Anne LeGare

Those who have never lived on the outskirts of an Army post might be amused at what it’s like to have your life imprinted with all things military. For example, at 5 p.m. every night, we hear the bugle playing “Retreat” over Fort Hood’s loud speaker system. When units are in the field, our windows rattle to the thud of artillery rounds day and night. We are the first to know when a unit has returned from Iraq, because we can’t miss the big gray jets on final approach to Robert Gray Army Airfield.

Fort Hood is open to the public in certain places, which makes for some great shortcuts to areas of our town. I drive onto the installation daily, and use back roads to take the children to school. Just recently, this sign was erected at both entrances to warn of the dangers of driving on an Army post.

The first time I saw the sign, I thought: Wow! Maybe they’re firing artillery close to these roads! I looked around and drove cautiously for a few days. I knew the dangers before the signs went up. I could see the tank trails for crying out loud! But for some reason, the sign made the danger seem more real to me. As with most warnings, however, now that I’ve traveled safely for a week, I cross my fingers and forge ahead, knowing that nothing terrible could possibly happen to me.

But if something did happen, wouldn’t people say: “They warned you! Didn’t you see the fine print that said ‘By Order of the Commanding General?’” Or maybe some would say: “I can’t believe that nice family was hit by artillery fire when they were crossing the tank trails on Fort Hood! What an injustice!”

Either way, we’d be hurt, even though we were warned.

Isn’t it like that with our Christian walk? Before we were saved, we lived lives filled with danger, but were supremely unaware. But after salvation, we’ve been given all kinds warnings to keep us out of danger.

We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking directly into our minds and hearts. We have the Word of God telling us of specific dangers. We can’t claim to be unaware. In fact, God speaks to us in military terms about the tactics our adversary, Satan, uses and how to avoid being hit by his artillery.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  ¹³Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.  ¹⁴Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, ¹⁵and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;  ¹⁶in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Again we see a warning about the devil’s tactics in 2 Corinthians 2:11, and are told to see to it “that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

Will we cross our fingers and forge ahead, thinking: That’s just the Bible – nothing’s going to happen to me? Or are we willing to join David, who said “I delight to do Your will, O my God; your Law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

When trials come, I’m going to avoid shortcuts, heed the warnings and obey the orders of my Commanding General, so I won’t be hit by artillery fire.

It’s been almost eleven years since Marc and I embarked on our Central Texas house hunting mission. We probably looked at 20-30 houses in the three towns surrounding “The Great Place,” (Fort Hood, TX), before we found the home God intended for us all along. This home was the “WOW!” house on our list. It was also the one I had penciled “No Way!” in the margin of the flier, because it was beyond our financial reach. In fact, we shopped for two days, and went back to Northern Virginia without a contract or a house that met our needs. So Marc sent me back to Texas to try again. After much prayer, we decided to narrow our hunt to one of the three towns.

But when I returned two weeks later, there were no new homes on the market. We were seriously considering building a house to suit the needs of our seven-member family, when I passed the “WOW” house again. I asked our realtor if I could go look at it one more time … and dream. When we walked into the kitchen, we spied some brand new fliers on the counter. The price of the house had been reduced by $15,000. It was now within our reach! So after negotiations, we purchased it for even less, and we humbly thanked God for the “WOW” house.

Whenever we move into a new home, we pray over each room and ask God to inhabit everything we do in our new dwelling. This time, we acknowledged to God this was His house, and promised we would be faithful to use it for hospitality. We’ve kept that promise, and entertained 400 people in just the first year we lived here. But that was largely because Marc was a battalion commander and we were leaders in the church. We learned the true meaning of “Hospitality” in 2007.

In Hebrews 13:2, we’re commanded: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

What I never noticed before performing an in-depth study of Hebrews is that Biblical hospitality is not about entertaining those we know and love. It’s about strangers. When our family has practiced true hospitality, we’ve been blessed and humbled.

On June 23, 2007, the 1st Cavalry Division lost four young men in Iraq. They were all killed together by an IED. We had the privilege of knowing one of these heroes, Sergeant Joel House. He was one of our Sunday School students, and was a really special, quiet young man from Lee, Maine.

Joel was the type of boy I want my girls to marry. When we learned of his death, we offered our home to his family when they came to the 1^st Cav memorial service for the fallen heroes. The House family asked if they could invite the families of the other three heroes to our home for a small get-together after the memorial service. We were honored to comply.

The memorial service was probably the most emotionally draining event I’ve ever attended. I cried so much I was dehydrated. I couldn’t even imagine what Joel’s family and the other mourners were experiencing. When we got home, Marc and I got to watch the body of Christ at work.

We hired caterers to take care of the food, so cooking wasn’t a problem. Other members of our singles’ Sunday School class, and the 1^st Cav unit brought appetizers, desserts, and drinks, and had used the time we were at the memorial service to prepare the house to receive our guests. Shelby and Debbie Smith and their family helped us serve all night, and stood side-by-side with us through the clean-up. We were the visitors in our home that night. We just stood back, allowed the grieving families to hug, share stories, show pictures, and weep. Freddie Fuller, a local singing cowboy with connections to the soldiers, brought his guitar and played some songs he’d written about their sacrifice. We made lasting friendships that night with the House family and with the Riordan family, who lost their precious Daniel.

Nick and Dan Riordan

That one night, we saw why God allowed us to have this House, we experienced the true blessing of Hospitality, and we were in the rarified presence of Heroes (and perhaps some angels).