Hello
Wednesday, July 6, 2011. You came so early this week, or it seems that way. How in the world are you folks doing, anyway? I do know what you mean. I'm a little groggy myself but here we are and it's always good to hear from folks who are special to us. I have one more small bit of flag waving to do coming out of the holiday. I spent Monday evening overdosing on those patriotic salutes from Washington, D.C., New York City, and Houston, Texas. Each was an extravaganza of music and fireworks. I, for the life of me, cannot figure how anyone who is an American can watch those types of events and not be stirred. I know we Americans tend to be a little over the top in our celebrations but when they sing our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, and God Bless America, and the backdrop on the big screen are returned troops sitting on the U.S. Capitol lawn with missing limbs, let me tell you, if that doesn't bring a tear to our eye, then we need to rethink who we are as a people. One of the soldiers had an American flag attached to his wounded leg. When the camera panned he held up that leg and waved his flag. That's what the 4th of July is about. That's our heritage. Sure. We've gotten ourselves into a big mess and typically those in Washington tend to, at times, to make things worse, instead of better. But, at the proverbial end of the day, I'll pitch my tent here in the good old USA and thank God everyday for being a citizen of this great country.
Amen.
Speaking of the mess in Washington, D.C., the political arrows are flying from all sides. Making political points at times seems to be the objective as opposed to making progress. I learned a long time ago that trying to determine symbol versus substance can become a fulltime endeavor and even then you would likely end up missing it here and there. The extremes are how each party paints the other. Those who are conservative and desire to live within our means are portrayed as favoring the rich, while hating the poor, yielding to the fat cats, and as being owned by big business. Those who lean liberal are portrayed as socialists who want to turn America into a different form of government while going bankrupt at the same time, all for the benefit of their voting blocks. There are instances used to prove up these points of view and at times you cannot see the forest for the barrage of mud being flung all over the place. Me, I tend to shy away from these extreme talking points and do my best to consider what's best for our country going forward, for our children, and their children. It's clear that we have spent ourselves into a huge hole and thus far all the trillions thrown at the problem has not corrected it. During wars, and during our response to 9/11, Americans have come together because of the greatness of the crisis we faced. Twenty million people unemployed or underemployed is just such a crisis and I believe we need folks who will put aside their party affiliation and come to the table with the same spirit that saw the Nazi's and their Axis defeated. It could be done again. I pray that God would move on the hearts of those in power to rise to this occasion for the good of all Americans.
Amen.
Late last Saturday afternoon we received a tremendous downpour of rain. Unexpected. Welcomed. It was a little scary with all the thunder, lightning, and hail popping here and there. The power went out but it just kept on raining. We all were busy giving thanks and praise to God. Refreshing. We needed it so bad. The grass and trees were humming as their roots received a long awaited drink. It began to become warm in the house with no A/C. That was okay. The lightning strikes seemed awfully close. That was okay. I opened the front door and sat watching it rain. The power was off for about an hour. Later that evening we saw on the news that we had received around 3 inches. Unexpected blessing. One that we continue to thank God for. I said this to mention to us all how easy it is to forget to recognize the provider of the blessings that come our way. I remember well from my years where I prospered in a big way at the big company I worked for. I became weary hearing folks say how fortunate I was to always be in the right place at the right time. Finally, I decided it was time to stand up and take some credit for my hard work. When I did, it was like one of those lightning bolts had hit me. A bolt of conviction because it was God who had opened doors for me and helped me to achieve what I had been able to accomplish, and when I began to take credit for the provisions He had given to me in my life, it became obvious that I was on the wrong track. Don't you know that what happened last Saturday in your area was a natural weather event that occurs when you have high temperatures connecting into some Gulf originated moisture? While that may be true, I will stick with thanking the One who made the Gulf and made life itself. Thank you Lord for the unexpected rain. We give you praise and honor for it.
Amen. ........More later.
Hello Wednesday, July 6, 2011. You came so early this week, or it seems that way. How in the world are you folks doing, anyway? I do know what you mean. I'm a little groggy myself but here we are and it's always good to hear from folks who are special to us. I have one more small bit of flag waving to do coming out of the holiday. I spent Monday evening overdosing on those patriotic salutes from Washington, D.C., New York City, and Houston, Texas. Each was an extravaganza of music and fireworks. I, for the life of me, cannot figure how anyone who is an American can watch those types of events and not be stirred. I know we Americans tend to be a little over the top in our celebrations but when they sing our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, and God Bless America, and the backdrop on the big screen are returned troops sitting on the U.S. Capitol lawn with missing limbs, let me tell you, if that doesn't bring a tear to our eye, then we need to rethink who we are as a people. One of the soldiers had an American flag attached to his wounded leg. When the camera panned he held up that leg and waved his flag. That's what the 4th of July is about. That's our heritage. Sure. We've gotten ourselves into a big mess and typically those in Washington tend to, at times, to make things worse, instead of better. But, at the proverbial end of the day, I'll pitch my tent here in the good old USA and thank God everyday for being a citizen of this great country. Amen. 
Speaking of the mess in Washington, D.C., the political arrows are flying from all sides. Making political points at times seems to be the objective as opposed to making progress. I learned a long time ago that trying to determine symbol versus substance can become a fulltime endeavor and even then you would likely end up missing it here and there. The extremes are how each party paints the other. Those who are conservative and desire to live within our means are portrayed as favoring the rich, while hating the poor, yielding to the fat cats, and as being owned by big business. Those who lean liberal are portrayed as socialists who want to turn America into a different form of government while going bankrupt at the same time, all for the benefit of their voting blocks. There are instances used to prove up these points of view and at times you cannot see the forest for the barrage of mud being flung all over the place. Me, I tend to shy away from these extreme talking points and do my best to consider what's best for our country going forward, for our children, and their children. It's clear that we have spent ourselves into a huge hole and thus far all the trillions thrown at the problem has not corrected it. During wars, and during our response to 9/11, Americans have come together because of the greatness of the crisis we faced. Twenty million people unemployed or underemployed is just such a crisis and I believe we need folks who will put aside their party affiliation and come to the table with the same spirit that saw the Nazi's and their Axis defeated. It could be done again. I pray that God would move on the hearts of those in power to rise to this occasion for the good of all Americans. Amen.
Late last Saturday afternoon we received a tremendous downpour of rain. Unexpected. Welcomed. It was a little scary with all the thunder, lightning, and hail popping here and there. The power went out but it just kept on raining. We all were busy giving thanks and praise to God. Refreshing. We needed it so bad. The grass and trees were humming as their roots received a long awaited drink. It began to become warm in the house with no A/C. That was okay. The lightning strikes seemed awfully close. That was okay. I opened the front door and sat watching it rain. The power was off for about an hour. Later that evening we saw on the news that we had received around 3 inches. Unexpected blessing. One that we continue to thank God for. I said this to mention to us all how easy it is to forget to recognize the provider of the blessings that come our way. I remember well from my years where I prospered in a big way at the big company I worked for. I became weary hearing folks say how fortunate I was to always be in the right place at the right time. Finally, I decided it was time to stand up and take some credit for my hard work. When I did, it was like one of those lightning bolts had hit me. A bolt of conviction because it was God who had opened doors for me and helped me to achieve what I had been able to accomplish, and when I began to take credit for the provisions He had given to me in my life, it became obvious that I was on the wrong track. Don't you know that what happened last Saturday in your area was a natural weather event that occurs when you have high temperatures connecting into some Gulf originated moisture? While that may be true, I will stick with thanking the One who made the Gulf and made life itself. Thank you Lord for the unexpected rain. We give you praise and honor for it. Amen. ........More later.
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