SUPPORT FOR MILITARY AND LOVED ONES
Links to other Military Support pages
Support for Families and Loved ones page
We added this Share and Connect Board hoping that it will help each of you to keep in contact with others, or to just talk and share with each other. We hope that you will make new friends, find support and encouragement and even ask for and receive prayers if that is what you need. Please feel free to use it.
Hi, my name is Sandy and the very first thing I want to say to you is Thank you so very much for all that you have done and are doing for myself and our country. Whether you are a man or woman serving in our Military, or a family member or loved one of someone serving, as I am, Thank you all. I myself, am a mother of a very special young man who has been serving in the Air Force for going on 11 years now. He is currently deployed to Afghanistan. I am the Mother-in-Law to a beautiful young woman who is also in the Air Force and is stationed in England, waiting for my son, her husband to come home from Afghanistan. I am the Grandmother of 4 beautiful children. Two of whom, (little girls) are military children and miss their Daddy and Step Mom so very much. Military life is so hard on the little ones. I am also the Aunt to a young man who is in the Army and is currently serving in Iraq, he is also away from his little boy. I am also an Aunt to another young man, who has done 2 tours in Iraq, and to his sweet wife who misses him so much when he is gone To all you loved ones, my heart goes out to you all and I thank you all very much as well.
If you are visiting this site, you are likely someone who may be dealing with Depression, Anxiety or Grief or you know someone who is. Or you may be here just for some much need support and encouragement. Either way, I want to say how very thankful I am that you feel safe enough, and are courageous enough to come here. If you take the time to look over the rest of this website you will see that I am a survivor of all three, Depression, Anxiety and Grief. You will also read my personal story, as well as the story of Brenda who is my friend and partner in our support group. We created this site to offer hope, encouragement, respect and vital information to all who come here. With loving so many people, who just as you,who are giving their all for our country, I knew that I had to create these pages as a source of hope for you. Within these pages you will find links to wonderful sites which I have discovered. You will find scripture and uplifting messages. You will find A LOT of music. Gotta tell ya, I love music, as you will discover if you check out the rest of this website. Music gives me strength, it comforts me, it lifts me up and empowers me. I love all kinds of music and I searched out so many wonderful videos for you guys. I pray that you will find Hope, Encouragement, Comfort and Strength within these pages. I hope that you will find information to help you whether you are serving or you are a loved one, which will help you with the difficulties that you are dealing with. I hope that you will come to trust us and come back often. You are not alone!!
One of the first things that I want to do is to offer you some very positive links to support or even prayer sites. There is absolutely no way for me or anyone else who has not walked the road that you are walking to even pretend that we understand what you are going through. Although these pages are for both those serving and for your loved ones, this page is geared toward those of you serving. I discovered through my research that there as so many positive sites and information for the families and loved ones of our troops that I realized I need a very special page for them.
The first thing I need to do is to offer up a special Hot-line phone number, for anyone who may be so low that you may be thinking it just isn't worth it. This is the number for :
"Veteran Affairs Suicide Hot-line" 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Please call this number if you are in need. You are so loved and so very needed by many people.
If you are in need of prayer please click on the link for: www.ourprayer.org/military_issues
The following is the lead in to this site. You will find uplifting stories, very special prayers and you will be able to post your prayer requests and know that volunteers are praying for you.
Military Issues
Read these uplifting stories, tips and prayers to calm your anxiety and concerns.
And if you would like us to pray for you, you can submit your prayer request in the box to the right; our trained volunteers will pray for you
A Prayer for the Military
as we are ever mindful of the cost paid
for the liberty we possess,
we ask You to bless the members of our armed forces.
Give them courage, hope and strength.
May they ever experience Your firm support,
gentle love and compassionate healing.
Be their power and protector,
leading them from darkness to light.
To You be all glory, honor and praise, now and forever.
As I said I have done quite a bit of research into special sites pertaining to depression, Anxiety, and grief in the Military world. The more I discovered, the more I dug, and then discovered more. I want to tell you once again, Thank you all so very much. Here are just a few wonderful sites that I found.
One of the fears that may be on your mind is your families well being while you are away. What happens if there is an emergency around the house and you are not there. This site is called Operation Home Front and that is what they are there for. http://www.operationhomefront.net
Mission Statement
Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance and morale to our troops, to the families they leave behind and to wounded warriors when they return home. A nonprofit 501(c)(3), Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers in 30 chapters nationwide and has provided critical assistance to more than 45,000 military families in need. Operation Homefront also operates an online magazine for military wives and women in uniform. Through this community, we reach the newest and youngest military families, instantly alerting them about our programs and other information to help them succeed in military life.
How We Help
Operation Homefront provides aid to families struggling not only with emergencies, but also with the problems of everyday life. Existing programs include:
- Emergency Aid — Provides food, baby care items, vehicle donation and repair.
- Computer Program — Allows children and spouses to stay in touch with their loved ones.
- Financial Assistance Program — Addresses crises such as illness, homelessness and death.
- Furniture Program — Donates household and baby furniture; working-order appliances.
- Moving — Provides physical labor for families when a service member is deployed.
- Social Outreach — Offers Adopt-a-family opportunities, Thanksgiving/holiday baskets, back-to-school supplies.
- Community — Rebuilds the challenged social network of the military community by bringing it to our online magazine where it is convenient to everyone, no matter the time or location.
The next site I found is called "Freedom is not Free" this is also a group who tries to assist Military and there families. www.freedomisnotfree.com
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE, a California based 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, is proud to serve the brave men and women of the military and their families.
Since its establishment in 2005, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE has raised funds to serve,support, and increase awareness with the aim of easing our heroes' and their families' burdens.
We have assisted with travel expenses for families of fallen heroes; purchased "burn-beds" for road side bomb victims; helped to refurbish the Wounded Warrior Barracks at Camp Pendleton, CA;arranged the venue and accommodations for a surviving spouse conference; allocated funds for the purchase of equipment to convert conventional clothing into burn victim "tear-aways"; provided logistical assistance and funding for the renovation of a brain trauma center on Camp Pendleton; and provided funds for living expenses for recovering warriors and their families facing extreme financial hardship.
Aiding Wounded Troops, their Families and the Families of the Fatally Wounded
"Charity begins at home, but should not end there."
Thomas Fuller
This is a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I hope you enjoy it
This is a site called Military Missions Online. It is both for the families and loved ones of those serving and also for you yourselves. I found beautiful videos, as well as encouragement and prayers for all our military. www.militarymissionsonline.com The following is a passage from this site.
DO YOU SERVE? JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST AND BE ENCOURAGED!
To the members of our Armed Forces:
I found this video and I loved it. As a mom I look into all the faces and I see someone child, someones husband, someones Daddy, someones loved one. All I can say once again is Thank you
Shepherd Your Flock
Shepherd your flock, shepherd your flock,
Shepherd your flock, O Lord.
With your rod and your staff bring us safely home.
Shepherd your flock, O Lord
Hide us in the cleft of the rock,
Lead us to green pastures.
Guide us to the waters still
Keep us in your care.
Shepherd your flock, shepherd your flock,
Shepherd your flock, O Lord
With your rod and your staff bring us safely home.
Shepherd your flock, O Lord
Okay, I'm totally switching gears here. The next video clip is the song "Fly Away" and it goes along with extremely powerful clips from one of my favorite movies, which, yes, is animated. We originally bought this movie for our Grand-daughters. But once I watched it, I needed to buy it for ourselves also. As I said I have battled depression, and when I watch this movie, and listen to the music I just feel so empowered. Some of you if you have children may have watched this movie. It is about a young wild stallion who is captured by humans and taken to the cavalry. It is about how this horse and a young Indian boy, also taken captive, work together, learn to trust, save each others lives, long to return home, and fight with all their might to never give up, never give in. No matter what Spirit endured, he never gave in and he ultimately returned home. When I am feeling down, discouraged, lost, I watch this movie or listen to the music and I feel empowered. One of my favorite scenes, which is in this clip, is when Spirit and the young boy are trapped. The soldiers are barreling up on them and they are at the top of a very high bluff. No where to go. But that is not how Spirit saw it. When he runs toward the edge of the cliff and takes that leap into thin air, when the young boy spreads his arms as an eagle would spread his wings, Chills run down my spine. Never, ever give up, even when things look impossible. Never lose your spirit.
