Looking back, history remembers great eras and events, but we live through them one day at a time.  Changes happen at many scales – in ordinary days and in the normal patterns of life, as well as at the State House or the nation’s capitol or in the wider world.

Earlier this month one of my sons returned to the U.S. from Army service in Iraq.  It happened to be the same day that we attended a CAP cadet’s graduation ceremony from North Georgia College and State University.  And this week, another son will be leaving to begin his Army career.

These young men are called to serve a greater purpose.  In doing so, they are carrying on the traditions and patterns that have been part of my family for generations – not only in their willingness to serve our country, but also as an investment in their own futures.

The specifics of their assignments and skills that they will need are different from my experience, as they now support and defend the Constitution and all that it represents.  God only knows whether they will see combat, and in what manner they will return. The situations they face will train their abilities to see changes, develop the experience to address them, and require them to find the resources to respond.

Yet there may come a time, after an engagement or in the stillness of an ordinary watch, when they find our common bond.  These young adults now join my generation and the ones who have gone before us as defenders of the Constitution, and as we share our experiences we become more than a band of brothers, strengthening our family ties.

Goals and commitments go hand in hand: you can’t have one without the other.  Each generation will face it in their own way, yet with that family resemblance. Our history continues.

Passing on strong values is what carries us through – as a family, a community, and as a nation.  It is in such commitment and discipline that we can find the strength to make it through good times and bad.

It is through ordinary days and normal patterns of life that changes happen in Bartow County.  During the 2010 primary campaign this blog served as an ongoing forum on leadership:
Raising questions about issues that challenge our future and providing innovative ideas and approaches that I have seen in other parts of the country, and describing events in the community where neighbors worked together to improve our schools, raise money for charitable organizations, and give support to the values we believe in. 

The 2010 primary election has come and gone, but this online forum will continue.  It is through working together as a community that we train our abilities to see changes, develop the experience to address them, and commit to finding the resources to respond. 

Our history continues.  Let us look forward to it.