I would be remiss to let this Veteran’s Day go by without recognizing two of the coolest guys in my life.
My grandfather, Bill Wintz, passed away on Christmas Eve when I was 12 years old. He was everything you could have ever hoped for in a grandfather. In every picture we have of him with my brother, sister, and/or I, he is always smiling. He loved spending time with us and we treasured every moment we had with him. I hate that our time together was so short, but I know that we squeezed every fun moment out of it and I treasure the memories of time spent together. When my own daughter is ready to learn how to ride her bike, it will bring back awesome memories of Grandpa as he very patiently taught us how to ride our bikes.
My grandfather served in the Army Air Corp during World War II. He was present at the Yalta Conference in 1945 which was a meeting of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. The point of the meeting was to combine forces in an effort to, once and for all, defeat Nazi Germany under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.
Grandpa was my hero in many ways and I keep his memory close when I am making decisions that will affect others. He had a huge heart for people and would do anything to help anyone.
My brother, Sergeant Kevin Abel, is currently serving in the US ARMY. Growing up without a dad, Kevin was always the man of the family. He wasn’t a perfect kid, but he certainly kept things fun growing up. Every time we are together, it is a blast to reminisce on some of the crazy things we all got ourselves into. Nothing too earth-shattering…mostly revolving around skateboards, rollerblades, scooter tire explosions, and oranges being thrown.
Kevin has been in the ARMY for three years and has already served one tour of duty in Iraq as a part of the 3rd ID out of Ft. Stewart. He really believes in what they are doing over there and believes that the US is finally poised to help get things straightened out in the Middle East for the safety of all of us. He was just recently appointed to go to Officer Candidate School and will begin that after the first of the year.
More important than his skills and talents in the ARMY, Kevin is a guy that is running hard after Jesus Christ. I had the privilege of leading Kevin to Christ when he was in middle school. It has been a treasure to have a brother that desires to be a man of God. What a cool kid!
As Christians, we realize that the freedom of our country is something that we should never take lightly. However, even more than that, God has offered us ultimate freedom through the gift of his son Jesus Christ. Just as our country’s freedoms have been won at the cost of the lives of many, one man died once for all so that we could all experience forgiveness and eternity in Heaven. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of true freedom. Today…as we celebrate Veteran’s Day and our freedom, Do you know Him?
Galatians 5:1