REMEMBERING ALFRED

365 Days of Thanksliving – Day 176

If you scroll through social media today, you’re probably seeing a lot of “Happy Memorial Day” posts. For most of us, this long weekend is the official kickoff to summer—a time for lake trips, vacations, and firing up the grill. And honestly, enjoying those things with family and friends is a blessing in itself.

But as part of my Thanksliving journey this year, I wanted to take a pause today to reflect on what this holiday is actually about.

It’s not just about cold drinks and bratwursts. It’s a day set aside to remember the men and women who didn't make it back home. Some of you reading this might have heard me share this story recently at our Memorial Day service, but it’s something that weighs heavy on my heart of gratitude today.

Back on November 11, 1918, World War I was finally coming to an end. The armistice treaty was signed early in the morning, at 5:00 AM, with all fighting scheduled to stop at 11:00 AM.

Today, that news would hit every smartphone on the planet in milliseconds. But back then? The message declaring peace took time to travel to the front lines.

In that tragic, agonizing gap of time between the treaty being signed and the news actually reaching the trenches, a 24-year-old soldier from Ringsted, Iowa, lost his life in battle.

That young man was Private Alfred Bonnicksen—my grandfather’s oldest brother.

Alfred was just one of the over 116,000 American service members who never got to return home and hug their families again. I never knew my great-uncle, and my dad never met him either (Alfred died 19 years before my dad was even born). As far as I know, he’s the only Bonnicksen to have served and not made it back alive. His young life was cut short so that the rest of us could live free.

Today, my heart is just incredibly thankful for my great-uncle Alfred, and for the countless others who gave their all. Maybe your family has an "Alfred," too. If you’ve lost a loved one who sacrificed everything on a field of war, please know I’m remembering them with you today.

As I spend my day reflecting on gratitude, my mind ultimately points back to where our true freedom comes from: our Lord God in heaven above.’

When I think about sacrifice, I'm reminded of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. If not for Christ, the eternal rest promised to those we’ve lost wouldn't exist, and the true freedom we get to experience wouldn't be possible.

So today, as you wrapping up your Memorial Day Weekend celebrations with your loved ones, I hope you'll join me in a moment of Thanksliving for the brave souls like Alfred, and for a God who gives us ultimate freedom.

Tomorrow, I’ll share with you a funny thing that happened just as we were finishing our Memorial Day supper. I promise you, it’s one you won’t wanna miss. Until then….