A good dose of pride

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." - Orwell

I took my husband to work today. Just because we wanted the extra few hours together. As often happens, the F-15s were taking off as we approached the airport. Very few things captivate me with such awe as watching the F-15s play. They are amazing machines.

Again, as often happens, we heard them before we saw them. As I was scanning the sky looking for the planes I said "I wonder how nervous that must make you if you're in an enemy country...to hear them and not be able to find them." And my husband said "If you hear it, you're probably safe. By the time you hear it or see it, if you were going to be hit you would have been already."

So amazing. When we were watching an airshow last summer we were discussing how awe-inspiring it is for us to watch it without the "wet down your leg" effect it must have on our enemies. Such an awesome display of power.

We watched as three jets took off. I dropped my husband off at work and started back home just in time to see the chaser take off a few minutes later. And I started to think about the plane...and about the pilot. It has to be a serious rush to fly that thing. Besides it's awesome power, just the fact that you're responsible for a multi-million dollar aircraft in battle. It's all you.

Watching the F-15s makes me feel such an overwhelming sense of pride in my country. Then I think of the pilot and I feel an overwhelming sense of pride for our military. They are incredible. Then I think of my husband, how every hour that he's gone from me and our son, he's working to protect the lives of those pilots...and I have that same overwhelming sense of pride in him. I serve an amazing God, live in an amazing country, protected by the best military on earth and love the most amazing man I've ever known and am the mother of his child. As the song says..."that's something to be proud of."