Thankful

Since this afternoon, we've heard what I tell my kids are the "big guns". The Army post we live on is larger than many cities. And the ranges, while miles away, are still close enough that whatever they are shooting, we can hear. Sometimes it's small arms (and I'm talking probably M16s or whatever is the regular military issue rifle) but a lot of times, we're talking big guns. Canon. My house is literally shaking. Windows, doors, the ground....and talk about crooked pictures on the walls. Anyway, it got me thinking. While I know that these guns we hear are soldiers learning and preparing, it is a teeny tiny bit scary, especially late at night, to hear such huge noises. Can you even imagine living in a war zone? Can you imagine it being normal to hear these guns? (well it kind of is for us, but not in that way) Can those of us at home even comprehend what it is like to fire those weapons? The power that they have? There really isn't a point to all this. It's late and I must say I'm tired of the guns going off. They seemed to have stopped. For a minute anyway. But it's just a thought about the military, war, and just, well, everything that goes right along with those things. For so many of us the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is so far away from us, it isn't even in our daily thoughts. But here where I live, when husbands and wives are constantly deploying, when they are always out in the field preparing for those deployments, it is on our minds every day. And when I hear those big guns, I remember that some day my husband will be deployed, hopefully able to save soldiers lives so that they can come home to their families. And at this time next year, he might be gone. So, I'm thankful that he's here with us this year.