The men and women who willingly serve our country to protect and preserve our freedom often make the ultimate sacrifice and pay with their lives.  One can’t help but make the leap between those heroes and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Our brave soldiers give their all to you and me by stepping between us and danger, and we should honor their sacrifice in any way that we can. Hebrews 10:12 says: “But this man, after her had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God”, which tells me that anyone who sacrifices his life for another has special significance to God.

          Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day to remember those who died in the Civil War.  On May 5, 1868, General John Logan, national commander of the Great Army of the Republic, declared that this day be set apart to honor and remember those who died in service to their country.  It was first observed on May 30^th of that year by placing flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  Although most states recognize the last Monday of May as Memorial Day, several states in the south (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas also celebrate Confederate Memorial Day to honor those who died specifically in the Civil War.

          Memorial Day, unofficially, is also a time for personal reflection and remembrance of loved ones we have lost.  Honoring their memory is keeping them alive in our hearts.

"We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart."
-- Albert Einstein