I have a feeling this post is going to get a bit long.
Sorry not sorry. I have some people to brag on!
I am going to get to the whole “how to send cookies” part, and I promise it is relevant to this post, but first things first:
In honor of Memorial Day, I wanted to write a post in honor of some dear friends of ours – the family of Christopher J. Coffland. Chris was my husband’s teammate during their deployment in Afghanistan in 2009. Aaron and Chris were a two-man team, and Chris was killed by an IED on one of their missions.
Above: Aaron (left) and Chris (right) in 2009.
Below: Aaron at Chris’s grave
Like all of our fallen soldiers, Chris left behind a family absolutely crushed by the void in his absence. Parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
But Chris’s family turned their void into fullness of joy for other veterans. They are healing from their wounds left by Chris’s death by creating and fostering a charity that breathes life into other veterans.
And they are awesome.
The Cofflands created Catch-A-Lift, a charity that provides wounded veterans across the country with scholarships to gyms for physical rehabilitation. CAL isn’t just in the business of healing wounded bodies, they’re in the business of healing wounded minds, hearts, and spirits from the trials of war.
We’ve seen the Coffland family in Washington, D.C. every November since 2010 – the one year anniversary of Chris’s death – with the exception of two years ago when I was very pregnant with Elizabeth and was well past my “allowed to fly” time. With each passing year, CAL seems to have grown exponentially. We couldn’t be more honored to know such a fantastic family.
This photo is from this past November in Maryland at a CAL event – Aaron, Elizabeth and me with one of Chris’s sisters, our dear friend Lynn, and Chris’s sweet parents. We adore them!
Where am I going with this?
Here’s the deal. When national holidays like Memorial Day come knocking on our calendar’s door, many of us wrestle with wanting to honor those who’ve served and their families, but don’t know what to do.
I don’t have all the answers. But I can tell you this, what we do:
- Will never be enough.
- Will never bring Chris back.
- Will never fill that void.
But I can consider Memorial Day – a day of memorializing those who’ve died in the service of our country – and remind someone who still grieves that loss that I am thankful.
Jesus shed His blood for my eternal freedom. Servicemen and women have shed their blood to protect my freedom to express that.
I cannot do everything for these families. I WISH I COULD. But I can do something. I can express gratitude! So Cofflands, you know how much we love you, and you’ve got some cookies coming your way!
If you know someone who could use a little thank you or blessing in the mail for Memorial Day, please, join me in bringing some joy into someone’s day! You can make a difference.
I made these Patriotic Cake Mix Lemonade Cookies to send. You can find the recipe here. They are divine!
Once you’ve made the cookies, here’s how to prepare them to deliver in the mail.
Set out a piece of plastic cling wrap…
…and wrap up each cookie!
Then place the cookie in a box or piece of plastic ware (square or rectangular v. round plastic tubs work best) and continue until the container is full! You don’t need to put the paper cushioning down like I did, but you certainly can. I just think it adds a little pizzazz to a boring container!
Plus, do you really need a reminder that I will take any excuse to throw in more red, white, and blue somewhere?
I know individually wrapping each cookie seems a little tedious, but I promise you, it is the way to go.
(This is how I packaged up baked goods to send to Aaron when he was deployed. I became a professional at preparing care packages that year! I baked a bunch of different things, wrapped each piece in cling wrap, placed each like item into a plastic container, and then stuffed a bunch of plastic containers into USPS flat rate shipping boxes. Because of Aaron’s remote location in the country, sometimes it took 4-6 weeks for him to receive one of my packages, but he said everything always tasted like I had just made it, so I know this system works! For one, it keeps the baked goods fresh, but two, it also offers padding to keep them from shifting and breaking inside the box. Stay tuned to the blog – I’ll create a post specifically for sending care packages to a serviceman or woman in the future!)
I was able to comfortably fit 8 cookies in this square container. When you’ve filled your container, place the lid on top and give the container a little shake. If the cookies move, you may want to see if you can squeeze in one or two more to prevent them from shifting inside.
Ok, now it’s time to package ’em up!
Don’t forget to write a little note!
To wrap up the containers, I always use regular brown Kraft paper you can find at most grocery stores.
And lots of packing tape. Lots and lots of packing tape.
I added some little stamped polka dots to dress up the brown paper. Jury is still out on whether or not I like the added polka dots, but what’s done is done!
All that’s left to do is to address them and send them off in the mail!
Elizabeth and I tag-teamed to send off our packages. I drove us there, but she provided us with the entertainment in line!
I hope we can raise her to be so very thankful, too.
Remember, we can’t do everything, but we can do something. I hope you’re encouraged that you do have something to offer to others. A little gratitude goes a long way. Here’s the recipe for these cookies if you want to make and send them!
And my goodness, if you’re one of those people who has lost a loved one in service to our country, from the very bottom of my heart, thank you.
Please soak up every ounce of celebrating our precious freedom with your family, friends, and neighbors this weekend! Happy Memorial Day! Looking for some recipe ideas? Check out these big gathering favorites of ours – sweet slow cooker BBQ shredded pork, cheesy potato casserole, strawberry spinach salad, zesty salsa and the best guacamole. They’re crowd pleasers, that’s for sure!
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