Thursday, February 2, 2012

It's Time

   You may have heard that crimes against law enforcement officers have increased in recent years. While this fact may disturb you, it makes me physically hurt. When I see a guy or gal in uniform, I pause to think of all the people that would be broken-hearted should something happen to them. That's the part that hurts me.

Those of us in law enforcement don't spend too much time thinking about losing our lives in the course of our duties. We are adrenaline junkies. We love to drive cars fast, shoot loud weapons and wrestle alligators for fun. Okay, the last part was a bit much, but you get the gist. We love the excitement our job offers.

We enjoy not knowing what's going to happen next. We jump on our partners calls if things are slow in our area so that we can stay in on the action the whole time we are on duty. Universally, we all have a fascination with the obscure, the morbid, the gross. We love puppies, the outdoors and we despise people that hurt children or the elderly. We cry, sometimes sob, when we notify next-of-kin out of a fatality car crash.

You'll see us laugh like goons at stupid jokes or at terrible accident scenes - because that's how we cope. We fight amongst ourselves like hateful siblings, but won't hesitate to rush to the aide of a partner, no matter the uniform or the personal threat of harm.

We want what you want. Peace, harmony, love and days off when the weather is nice. So maybe the next time you see a man or woman in a law enforcement uniform, you'll say hello. You don't have to thank us. We love our job, we don't do it for recognition. We do it because we are called to the occupation and because we can't imagine doing anything else. We may not know when "our time" is, but we know we all have one. We know the dangers are out there. We know there is a small element of society that wishes us dead, but we are confident in our Protector to see us safely home at the end of each shift until He says, "It's time."

5 comments:

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    1. Thank you, Nita. It's my honor to serve at the pleasure of my King. I'm blessed and humbled by His grace towards me.

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  2. Good thoughts, Betsy. I respect and appreciate every person who is or who has served in law enforcement. Being married to a former sheriff's deputy and undercover detective for the DEA who tells me stories that scare me to death, I know exactly what you are saying. He LOVED what he did and he was proud to serve in that capacity. And he made the world a little safer in the Wichita area. Love and appreciate you, friend

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    1. Thank you, Jennie. Your husband knows exactly what I'm talking about. We seldom worry about our own safety as we focus on keeping others safe. And the baggage we carry around when we fail at keeping people safe is the sharp double edge to that sword. But we know that all things work together for good...and that keeps us going day after day. Tell your man hello for me and thank you for being a faithful friend and encourager. I love you!

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  3. http://www.odmp.org/officer/22309-police-officer-rafael-ramos
    Unfortunately, today was "their time" and we mourn their loss. May we pause to pray for the protection of our law enforcement officers around the nation tonight.

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