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Because not everyone will be home for the holidays

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A few days ago I received an email from a reader named Amanda. Her husband is in the Army and currently in the midst of a 15 month deployment. They have two young children and in her email she said that although it is often difficult, they know it’s the path to which they’ve been called.

Amanda and her Bible study group came up with the idea to collect 2000 Christmas cards to send to the families of deployed soldiers from Fort Sill. They are calling the effort “Dear Army Family”. They are hoping that each family will receive a card that reminds them that someone across the country values their sacrifice and is remembering their family through this Christmas season.

This is an excerpt from the letter she sent me that outlines the program.

“Our goal is to send an extra Christmas card to each family of a deployed soldier on our post. We are hoping to encourage those that are walking through a particularly difficult time of deployment.

We want each family to know that the sacrifice they have offered is cherished. We are hoping for a personal note in each card.

Please include words of gratitude as well as words of encouragement. We want Army families to know they are being thought of across this country; that their sacrifice is important, and that they are being covered in prayer.

Please pray for the family as you seal their envelope, knowing with certainty that God knows exactly which family will receive your card. Continue to pray for the families throughout the holiday season. Ask God to bring them to your mind throughout the festivities. You will bring blessings to these homes.

We are striving to get 2000 cards! In order to do this efficiently, we are unable to give out personal contact information for the Army Families. Once the cards are returned, we will be addressing the cards and will use our own return address.

Please include your hometown & state with your signature inside your card, this will ensure that Army Families know people across America are praying for them and thinking of them. You may include a return address inside the card as well, but this is not required. Thank you for joining us in such a big undertaking. One extra Christmas card combined with the love of Jesus, just might change a life.

A few reminders:

1. Write “Dear Army Family” in the greeting of the card

2. Please include a personal greeting inside each card. Include your hometown & state.

3. Please STAMP the envelopes! You may send all the stamped cards in one large envelope or box to save on shipping.

4. Please return cards by December 1, 2008.

5. Please mail the cards to the following address:

Dear Army Family
Fort Sill – PWOC Frontier Chapel
4121 Thomas Road
Fort Sill, OK 73503

Thank you,

Amanda

“Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25

These families will be without their spouses, mothers, fathers, brothers or sisters this Christmas season and I think this is such an incredible way to say thank you for the sacrifices they have made on our behalf. It’s a simple way to say we don’t take the sacrifice for granted.

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  1. I was one of those Army wives a couple of years ago. I know it really meant a lot to my husband and me when he got things from home (a/k/a USA).

    That year, we had the kids at the church write get well cards to the wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Hospital :-).

    I’ll post this on my blog (because I have so many readers *cough*) and I’ll send a few cards out :-)!

  2. I believe this is a wonderful idea, God Bless you all for thinking of others during this Christmas season.

  3. What a wonderful way to show our love and support to the military serving our country for our freedoms!! I’m signin’ up….and linkin’ to this entry for others to do the same!

  5. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for doing this. We are an Army family, too. In fact, my husband is an Army chaplain. He is currently deployed for 15 months as well and we are stationed in Germany. We will be spending Christmas apart and I’m just not thinking about that right now. Those cards will mean the world to the families in Ft. Sill. It is sometimes easy to think that the rest of America has forgotten our soldiers and the sacrifices we make, but this gives me hope. Thank you!

  6. What a fabulous idea. I will link to this post as well so as many people as possible can participate in this great mission of saying “thank you” to those who sacrifice so much and their families. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see this spread to other bases beyond Fort Sill? C’mon, America! Let’s say thank you!

  8. AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! I, too, am an army wife and all too often the sacrifices the spouses/families make go unnoticed. Without a doubt soldiers are the ones who are put in harms way (depending, of course, on their assigned tour of duty) and they deserve every recognition. But, those left behind are now responsible for taking care of the kids, alone. Tending to household duties, alone. Managing the finances, alone.

    There was a church group from another state that wrote letters to my husband’s unit while they were in Iraq. Hubby and young girl exchanged several letters, as he was always sure to get the young children written back ASAP. So, one day, *I* get this letter in the mail from this young girl’s mom thanking ME for the sacrifices I make and the things I do to support my husband’s military career. Knowing that a family took the time to write ME and recognize that it’s not only the soldier making the sacrifices brought a smile to my face when smiles were hard to come by.

    So, THANK YOU, Amanda for organzing this! You are an angel!

  9. Count me in! I am linking to this post everyday this week. Not that I have a whole lot of readers, but just one more sending cards would be nice.

    thanks for posting this and letting us join in.

  10. Thank you for posting this Big Mama. I will send some cards as well, and I will copy and paste this e-mail on my blog if that is okay.

    Hopefully, we will get much more than 2000 cards. 🙂

  11. thank you so much for the opportunity to be involved. I cant think of a better lesson to teach to my children this holiday season. I will be gathering cards I will have my children draw special pictures to show our appreciation!!

  13. What a great idea! I will definitely participate!

    Would it be okay if I copied this letter and all of the information and posted about it on my blog too?

  14. I am an Army wife also, this is such a great thing to do for families. My husband is coming home shortly after Christmas but I’m lucky enough to spend the month visiting family so I’m not alone. It’s so nice to know that there are people thinking of us at home also and praying for our husbands. Thank You.

  15. How we appreciate the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. I will link this to my blog too, in case I have any readers that don’t read your blog.

    Thank you for alerting us to this service!

  16. Thanks a million Big Mama!!! I am friends with Amanda and an Army wife, too. When she told me of this adventure.. I knew God would have to have a hand in this in order to make it a “GO”. I can not imagine what the results will be. I just wanted to say Thank You for taking the time to post this to your blog. And to everyone that are sending in cards and posting this to their blog…. Amanda really wants to have cards from places other than Ft. Sill. Thanks a million!!!!!!!!!!!!

  19. Count us in–Pendy is my sister-in-law and my husband is one of those veterans–I was alone alot when our twins were little so I know how it can get some days.

  20. Thank you for this opportunity. The families left behind are just as much heroes as the troops overseas. My cards will be in the mail Monday!

  22. Big Mama, you are giving us so many opportunities to be used by God. Thanks! I am a kindergarten teacher, and my class will be making some special cards to send. What a wonderful way to show Jesus’ love to our military families who have given their all for our country.

  23. Another ARMY wife chiming in to say thank you! What a great idea. My hubbie is deployed to Iraq right now and this will be his first Christmas away from our four girls… thanks for recognizing the sacrafices that those on the homefront are making as well!!

  25. Thank you so very much for posting this Melanie!

    And to all of you that have said you want to be a part of this -THANK YOU!!! It is a blessing to know so many want to support our troops and their families.

    I am so glad that we serve a God that is faithful. After all, He is the one that gave me this idea. And I know He is the one that is bringing all of the details together!

    amanda

  26. My family is in the middle of a 15 month deployment as well… and funny enough, we are stationed at Ft. Sill, OK too!
    This is such an amazing idea and will be soooo meaningful to so many! It means so much when people out side of the military take time to show their support and love! I hate everyday my husband is gone, but we too feel like this is the path God has set forth for us. And little things like this make a world of a difference! Thank you for putting this out there! 🙂

  28. I was born at Ft. Sill, OK—my dad was an army officer so I am an Army brat from way back-I will definitely be sending a card!

  32. As an army wife who spent last Christmas alone, I am moved to tears.

    This could bring such meaning to a family who is missing their loved one.

    I am going to link this post on my blog.

  33. I will try and send a few cards to this great and worthy cause! Our oldest son was in Iraq twice with the Marine Corps and cards and encouragement that people sent to our family while he was deployed was SO appreciated! I still have some of the cards and they mean as much to me now and they did a few years ago when they were sent!

    Thanks Melanie for offering us the opportunity to participate in this as part of our Christmas this year!

    God bless!

    Marilyn…..in Mississippi

  37. I am finally mailing out cards tomorrow! Hopefully they will make it before the deadline. Great idea. God Bless those who thought of it!

  38. I just came across your blog while searching about xmas cards to our soldiers, is it too late to send them out to you?