Yesterday I was honored to be asked to be a participant in The National Day of Prayer Breakfast held at The Granbury Resort Conference Center. My assignment was to pray for our military and our law enforcement officers.  I think they knew pretty quickly they assigned the right guy to that task. They know what I am passionate about! But I could not help but be a little amused as well as humbled during the event itself.

There must have been close to 500 people there.  Senator Brian Birdwell was the distinguished speaker for the event.  I seriously doubt a prayer breakfast is a forum where you would expect a random act of violence.  But you never know. I heard a police chief at an annual memorial service this week point out that all line of duty deaths occur on shifts that begins very routinely.   I am quite certain that very few people noticed that the prayer breakfast was secured by police officers in casual uniforms watching over the event.  It was humbling to observe the officers I serve everyday standing around the perimeter of the conference center banquet room quietly observing every single person’s actions.  They were not in full uniform, so it was all done very discreetly.  

It was really tempting for me preface my prayer by drawing attention to their service. I wanted to say: Hey!  We have capable law enforcement personnel watching over us while we enjoy a very special event.  They are on the look out for people attending a prayer breakfast that are unstable, armed, or potentially disruptive. Stranger things have happened!   And I also wanted to say: All of us go to bed every night while the night shift patrols right in front of our homes.  They are watching over us while we sleep.  They literally have us surrounded.

Earlier this week I spoke with a friend that was involved in a major accident near Ft. Worth. I asked her: how were you treated by first responders?  She said they seemed to arrive out of nowhere in a matter of minutes.  One minute she was sitting in the parking lot of a shopping center, and the next minute officers from that Ft. Worthsuperb were watching over her. They surrounded her with comfort and security during a very scary event.

As I prayed for our military and law enforcement personnel early Thursday morning, I used one phrase.  I used the phrase: We are surrounded. You hear that in the old cops and robbers movies.  Give up: We have you surrounded!

As I prayed I wondered if anyone noticed that we were surrounded during breakfast.  I doubt it. But that is really not a problem.  They are servants that are called to watch over us.  They surround us in a spirit of unselfish service every single day of the year 24/7.  They asked the right guy to lead that prayer for certain, because I am proud to serve those that watch over us.  I am fully aware that we are quite literally surrounded.

 Let’s give up today.  Let’s give up our indifference and thank a cop for watching over us.  You might as well, because you are surrounded.