Never quit

While enjoying a great breakfast with my dad and Levi at Lynda's yesterday an older man, one of the chef's, came over and placed his hands on Levi and my shoulders. He asked how the food was and we said it was great. Then he started to talk. He said this: "I am 64, an x-Marine, I served two tours in Vietnam fighting for your freedom and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Now one thing that the Marines taught me was never quit, never quit. No matter what, or how hard it gets, never quit. That may sound elementary but it saved my life many times. Out there on the battle field with people shootin' at you is no fun, but you just remember never quit."


And just as quickly as he had come, he was gone. It was so brief and so to the point. The three of us sat in silence thinking about what had just happened.


That old man coming up and saying that brief thing to us really touched me. Something about his very monotone voice, or his sincerity, or his gentle touch on our shoulders, something about that man amazed me. Here he was just talking to us, no fear of man at all. I will never forget that.


If you ever feel drawn to tell someone something, as long as it is appropriate, do it, you never know how it may touch their life, especially if it is about the Lord.


One last thing, thank those who serve us. The service man behind you in the coffee line, buy his coffee. The military man on leave who is taking his family out to dinner, cover the bill. Or simply go up to a soldier and shake their hand and tell them how you appreciate them, it is a major blessing to a soldier (various soldiers I have spoken with have said this). And mostly, the best thing we can do is pray for our troops.