Song by George M. Cohan: "You're a grand old flag,You're a high flying flag And forever in peace may you wave. You're the emblem of The land I love. The home of the free and the brave. "

It is Thursday, June 14, 2012. It is Flag Day here in our nation. This day is set aside to commemorate the official designation of the 'Stars and Stripes' as depicted on the United States Flag. That official act of the Congress was enacted on June 14, 1777. Since that time Old Glory has well represented the values we hold dear as a people. Tattered and torn at times, God has seen us through and we are thankful to Him that this flag still flies over a free people. Also of note on this day in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the addition of 'under God' in our Pledge of Allegiance. We do have those who are against that addition and there are also some who are against the Pledge itself. I am for the Pledge and I am certainly for the addition since it reflects the reality of how we not only became a nation but how we remain one today. Just this week I read about a school principal in New York who had vetoed the singing of Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the USA'. She first said she did not won't to offend other cultures but later reasoned how the kindergarten students who had learned the song for their graduation exercises were too young to understand the implications of the lyrics. What did she allow to be sung instead? A pop song by Justin Bieber that included sexual innuendo and other teen related lyrics. This same woman claims religious reasons for why she refuses to rise for the National Anthem. Forgive me for being harsh but my thought is that this school needs a new principal! Period, end of story. That's the way I see it.

This past Tuesday afternoon we had us a genuine mess of a storm, especially in our neighborhood. We had the warm air coming in off the gulf and it did find and collide with some cooler air in a big front and that made for a rather scary one hour of rain, hail, lightning, and winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour. I was trying to drive home from work. Trees were down all over the place. Roads were blocked and many were flooded. I was turned back a couple of times to try and seek a safer place. Cell phone access was spotty but I did get through here and there to learn that we had another tree calamity at our home. This time one of our huge oak trees in the backyard was hit by some spinning wind, perhaps a little twister, and that took the top off and landed it on our neighbor's garage and in her driveway. When I finally arrived home we immediately set out to clear all the debris from that tree. We had a small chainsaw and I flagged down some lawn care fellows and engaged their services to help. We didn't slowdown for about an hour and a half. The damage to our neighbor's garage is mostly on one corner and we are working on getting that taken care of. The yard looked again like a war zone. Not as bad as Hurricane Ike but enough to give us all a flashback. Once during the brunt of the storm as I sat in a parking lot where there were not many trees, my car was doing it's own version of rock and roll. I wasn't singing along. I was mostly holding my breath. Sure, I was apprehensive but I also knew that no matter what happened God was going to take care of me, either here or there. That's a good thing to know when the storm is raging. Amen? Yes. Amen!

That clean up was hard work but folks we were blessed to be able to do it. Several homes in our neighborhood were flooded with one reporting 5 inches of water. Major damage was done to a home in the vicinity due to fire caused by lightning. We also heard about some folks that did have a tree in their home. We've been there and done that one. The power was off for maybe three hours total. When it came back on we said praise the Lord, got the satellite back up and working, and sat there watching another round of the American Ninja Warrior competition. We were back to our regular routine. We had not expected that storm. That storm had not been predicted. In fact, it seemed, based on the reporting I saw, that it actually surprised even the weather folks. I had left that morning hoping maybe that 20% rain prediction would turn into something more meaningful. Hello? I don't know how much rain fell but I do know for it only being about an hour, it fell in a hurry. We did have many sightseers with their cameras and video streaming on their cell phones. I suppose a big tree laying on the edge of a garage was one of the main attractions that evening. Since the power was out and the kids were home for the summer, it was at least something to do. My point is that we just never know. I didn't even know when I left the office. In fact, I was listening to the news on the radio when the emergency broadcast broke in to warn about a potential damaging thunder storm for our area. I heard the announcement and then I drove into it. And, by the way, I had other plans in mind for Tuesday evening up in my office at home but I never even climbed the stairs. We never know but we can be sure that He does and He cares. That we can count on. Amen.       ....More later.