Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, November 25, 2009

On Thanksgiving Eve, a ‘thank you’
Be careful what you pray for, because God answers all prayers according to his will not ours. Sometimes our prayers don’t seem to be answered the way we think they will. Perhaps the answers come slower than we’d like. Often we don’t seek it deep enough and we miss the blessing altogether. Our answered prayer came faster and larger than we ever expected.

In August 2008, our son Zachary left home in the middle of the night headed to Alaska to be deployed to Iraq.

The hardest thing we ever have had to watch was the red tail lights of the car taking our son away to war, leaving us with a great possibility of not seeing him again. Months of prayers helped ease our worry. Finally, the call came saying he was coming back to the U.S. In August, however, he returned to Alaska heartbroken. No one was at the plane to greet him, and he was lonely.

We soon learned he would be able to take leave in mid-October! Our hearts overflowed with joy. We wanted to welcome him home in a special way, but we did not know where to start.

We immediately started praying for God to help us get our son home and show him the love and support here at home. We didn’t know how we were going to do this. We asked God for guidance.

Five days later, a friend said she would contact The News & Advance and other media.

Three days later, we stopped at Monument Terrace to tell the servicemen at the “Support our Troops” rally know about Zachary’s homecoming and invite them to the airport to welcome a fellow soldier home.

Within two days, we learned more than 400 vets had been invited through an e-mail to come show their support. We could not believe how quickly this had evolved beyond our expectations.

The day before Zachary’s arrival, we invited our church, Heritage United Methodist, to join us at the airport to praise God for our answered prayer of bringing Zachary safely home.

The next day, at 4:30 a.m., Zachary called to say he was on his way home. These were the words we had longed to hear for over a year. Zachary sent text messages all day as he got closer to home. His sister, Samantha, was also texting us as she made her way back from visiting California.

We had several media calls and interviews, and our excitement continued to build. We received phone calls from people we didn’t even know thanking us for the opportunity to thank a soldier in person for his service overseas.

This special homecoming was turning into a healing process for some and a long awaited chance to say thank you for others.

We were in awe watching God at work. He answered our prayers with people we knew, and many we had never met, throughout Central Virginia.

Now, the Sprinkle family wants to thank each and everyone who made phone calls, sent emails, prayed many prayers and especially those who came out to the airport to show their support. We feel blessed to live in a community that shows so much love and support for our troops and their families. All of us were touched by the banners, flowers, candy, hugs, flags, music and the pouring out of love showered on Zachary.

Every service man and woman deserves this same honor. This special homecoming to honor Zachary for his commitment to fight for our freedom will never be forgotten, and will hold a special place in our hearts forever.

The words “thank you” seem so simple and small. The gratitude and love we feel from our community is much bigger than words can describe, but we’ll do our best by saying, “Thank you and thank God for blessing us with an amazing community in Central Virginia.” May God continue to bless the United States of America.
MARK and KATHIE SPRINKLE
Lynchburg