Army Strong

This little girl informed us that she just signed up for the Army today.  She is now officially a member of the armed forces hoping to be part of something much bigger than herself.  

I found this early picture of McKenna -- Look at her closely..... her eyes say it all!!!  They have always been steely and determined despite her good-natured personality.  She already looks as if she is standing at attention ready for her orders.....Fast forward a couple of years and there she is, standing at attention ready for anything!

When she called to share the details it was obvious how excited she was.  She is in the nursing program and has been flirting with the idea of signing up for a few years now.... this past weekend a wonderful recruiter closed the deal as stopped his booth during a campus visit to BYU's nursing program.  She spent the weekend at home, wanting to talk through everything.....McKenna was SO ready....  I didn't know what it could feel like, to have one of your kids join the military community.  I do now...  My heart is completely full and the great sense of pride is difficult to ignore.   Funny as it may seem,  I feel like saluting her every time I see her now.  It is truly an amazing feeling.

On the Army website one of the first pages shows this question.  It immediately hit me hard......

When she was just about 6 weeks old, a couple of weeks before her Grandmother passed, McKenna had a special blessing given to her by her father.  The first thing he did was to present this infant back to God, in a humble attitude of prayer, with her grandfather and uncles in a united circle with hands placed under her, supporting the packaged blanket she was wrapped up in.  So little, so new, so innocent...

Her name was given:  McKenna Lynn Brown.  a 3rd generation "Lynn" coming from her father and Grandfather, both present in that special circle.

The words that followed were unrehearsed, unpracticed, and unknown up until the second they slipped through his mouth and uttered in this prayer to God asking for His special blessing of this new little girl.  That she would grow up in the grace of His Son, with a desire to do good and to seek the best things in life.  A plea that she might have courage to face life's challenges and to be strong in her values and beliefs.  At one point, there was a pause, and his voice cracked filled with emotion feeling new and powerful words come to his mind so clearly.......

He blessed her that she might be a

  "warrior of righteousness that would battle against the adversary"

Odd words for a newborn baby girl? ...... maybe....maybe not.... I didn't know McKenna that well yet, but these words when they came to me, were like a revelation of light and like lightning that instantly struck my heart.  Somehow I knew in that instant that this was a girl that would fight fiercely throughout her life.  I didn't know to what extent or in what contexts, but I knew then, as I know now that she would be a quiet fighter, relentless and would overcome all that got in her way.  She has done it her whole life....

She has overcome physical battles: hundreds of soccer games, 2 ACL surgeries (Recoveries were worse), a couple of broken noses, a concussion.  She volunteered to go to Uruguay and learn a new language and champion a new culture and stand up for the poorest and humblest of folk, helping guide them towards Jesus Christ.  She wrestled with isolation, heat and in very close to the end of her time there, she suffered painful appendicitis in a small city that didn't have the best medical support, and still managed to fight to finish her mission as if nothing ever happened.

So... yes, "Army Strong" seems very fitting for McKenna.  She has become that warrior she was foreordained to be so many years ago.   If you knew her, you wouldn't first describe her that way, but as soon as you hear these words, you will nod your head vigorously knowing that it sums her spirit perfectly.

That young father.... older now, didn't fully know what those words really meant until today, when McKenna shared the news.  The instant emotion that came reminded me exactly of the same feelings I felt then, not understanding why those words came so powerfully but always wondering how they would play out in her life. McKenna has become a warrior for the depressed, downtrodden, feeble and those that ail in life.  She disdains fighting, but, you would not want to be on the wrong side of her if she needed to.

She is representing all of America now and I know in her heart she welcomes that burden willingly.  The Army just got better.....

I salute you Soldier