. He could do that. He could fly at sound-breaking speed. He married his sweetheart and then…
September 11th happened.
And the United States was at war.
Sam was more than a pilot now, he was a combatant in the war on terror.
Meanwhile, his mom, Kathy, was a NICU nurse. She attended my little hometown church in Jupiter, Florida. She spoke proudly of her son and stood up straighter when I would ask about his service. When my boy Courson was in the NICU for eight, weeks, Kathy was a friend to me and always looked out for my little boy. In fact, it was Kathy who told me that they were concerned that Courson may have Down’s Syndrome and it was Kathy who told me how to help my little NICU newborn with simple therapies.
Christmas of 2011 I was told by friends closest to her that her son had been killed in Afghanistan.
When we began the American Gold Star Mother’s Day Weekend project, giving an amazing weekend of love and gratitude at an oceanfront resort in South Florida, Kathy wrote me a sweet little “thank you” on facebook. Her daughter followed up with a note to me about how THIS WEEKEND and looking forward to it made her mother HAPPY about Mother’s Day for the first time since Samuel’s death.
Y’all…I bawled. Ugly tears. That our little weekend retreat could give hope to a mother whose loss had stolen her joy was just humbling and exciting and nerve-wracking all at once. Women like Kathy and men like Samuel are why we are enlisting your help. They are the reason that our non-profit Believe With Me exists. And they are why I am asking you to give generously and be a part of showing the kind of gratitude that a sacrifice as hers is so very worth.
This video is a glimpse into the life of a Gold Star family and what this weekend means to them. Join us in giving gratitude to those who have bore the cost of freedom with the life of a loved one. Show women like Samuel’s mother that you have not forgotten their sons and their sacrifice. And #BelieveWithMe that we can build a better America by honoring lives such as these!
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