Honoring All Who Served

Veterans Day defined…it is an official United States holiday designated on November 11^th to honor all the men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

How do we best honor veterans? By assisting in meeting their basic living needs. Countless veterans now lead productive, successful, healthy lives yet there are several issues facing our veterans that remain at the forefront requiring ongoing urgent attention.  Those issues include housing, job placement, timely healthcare, and mental health care.  The results of war have ravaged the minds and bodies of many service members, making the need for health care of utmost importance.  

The increased critical need for mental health care and the shortage of mental health providers is a great concern.  However, there are many resources available through the VA and through outside sources.  A few of those resources include:

• NAMI: Veterans & Military Resource Center http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Veterans_Resources&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=53242&lstid=877
• SAMSHA: Veterans and Military Families  http://www.samhsa.gov/veterans-military-families
• Benefits.gov Mental Health Services  http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/4747

These and other resources are available and necessary because statistics show that the suicide rate among veterans has seen a major increase.  The unemployment rate among veterans is higher than that of civilians.  Many service members returning from war suffer from traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder as well as depression.  The key to honoring and helping our veterans is giving them the opportunity for early and proper diagnosis and then providing the needed service to the veterans and their families.  To accomplish this there is also a need for more trained mental health professionals.

A step towards successful diagnosis and treatment is reducing and eliminating the stigma associated with receiving mental health services.  This stigma of embarrassment, of fear, and of disappointing family, friends, and comrades is a major barrier for veterans in need of mental health care.

If you can offer a helping hand, please do.  There is hope.

You are encouraged to pause and reflect on the thousands of service men and women who have served and sacrificed on behalf of America.  Each service member deserves our gratitude and recognition for service.

To my family members that served, my father, my sister, my brother, my husband…thank you for your service.  I too am proud to have served.

Thank you to every Veteran.  God bless and keep you. 

SharB~TTSD
#TakeTheScaffoldingDown

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                    

Part 2 of ….Purpose Beyond the Walls

Similar to the metamorphosis that results in a beautiful butterfly, we must go through a metamorphosis or transformation as we step beyond the walls of the scaffolding and soar to the next level.  Consider the stages of metamorphosis:  the egg, the larva, the pupa, and finally the butterfly.   I use these stages to illustrate going beyond the walls of the scaffolding and stepping out to becoming what you are purposed to be.

The female monarch butterfly lays her eggs on milkweed plants to ensure nourishment and a successful transition to the next stage.  The larva stage yields the caterpillar, which throughout this stage endures many changes.  The pupa stage yields a hard chrysalis, a protective shell, where the final development takes place and finally the chrysalis cracks bringing forth a butterfly.  Had the caterpillar decided that going through the pupa stage and cracking through the chrysalis was too hard, the beauty of the butterfly would never have been revealed.  Likewise, as we go through our transformative process, it is sometimes necessary to venture out of the protective casing of the familiar and stretch beyond our self-imposed limits.  The limits we place on ourselves hinder us from achieving our God-given purpose. 

Going beyond what seems to be the protective walls of the scaffolding, taking the limits off and stepping out on faith opens us to opportunities within our multidimensional environment leading to accomplishments that previously felt unreachable. 

Jesus went off the course planned for him when he met the woman at the well.  Jesus gravitated to something he had to do, something he was good at doing, and something that would have a direct impact on him and the woman at the well.  John 4:4 says that Jesus needed to go through Samaria.  The well was in Samaria, which was located between Judea and Galilee; therefore the logical route for those traveling from Judea to Galilee would be to take the most direct route, right through Samaria.  History tells us that Jews and Samaritans were bitter enemies so travelers actually went all the way around avoiding passing through Samaria.  To accomplish his purpose, Jesus needed  to travel through Samaria. 

There comes a time when we may have to deviate off the path dictated by someone or some set of circumstances to attain our goal, to reach someone, to embrace the multi-faceted culture we are part of.  Armed with faith we can step away from the walls of the scaffolding, from what seems impossible to accomplish and make that dream a reality.

SharB~TTSD
#TakeTheScaffoldingDown