Tuesday, November 12, 2013

NOT MY SON! A TRIBUTE TO VETERANS WHO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM

 By Mary Hamilton

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

My son was 18 years old when he enlisted in the Marine Corps at the height of the Afghan and Iraq wars. Of course I feared for his safety, but God provided a special assurance for me that this was His will for my son’s life. I rested in that assurance. Most of the comments I received from others were supportive and prayerful. But a few mothers expressed their shock and fear by saying they’d never let their son or daughter serve in the military.
Some said, “Not my son!”
Though I know they didn’t mean it to sound this way, it always struck me as a backhanded way of suggesting I must not love my son as much as they love theirs. On the contrary, I knew my son would never be satisfied with anything else. I had no choice but to let him go, especially when I sensed the Lord telling me this was His plan.
How thankful I am that God never withheld his son from us. His love stretches in every direction—height, length, width and depth. He loved us—his adopted children, you might say—so much that he willingly sent his own son into a hostile environment, knowing he would suffer and die a horrible death to redeem us, to free us from sin’s bondage, to save us from the tyranny of a hopeless death.
Today is Veteran’s Day. When you see a veteran, thank him or her for putting their life on the line for you. Find a veteran’s mother or father and thank them for letting their son or daughter serve. But most of all, give thanks to God for his redeeming, saving love. Love that never said, “Not my son!”


Bio:
Mary L. Hamilton grew up at a Christian youth camp in southern Wisconsin, much like the setting for “Hear No Evil.”  She now lives with her family in Texas and is active in her local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).  “Hear No Evil” has won several awards, including Third Place at the 2013 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference, and Second Place at the 2011 Category Five Writing Contest.  It was also a semi-finalist in the 2012 ACFW Genesis Contest.  Connect with Mary at www.MaryHamiltonBooks.com


Book blurb:
“Hear No Evil” by Mary L. Hamilton is Book One of the ‘Rustic Knolls Bible Camp’ Series.
Summer camp is no fun for Brady McCaul. The girl with the cute dimples thinks he’s immature and childish. The camp bully targets him with cruel taunts and teasing, and flips Brady’s canoe to keep him from winning the race. But worst of all, his mom won’t let him come home. She doesn’t want him living with her anymore. Brady wonders if even God cares about him.  Can Brady figure out what he did to earn Mom’s rejection and change her mind by week’s end? Or will he have to live with his workaholic dad, the guy who left when Brady was seven? All seems lost until a surprising secret changes everything.

Hear No Evil is available through Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/kl5bovo
            Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/kw2xmtr

Connect with Mary:

Twitter:@mhamilton122

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