Over the years I have been blessed to know several public safety officers.  And for some reason, my church has always had several active duty police officers who call ReCAST church home.  We also have a handful of retired officers.

I appreciate the service and sacrifice that public safety officers give to their communities.  It is a job that runs into risk every day.  And it is a job that is often misunderstood.  I was at the coffee shop just yesterday speaking with the wives of two policemen and we were discussing just how misunderstood the profession truly is.

My officer friends tire of the jokes about how many donuts they ate this week or whether or not they met their “quota of traffic tickets”.

Personally, I love to hear stories.  And I count it privilege to be brought in to the real lives of real people.  I have found that the average police officer carries a heavy burden of trauma. They have seen death up close.  They have been near death themselves.  And they have been with people at their darkest and most difficult moments.

I am grateful for those who wear the blue and stand the line for the rest of us.  We are told in Scripture to give honor where honor is due.  I am glad for the officers I know.  In America, we are beneficiaries of a civil order that, at least in part, comes from overlapping police jurisdictions.  Bad guys are kept at bay, victims of accidents receive assistance, and order is maintained.  Let’s be slow with the jokes about donuts and tickets quotas.  Instead let’s be quick with thanks to those who have taken on the extra burden of a dark sense of humor, so that the rest of us can sleep easy.  So if any of my officer friends, or their families are reading this: Thanks for your sacrifice!