Today we mark Veteran's Day as we give thanks and celebrate the men and women who have served and are serving our country through military service.  In Veteran's Day services throughout the country the word "hero" will be used to describe our veterans and indeed, that is what they are - "HEROES"

 

Yet, when you listen to stories of Veterans you realize that as they were serving, they felt nothing like heroes.  Most, when they served, were young and scared with very little life experience or emotional tools to deal with the situations they faced.  All they had was the declaration that they were soldiers in the US military and they had a duty to do.  Believing in their identity and being willing to do what was demanded of them gave them the courage and the fortitude to encounter whatever needed to be encountered.  And because they took on, even those tasks which seemed impossible, they became heroes.

 

As we give thanks for their service today, may we also claim our own identity - not as soldiers, but as a Child of God.  In claiming and believing our identity, God will also call us into situations for which we will feel unprepared or unequipped.  And yet, when we believe in our identity and then are willing to do what is demanded of us, we also will become heroes.  For where God calls, God will equip.  Children of God arise, there is an entire world that needs you to believe.