Learning about sacrifice.

(This was written on September 4).

Yesterday I was sitting in front of my computer, attempting to make a dent in my homework pile yet of course procrastinating. One of my social work professors had told my class about a website that has you take a quiz on the issues in the upcoming election and tells you based on your answers what candidate you would most side with. In my efforts to try to be a more informed voter (and also in my efforts to procrastinate), I took the quiz. And I came to this question:

"Should the U.S. end the war in Afghanistan?"

Wow. I thought long and hard about this one. Having done my own research, spent some time with a soldier, and discussed this issue with my grandfather the Vietnam vet, I personally believed the best answer was "No, not until military leaders have agreed that our mission has been accomplished". However, my heart desperately wanted to say "Yes, bring the majority of the troops home but maintain a strong diplomatic presence".

Whether you believe we should have begun the war in Afghanistan or not (I don't even know for sure what I think about that), I do think it's important to finish our mission to make Afghanistan a safer, more stable place. Lord willing, I will never fathom the suffering that the average Afghan person has endured through the years, and I will never grasp the sacrifice made by the Afghan troops our military works with. Yes, I am aware that a safer Afghanistan will make for a safer world, but for the sake of these people alone--our military should not abandon them to evil people. We now have a responsibility to that nation.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm learning what it means to really sacrifice just because it's right--not because it's directly helping me. More than anything, I want my husband to be safe, and I desperately want to have a life with him that is just not possible right now. I do not want to endure more tours than what we are currently looking at in the near future. I just said goodbye to him again yesterday, and it hurts. A lot. If his deployment schedule remains the same, he will miss birthdays, holidays, our first anniversary, and my college graduation in the next year. This is not easy stuff. But I know that God is sovereign and that I support my husband and that this is just the right thing to do, on behalf of a nation I will never visit.

AJ and I are just starting to learn about the sacrifices our soldiers and their families have been making for generations. They are real, and they are sometimes huge. However, even we are so blessed to be provided for in so many other ways and treated with respect because of AJ's service. The rest of the world still does not understand the nature of our privilege, especially those who live in the war zone. When AJ comes home, he will return to the most powerful, wealthiest nation in the world, and we will continue our lives. We'll shop at the commissary, get military discounts, and live in a pretty nice place. So many others only dream of the kind of life we live. So, despite the really tough moments that come with military service, we are blessed that our eyes have been opened to the suffering of this world in a way many of us Americans do not truly understand. And if we can make a sacrifice of at least a year of separation and deployment, then it is right and fitting for us to do so.