Guest post by Katie who blogs at The Haney’s
With the upcoming holiday season, we all will be pulled in so many directions. Whether with church, school, or community service groups, sometimes it is hard to determine what to invest our extra time or resources into.
There is one group of people that none of us should neglect especially during this holiday season—our military. Being away from the comforts and joys of home can be difficult for a deployed member of our military especially during the holidays.
As a wife to an active duty Marine who is currently serving in the Middle East, I can personally say how humbling it is to have people all across the United States praying for and supporting my husband and those like him deployed all over the world. There is so much that those of us here at home can do to support the thousands of men and women who sacrifice so much day in and day out to protect the freedoms (including the freedom to celebrate our holidays!) we enjoy every moment we have here in the United States.
Here are three practical (and budget-friendly) ways you and your family can show gratitude to the men and women serving our country:
1. Write letters
This is the most inexpensive, yet one of the most appreciated and heartfelt gifts, our servicemen and women overseas can receive. Organizations like Operation Gratitude accept letters that they include in their care packages. If you know a family in your community with a son or daughter in the military, be sure to ask for their address. By the way, letters to our military only take one stamp to mail overseas.
Small children who do not know how to write yet can draw pictures. Often, whoever receives the letter or picture will write back to you. This is a great way to start a penpal relationship!
2. Put together care packages
If you are a savvy couponer, donating items like magazines, food, and toiletries won’t be something that busts your budget! You can donate these items to organizations like Operation Gratitude or AnySoldier.com. Or, you can pick up a flat rate box from your local post office and pack it full of special treats and letters and send it to a soldier you know or someone listed on the AnySolder website. These boxes cost from $10-16 to ship.
3. Encourage the spouses and families left at home
Write a note or email, or drop by a small gift to brighten a military spouse’s day while their loved one is deployed. Separation is hard during deployment and a little bit of encouragement goes a long way!
We are so blessed to live in a country where we are free. That freedom has come at a very high cost and the least we can do is show our men and women in uniform that we care and support them, even from thousands of miles away.
Katie is a young newlywed living in Southern California with her husband. She is a teacher and is passionate about working with kids. She loves blogging about life as a Marine wife and shares recipes, money-saving ideas, and encouragement to young women and wives on her blog.
Thank you for a wonderful article, Katie. And, I just wanted to mention how much I LOVE your blog. Your love for God and adoration of Colton has totally blessed and inspired me.
Just wanted to mention one thing we were able to do for two different military families with deployed dads. We gave the mom a break and spent a few hours babysitting. Our whole family went, with lunch for the kids, and gave the mom time off to do “whatever.” Both families were very appreciative, especially because my husband was able to participate (since the kids’ dads weren’t home, having a male around was nice). Even if you don’t have an adult male who can go, offering free babysitting and a break from the kids to a mom with a deployed husband is a huge blessing.
I think this time of year it would be even more appreciated since a mom with younger kids cannot go out to even Christmas shop without getting a sitter ($$). And yes before anyone says it, bases do offer some free babysitting, but it really isn’t enough and the times are not necessarily convenient either!
Thank you for this post. It inspired me to get a group of friends together and get Christmas cards ready. Planning on doing it this coming Friday if all goes as I’m planning. 🙂
Check out http://www.thebertshow.com and look for The Big Thank You. The local radio station in Atlanta asked listeners to write 400,000 letters to the troops, so every military person stationed anywhere in the world would receive a thank you letter on Thanksgiving. They only have their show in Atlanta, Nashville and Indianapolis. They got over 650,000 letters! It was amazing to be a part of!
Our family participated in the big thank you as well. It was such an honor to be a part of something so fantastic. God bless our military and their families!
Thank you for your service to our country! I haven’t paid too much attention to Veteran’s Day in the past but this year it has hit home more and it’s so fun to see all the patriotism around! My brother is a Marine and we are super proud of him.
Great article! Any advice on how to find local military wives or other loved ones to reach out to if you don’t personally know any?
try asking your local VFW, AMVETS, etc… if there are any families in your area. Lots of communities have guard units that are either deployed or struggling to transition back into civilian life after deployment. Asking you coworkers, pastor/clergy, neighbors might leade somebody to mention “that family down the street” or “that lady who works down the hall”. Also don’t forget your recruiters families: while not deployed, they often work VERY long hours at extremely stressful jobs.
Your veterans groups might also be able to suggest to you some retired/separated veterans who could use some cheer at the holidays, whether a homemade batch of cookies or just a card say “thanks for all you gave”.
Thank you so much for your suggestions!
I am glad she mentioned to support the family. My husband is currently serving a year in Korea and the biggest thing I have had a problem with is I don’t feel that anyone is supporting me or has my back. I really feel that I’m all alone in this. My family is over 3 hours away and my dad drove up here just to help me get some things accomplished around my house. So many people said they would help me before he left and I have had minimal help. It seems as if I have had to beg my neighbor all summer to mow my yard (yes, I am physically able to mow however I work full time and have kids ages 2 and 1 so it isn’t easy to accomplish) It’s alot for a military spouse to handle taking care of everything alone and trying to stay brave and strong for the others. So my advice to others is please support the spouses whether it be cooking them a meal or helping out with yard work or even just checking on them and asking how they are doing emotionally.
Remembering the families was my favorite one too. My kids were 3 and 1 when my husband was deployed and I was fortunate to have a great support group where a group of us got together each week for dinner with our kids. I knew that I could call any of them up for help.
I’ll be praying for some good people to come into your life that are able to help and give you support. Are you near a base? We head to Korea in a few months, but we are fortunate it is an accompanied tour.
Jessica, as a Army wife I know your struggles. It is very hard for us, especially with children at home. I feel like a single parent sometimes, but without the free school, daycare, and etc. I don’t know where you are stationed, but we are at Fort Benning GA, and I have started a Stroller Strong Moms class here. They have them lots of other places, sometimes called stroller strides. Well, we all have young children from newborn to 3 and I have found a lot of support with that group. Also, here there are military spouse support groups at churches, I have joined a church and thats helped a lot as well. I hope you find support and know that you are not alone. I hope your husband comes home soon so YOU can be done with that deployment.
I’m not far from a base and live in a military community. I think since technically my husband is separated from the base as opposed to just being deployed that there is no one from the base that really is involved with me at all. Many of my friends have moved away and others I guess just assume everything is fine. I’m just ready to get my house sold so I can move back to my parents before we PCS to the next base and have some help. Lol! Thank you both for your support.
Can we also include contractors? They also put their lives on the line to help the military serve their purpose overseas.
Contractors often are forgotten for the work they do and the lives that are sacrificed in performing their duties. There are barely any support groups or help for families and spouses here in the US. Let’s not forget them as well.
Can we also include contractors? They also put their lives on the line to help the military serve their purpose overseas.
Contractors often are forgotten for the work they do and the lives that are sacrificed in performing their duties. There are barely any support groups or help for families and spouses here in the US. Let’s not forget them as well.
Great post! My husband is currently deployed so things can get difficult at home especially with 4 small children at home.
Dina, God bless your husband and thank you also for YOUR sacrifice for our country.
Kathy (proud aunt to a deployed sailor)
I agree with sending care packages and taking care of our current troops – but don’t forget about the men and women of the past either! There are still alot of WWII and Korea vets along with a ton of Vietnam vets. The Vietnam vets didn’t get the welcome home like the guys from the other wars – so they always appriciate a ‘Thank You’ for their service as well.
As a daughter of a Vietnam vet and former Marine – Semper Fi!
Katie, thanks for this timely post. I am so grateful to our heroes and their families and am inspired to send a package to AnySoldier. Should be alot of fun to shop for it too! Thank you again!
Thank you for the “shout out” about Operation Gratitude! We appreciate the support, and the help getting the word out about what we do.
We hope all of you who have loved ones who are currently deployed will sign them up to receive one of our holiday care packages: http://www.operationgratitude.com/request-form/ These are FREE to you, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, donors and volunteers — and we are able to pack these boxes full of goodies and ship them overseas as a way of saying THANK YOU to all our heroes in combat zones and on Navy ships. (To date we have shipped over 710,ooo individually-addressed care packages!)
Happy Veterans Day — and thank you again!
I have been using anysoldier.com for almost as long as its existence. Started by the family of a then deployed soldier. Have enjoyed and appreciated their hard work.
Would also like to know how to connect with deployed vets families. I know they can help
Great article Katie! Thanks for the reminder to keep military families in mind for the holidays.
Thank you so much for this! It is true that the guys LOVE to hear from us and know that they are supported and prayed for.
My brother is on a teeny tiny base in Afghanistan and his platoon is completely dependent on friends and family sending toiletries items their way. If you have a stockpile of items you’d like to donate – please email me for info and I’ll make sure the guys in his unit receive them. You can email me at cleverlysimple @ gmail (dot) com. You can also send letters and pictures my way as they love to hear from you!
Thanks! 🙂