On a cold February morning I had traveled to spend a few hours with Dad. By the end of the first week of September, he would be in heaven. Dad was in a reflective mood that  morning about deeply spiritual moments of his past. He shared with me this memory I had never heard before.

Dad shifted in his chair, getting comfortable as his eyes looked away to a time he could see as clearly as if it had just happened. I could visualize the characters gathering in front of me as he softly and reverently recited the details. It was perhaps two weeks after the 101st Airborne Army soldiers had jumped into Normandy on D-Day. They had liberated Carentan, France, and were valiantly holding the Germans back so this could be a permanent victory for the Allies.

All the paratroopers jumped, heavily loaded with gear – compasses, wirecutters, knives, guns, bayonets, entrenchment tools, small flashlights-- all that and more. Combat was tough, and they were provided with everything they could carry to survive and wipe out Rommel's men. All the paratroopers, that is, except for a select few. These were the ones who were soldiers in two armies, the United States Army and, more importantly, The Lord's Army.  These were the chaplains, courageous men who jumped without weapons of defense, but with a Bible and an armband with a cross on it.

Dad's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "There were 10 of us that morning. Two stayed back to keep watch. Eight of us went with the chaplain a little deeper into the woods. Right there, on the front of the battle lines, we gathered underneath a little stand of trees. We knelt there that June morning, heavily armed and loaded with combat gear, respectfully bowing our heads in perhaps the most earnest prayer any of us had ever prayed."

With the rustling of the trees providing a soft melody, Chaplain Sampson extended grace and mercy, cradled in his hands. Small cups and crumbs of crackers. "The body and blood of the Lord Jesus, broken and spilled for you."

Dad continued, "I will be eternally grateful for the courage and conviction of the men who served us in Jesus' name. They poured hope on our hearts and steel in our spines by reminding us we were never outside the sight and strength of the One who never sleeps or slumbers."

Though Dad did not make a full surrender to Jesus until he was at home in a revival meeting after the war, he said with great humor that he "got saved again every time a bullet zinged." Those moments were all important steps in his journey, taking him closer to the heart of the One who knows him best and loves him most.

Dad, Mom, Jeannie, David, and now Charlie have seen that Amazing Grace lead them safely home.

This Sunday I will celebrate that same grace in communion at Cornerstone, and feel my heart grow stronger, too.

Pastor Brenda Young