Tuesday, December 30, 2008

May God Protect the Soldiers of Israel

Paula in Israel writes about her son, an Israeli soldier, and what she wants to do, and what she'll do, as he heads off to war:

What I want ... is to go collect my little boy and bring him home. I want to lock him in a room and tell Israel that no, you can't have him. I've changed my mind. No, I'm sorry. He's not allowed to play with guns and big things that go boom. No, I'm his mother. I gave birth to him and no, you simply can't take him ....

That's what I want ... And what I'll do, is sit here at my desk and keep editing this document for my client. I'll update the copyright statements and change the installation information to reflect the new platforms the product now supports. I'll answer the phone and I'll talk to my accountant ....

And what I'll do, is tell my heart to settle. I'll tell my eyes to take a moment and look at the next beautiful wave of clouds rolling in over Jerusalem. I'll sign the papers I need to sign; type the words I need to type. I'll tell my younger daughter to clean her room and my younger son that he has to study for his test NOW. I'll tell my middle son he can borrow the car like we agreed, but he has to drive carefully. I won't talk to my daughter because she's old enough to see the cracks in my smile and know that outside, it's all a front ....

And most of all, what I will do is dig deep inside where I store my faith in God and in my country and my people. I will do what every Israeli is doing today, hoping this will end soon, but not too soon that we only succeed in putting off to tomorrow what should have been dealt with today. I will do all of this because we are what we have always been, a nation with no choice but to deal with what our enemies choose.

They chose to shell our cities with rockets and so we must stop them. They chose the path of war, so we will set the scenery around this path. Our scenery will include our air force that will knock out their launching pads; our scenery will include our navy and tanks. We'll eliminate the tunnels they use to sneak into our land and those they use to smuggle weapons and terrorists to harm our people. We will change the scenery of Gaza, so that their training camps will no longer exist.

The world may forget that it was Hamas and Islamic Jihad who chose rockets and mortars and missiles with which to attack us; they may fail to recognize that we use our air force, our tanks, our ground forces and our artillery to protect. For once, Israelis are united in one simple reality. We cannot afford to bend to the world's will, if that means our children live under rocket fire, if that means people are forced to run for shelter with mere seconds to alert them.

We are, above all things, a nation that chooses life. Today, we choose to protect the lives of our citizens. Maybe deep down, what I want is to hide inside myself, but what I will do is what every Israeli is doing today - having faith that we are bringing a better reality to our country by taking its safety into our hands. Our soldiers have our faith, they have our prayer, and they have our love.

May God protect the soldiers of Israel and watch over them as they do what they must. They cannot be defeated because where they go, they will not be alone. They have with them the Defender of Israel.
Read the whole thing, here.

Hat Tip: Israel Matsav.

8 comments:

  1. Wow.

    "Our soldiers have our faith, they have our prayer, and they have our love."

    I wish more Americans felt the same about our defenders, don't you?

    I love this post, Donald..it says so much.

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  2. I knew you'd like it, Jan!

    If it's not a silent majority, it's a "silent plurality" that loves our troops and trusts God. I believe that the current moment is a transition and that the Dems and the cultural leftists will overreach, and there will be a reaction. It may take a couple of election cycles, but it's going to happen, I'm confident.

    Meanwhile, I'm saying a prayer for Israel and its soldiers.

    Thanks for commenting, Jan.

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  3. They need and deserve our prayers and support, heaven knows they are not getting it from anywhere else. If the US turns on Israel, they will have no one but individual citizens here and around the world.

    Prayer is powerful.

    Debbie Hamilton
    Right Truth

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  4. May God protect the soldiers of Israel, amen, the people of Israel, and may God bless Israel.

    Grace.

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  5. Great post! Also, have a happy new year and a great 2009!

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  6. God bless her and her son, and while I'm at it, may God bless Israel too!

    It's a wonderful post, Donald. Thanks for posting it. I'm goint to go read the whole thing, as you suggest.

    And may I add "God bless you too and HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

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  7. This may be your all time best post. I did leave a comment for the mother, I admire her. As a Vietnam Vet I have experienced the lack of support from the home front. My hope for the wonderful lady is that America gives the support that Israel needs to put an end to the terror they have endured for so many years.

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  8. I just want to thank you all for your support. It meant so much to me. Elie returned safely, has a much needed break, and is back in the army - this time up north in the Golan. Now we just have to hope that Lebanon and Syria stay quiet. He came home with extra weight (he says he needs to watch what he eats now) from all the chocolate that was donated. He came home with 5 pairs of gloves (he gave me one), 2 scarves, long underwear - and the knowledge that he had the love and thanks of the country. Thanks to all of you who stopped by my blog and supported me during this time. I don't ever want to go through this again (though with 2 more sons after Elie...there is almost zero chance that I won't). Anyway - thanks again to all of you for your kind comments!

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