While the scent of cigarette still remained on my roses, I had to write this. My eyes are swollen because I have been crying.
The bouquet smelled terrible. It didn’t look so bad. But the odor of damp nicotine and the sweat of men was strong. Mark handed it to me when he walked in the door.
“My gosh,” he said. “You won’t believe this one. You are going to cry.”
Those five rather puny, red flowers have indeed brought me to many tears. They ruined my pizza. They broke my heart. The crumpled paper napkin that was meant to wipe away the oily residue of cheese had instead dried the leaking of my eyes. Those roses have caused me to yet again, ‘be ready carry the heavy loads of one another and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.’ Galatians says it so well.
Mark was walking back to our Jerusalem apartment. I was working from my laptop while he went to retrieve our dinner.
He had picked up a pizza from our local establishment. A large group of forty, maybe fifty young men in army uniform literally blocked his way - not on purpose but by sheer number. They were in a great mood. Celebrating their three days of leave, they were cutting up and enjoy Israel’s spring time weather. But Mark couldn’t get through. They gathered there and were waiting for their bus. It would take them back to dangerous places.
“Anybody want pizza?” Mark’s question parted the Red Sea quicker than Moses. It was the result he hoped for. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” They shouted.
Mark stopped and spoke with the lads for some twenty minutes. He loved on them like only a father of boys can. He answered their question;
“Where are you from? “Are you special services?” “Where do you live?”
And seeing the Ford Classic gray Mustang t-shirt Mark was wearing, one asked, “Are you Pegasus?”
Mark flexed his muscles.
Then my newest adopted love, flexed his in return. The one who carried the flowers (once sweet with garden scent) in the same hand that held his smoldering cigarette.
He was a lone soldier.
A solo flyer.
He was חַיָּל בּוֹדֵד, Ḥayal Boded.
A “lone soldier” is a soldier in the IDF with no family in Israel to support him or her: a new immigrant, a volunteer from abroad, an orphan or an individual from a broken home.
Every day tens of thousands of soldiers are defending the State of Israel and its citizens. These soldiers regularly spend weekends and holidays at home where their parents provide for all of their needs: food, laundry, and even a hug. Challenges for a lone soldier arise when he or she leaves base. While Israeli-born lone soldiers have their families to return home to, lone soldiers are left to fend for themselves while on leave from the army. This can be once a month, or every weekend, depending on where they serve and what part of training they are in. For more than 7,000 lone soldiers, there is no immediate family in Israel to support them. Though highly motivated and proud to serve, when on leave, many of them struggle with basic needs that a family would solve.
HOW MANY LONE SOLDIERS ARE THERE?
There are over 7,000 lone soldiers currently serving in the IDF. About 45% of these soldiers are new immigrants, coming from Jewish communities all over the world. Another 50% are Israelis who are orphans or that come from low socio-economic backgrounds. There are some that come from ultra orthodox neighborhoods who are shunned by their families and communities because they decided to go to the army.
Most lone soldiers are placed in combat units and come highly motivated to serve in the Israeli army. At any given time, these soldiers are awake and aware, guarding Israel’s borders by land, air and sea.’
taken from https://lonesoldiercenter.com/about-us/who-are-lone-soldiers/
Mark sparred with them.
He loved on them.
By then, the ‘lone soldier’ had bonded with Mark. He asked, “Are you married?” Mark showed him a photo of me.
“I want to give these to your wife.” Replied the grinning young man.
This is my video. I share it with you. Please cry with me. But mainly, will you plead to heaven to protect these precious ones.
Oh God, hear our cries.
PS. As they boarded their bus, Mark grabbed each hand and said; “God bless you. We’re praying for you.”
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