Speaking of the man, President George Washington upon his death: "The virutes of our departed friend were crowned by piety. He is known to have been habitually devout. To Christian institutions he gave the countenance of his example; and no one could express, more fully, his sense of the Providence of God, and the dependence of man." - Rev. J.T. Kirkland, December 29, 1799

Well. I know. That's a deep subject for such a shallow mind. I've heard that one all my life, or at least as long as I can remember. But, how in the world are you doing on this Wednesday, February 22, 2012, the real birthday of our founding father, George Washington? Of course I use that 'founding father' as a way of designating this great man's influence and impact on our nation, but always and forever let us never forget that it was our FATHER in heaven who worked through men like Washington and others to give us the nation we love. While some feel a calling to try and discredit as many of our founders as they can by doing their best to dig up dirt, the public and private record is clear, the folks involved in our founding were flawed but they were people of faith. Washington certainly was. It's one thing to study about the Sovereignty of God. It's also a good thing to speak of your belief in God's control over all things. However, George Washington, put his belief in God's control into action, (He called it Divine Providence), on the battlefields, as he led, not from the rear, but from the front of his troops. He believed those bullet holes in his coats, the horses shot down underneath him, and other near misses, were as a result of God's provision, intervention, and protection for him, and he acknowledged it as such. I thank God for those who served and suffered to hand down to us the great privilege we have in being an American. May God bless their memory and may God help us to follow their example. Amen.

The other day our little Alexander Benjamin came in bubbling over with facts about Abraham Lincoln. I was a little surprised, because, to be honest, I wasn't sure these kinds of facts were still being taught in our schools. One thing is sure folks, we didn't get here by ourselves. Many of the folks who paved the way for us lived their lives with purpose in mind. I heard a little bit of a sermon Sunday evening on the car radio where the preacher was trying to get his people to see how that God had positioned them to become active in the ministry. He said they needed to know they had been made on purpose, and that God had also made them for a purpose. That I suppose defines what many believe to be the pursuit of life itself. Why am I here? What is it that I should be doing? What is my purpose? For those of us who have come to know God through our being washed in the shed blood of His Son, Jesus the Christ, it comes down to not what we think our purpose might be, but having been saved, what does God have to say about it? Short summary of what The Scriptures teach: We are to love God as the first priority of our being, with every fiber of our being; And, having done this, we are to love others the way that God would have us to love them. (One example, Matthew 22:36-40) That first order of business about putting God first in all things is huge, folks, and we can only do that as we yield ourselves to Him and His Spirit working in us. When we have that in place we then can begin to see others as God sees them, causing us to love them in a sacrificial and tangible manner. Want to find some purpose for why you are still hanging around? I would suggest that dealing with these two will pretty much occupy a good portion of your time. About 100% as I see it. Amen.

I suppose I should have told my wife that we would have to stop meeting like this as we talked in the ER. We did have some alone time together. Not something we've had much of lately. I suppose one of the things that has been special in all the years we've been together is the fact that we can still laugh together. I didn't want to dwell on any of the negatives but we both are aware that we are not youngsters any more. The law of gravity and the gravity of life itself has made its impact on our lives. This is the way of life and no one could be more thankful than I, to have it played out with this wonderful lady in my life. Would we have done things differently? Where would you want us to start would be our most likely response to that question. However, I'm thinking of another of the Gospel songs we used to listen to. This one by the 'Happy Goodmans', "I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now." I wouldn't trade. We are blessed. We have our struggles. We have our times of difficulties. We have our days. But, through it all, we are blessed. I told the doctor that I should have known nearly 48 years ago I was getting damaged goods. My wife said, "Look whose talking, Mr. Diabetic." To that I said, "Look whose cooking I ate that brought on my diabetes." She commented that might be a factor in her laying there, and we all had a good laugh. Because we can laugh is based on the fact that we also can cry together as well. Just sayin..... I wouldn't take nothing for my journey and I thank God for the companion He gave to me to travel with me. Amen.          ....More later.