Victims?

This is something that's been rolling around in my brain for a few weeks. A while back, I heard someone on the radio saying that we need to pray for the families of our deployed soldiers this Christmas (a nice sentiment), because they are the victims of this war. Hold up, stop right there. I am not a victim. Neither are my children, and to have someone refer to me as a victim is not only insulting to me, but it takes away from the actual victims in this situation. For example, the Iraqi children who lost parents to Saddam Hussein's rule. The Iraqi women who were and are beaten daily just for being female. The men who are forced to commit unspeakable acts just to keep their families from being murdered. You know, the people that our deployed soldiers are over there trying to save.

My husband was not forced to go to war. He was not forced into the Army, we don't have a draft in this country. Sure, our family makes sacrifices every day, but they are sacrifices that we willingly make by choosing to be a military family. We chose this life, it wasn't forced on us, and it's not something that we regret. Other military families have given far more than we have, and I am grateful to every one of them.

I wish that Daddy could be home for Christmas this year, and I wish that I didn't have to figure out how to explain to a two year-old why Daddy had to go away for a while. But some sacrifices are worth making for the sake of others. If our family giving up Hubby and Daddy for a year means that another family somewhere will get to keep their's for a lifetime, and be able to experience the freedoms that we take for granted every day, I think that balances out.

So I'll say it again. I am not a victim.