Honor

 In 1978 I married into a military family. Dad Seler served in WWII, Den's grandfather served in the Army, Den's brothers all served in the AirForce, one of his brothers brought an Air Force buddy home and Stan ended up falling in love with Denny's sister Norma and married her. Denny served in the Air Force as well. He studied in a language institute in Washington, D.C. reading, writing, speaking Arabic fluently. His aptitude for language learning was evident in his school years with 9 years of French, in the Air Force with Arabic and then in his mission career with Spanish.

At times I have wondered how Mom Seler handled those years. Her husband went to war when they were expecting. Her boys served in VietNam. Her baby then signed up and left for boot camp. How did she sleep knowing her boys were all over the world.

When I came into the family, Terry was stationed in San Antonio, Dave and Keith were stationed in Washington State, Elmer was stationed in Alaska. Maybe that is why she never struggled with our missionary career. She was used to her children being all over the place.

These were the days before SKYPE, before cell phones, before home computers for that matter. She was a tough lady who prayed hard.

Today when the pastor asked all the veterans to stand, I thought of Mom Seler. When we ate at Applebee's and Den received a free meal I thought of Mom Seler. She was a military wife and mother. I honored her today in my thoughts. She lost one son to Agent Orange from Nam and she has another son who struggles to live in good health probably from the same Agent Orange since he served at the same time as the one who has died.

Those who serve in combat suffer. Even when there are no physical scars. I honor the Selers today.