Today is a bright, clear autumn day. My two oldest boys were acting like frisky colts as they played a game of tag while we walked to church. Repeated admonishment to avoid street and flowerbed went largely unheeded. My thoughts drifted to the future and I was struck by one in particular about the distinct possibility of my children seeing war time (brought on by Owen's passing comments about Hitler's fitness as a human being) and my mind keyed in to the mothers of those 2,000+ stripling warriors from the Book of Mormon. I began thinking about what I am doing and wondering if it is enough as I raise modern day stripling warriors. Am I teaching them faith? Repentence? Steadfastness? If they are called into battle will they have had the religious foundation built sturdy enough to help them keep perspective and retain their standards? Will there be a modern miracle of protection and strength for my sons, and possibly even my daughter as there was for those mothers so long ago?
Perhaps this has been on my mind's back burner with the advent of Veteran's Day this past week. There was a special assembly at my kids' school to explain the day and to share veterans' stories with the kids. The kids came home with a greater appreciation for the men and women who have served and are serving our nation. My daughter took it very personally, though, as she thought about Dok, a South Korean young man who lived with our family for 5 1/2 years while going to high school here. he is now performing his mandatory two-year military stint at home in Korea. She was quite teary as she told me her fears for Dok's safety. I tried to reassure her as I explained that he wasn't near a war zone (does the DMZ count?) and most likely wouldn't see any military action. She was calmed, but it got me thinking about her brothers' future. I worry because I believe things in the world are going to get a lot worse at some point before they get better. I never thought twice about boys having to register with the Selective Service when I was a teenager because I grew up with sisters. Boys in the military was the furthest thing from my mind. But as my oldest child/son has become a teenager, it crosses my mind as an unpleasant nagging feeling every so often. Perhaps I am just "borrowing trouble," to use an expression from Anne of Green Gables. I hope so.
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