321 Little Hands...

"Uncle Donny, Can you come to our Veterans Day program at my school on Friday?"

My niece Chloe's sweet little voice tickled my ears with this request. I couldn't refuse so I told her that I wouldn't miss it for the world. But little did I know what was in store for me.
I arrived at her school Friday morning and made my way to the gym. From what I understood, the teachers and students had put together a Veterans Day program in which each grade would sing a song about America and a State Representative would be speaking. As I got to the gym and plopped myself down beside my Sister-in-Law, she quickly told me that I couldn't sit by her (big shock!) and went on to tell me that I had to go sit 'up front'. I asked her why and she told me that all Vets had to sit together because they would be recognized. So, I made my way up to the chairs next to the podium.

When I got there, I realized that I was one of the younger guys there. I sat down and looked around. In front of me was a man that wore a hat adorned with patches and pins. I saw the words "Ranger" and "WWII Veteran" and even "Jungle Expert" on his cap and thought to myself what stories he could tell. I also saw an older man wearing a Purple Heart medal and another with a Bronze Star.

"JEEEEEZE!" I thought to myself, "I don't deserve to even sit anywhere near these guys." I never saw combat, never served overseas, and the only time I ever got shot at was when an Alpha Company tank mistook our tank for a target and hit us with their machine gun accidentally (luckily we were inside). I was about to get up and move when the music started, and the program officially began. I was stuck, so I nervously scanned over the schedule. To make matters worse, I saw where there was a part of the program when each Vet would be asked to stand and tell their Branch of Service and who we were there to represent. I was nervous about doing this in such a great cloud of Veterans, that is until I locked eyes with Chloe, who was seated in the floor in front of us and she smiled at me. I then realized that I was there for her and she was proud enough of me to ask me to be her representative.

The program went off without a hitch, and I proudly stood up and told my name, US Army, and "I'm here today representing Chloe VanHorn". She smiled at me from the crowd of little faces and I smiled back.

When the program was over, the teacher in charge of it gathered all of us up and formed us into a horseshoe shaped line in front of the podium. We all stood there for a minute wondering what was next. I looked down and saw one of my soccer players approach me, hand me something, and walk off. I looked at what Luke had given me and it was a simple little card he had made for me that said, through stickers and crayon marks, simply "Thanks for being a veteran". I was touched.

That's when the kids showed up with outstretched hands. While I was receiving my card, I failed to notice that the teachers had lined up each class and started them down the line of Veterans shaking hands as they went. So, I started shaking hands. I shook, and shook, and shook, and shook some more. They kept coming in little waves with outstretched hands.

I noticed something about kids during all of this: Only one out of ten would look at you in the eyes when they shook. And One out of maybe twenty would have a firm shake. It's funny, but I have always made presumptions about a person's personality by their handshake and I was getting lots of practice now. I could tell which kids were shy, goofy, assertive, and just plain tough, by the way they shook my hand.

When it was all said and done, I shook 321 little hands on Friday. It is a pleasure to see God's children up close like this and wonder just what these same little hands may one day accomplish. Who knows, I may have shook a President's hand on Friday. Or, maybe a great inventor or scientist. But on the dark side, I may also have shook a murderers hand. So today, my prayers are for the owners of those little hands and for those that shape them into what they will one day become.