Any Soldier
My husband, Gregg, has a hard time at Christmas time. The last time he saw his mom was on Christmas eve. She died a few days later, just two weeks after my husband turned 8. If you ask him about his favorite Christmas gift, he’ll tell you about the little box of individual serving of cereal she saved for him and gave him that Christmas eve.
In December 2002, he was in Afghanistan. His maternal grandmother died that year, on his birthday. So, Christmas day nine days later, he struggled with the memories of the mother he so loved and adored, and the recent death of her mother, who was his maternal influence growing up.
That year, for Christmas, he got an “Any Soldier” box. It was addressed to “any soldier who doesn’t have a living grandma.” It was filled with socks and treats and was from a grandma who thought that someone might need some grandma love.
As I type this, I’m tearing up remembering so much love going into that box, and how my husband needed it right at that time.
I would like to encourage every wonderful reader I have to send a box this Christmas season to a soldier, sailor, or airman who is deployed overseas. You never know what purpose God will put your box to use. You never know who is going to need to be touched by you right at that time. And believe me, your box will touch someone. Pour love into it, and the person receiving it will feel it and will know.
If you need to know what to send and to whom, this is a wonderful resource: AnySoldier.com
Some of the people filling out the forms were specific in what they want/need. Some were not. Don’t let that scare you. You can look through the wish lists to get an idea of what to send if your pick wasn’t specific.
You can get a box from the post office that is the same cost no matter what you put into it, no matter what the box weighs.
I would encourage you to send the box within the next week. Some people will get them in a week’s time, but for others it may take up to three weeks. If you mail it within the next week, you can almost be sure that it will get to them in time.
As the wife of a soldier, I would like to thank you for doing this.
Hallee
I’m so grateful for your visit, today.
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What an amazing testimony! I know you’ve inspired us all to love on our soldiers who are far away and in desperate need of love & attention!
Thanks! I’ll be going to the website today!
How amazing. To think of that “grandma” packing that box for someone who needed to feel that kind of love makes me cry. Thanky ou for sharing. Praying for you, Gregg, and your family this season.
Just to let you know that since most soldiers are now in Afganistan it does take a few extra days to just arrive in Afganistan and can take longer to get to the remote outposts. The cut off date to guarentee Christmas delivery is THIS FRIDAY, Dec. 3. We’re stationed in Germany and they’re constantly showing us the cut off dates of guarenteed arrival.
That’s a very touching story – thanks for sharing it and mentioning this worthwhile cause.
Thank you for your wonderful post! My husband and I were discussing this last night. My husband is an army veteran. He remembers getting these packages and how much it meant to him since his family was to poor to send him care packages.
I was just about to write a similar blog post. (I’m an Army wife too, with my Handsome spending 4 of the last 6 Christmases deployed or abroad) He loves getting the packages too, but the ones that mean the most to him are from people he knows. Sometimes people think, “Oh, he knows I’m thinking of him,” but when you’re far from home, without a lot of your close friends, that’s not always the case. So if you know a soldier serving overseas, please send them a card or note, even if you think they know you’re thinking of them. It will be special to them.
This is just the type of thing our family was looking to do to help make this season more meaningful. Thanks for the link to help us get started!
Thank you so much for posting this information. I just packed up a box and will drop it at the post office tomorrow. Thank you to you and your husband for serving our country.
What a precious idea!! I hope it’s okay with you that I share a link to your post on an upcoming post I’m working on called “Christgiving” about practical ways to show Christ’s love at Christmas time.
That would be wonderful – thank you so much. Please let me know the link to your post when you publish it so that I can share it!