July 4th

INDEPENDENCE DAY - JULY 4th
CONTINENTAL CONGRESS ADOPED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND
JOHN HANCOCK SIGNED IT, JULY 4, 1776
PREAMBLE;
We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.

A THANKFUL HEART

I’m thankful……
We live in a country that is prosperous and free,
Full of wondrous things for everyone to see.
For the bountiful gifts each day that we enjoy.
In gratitude I turn to God, to give Him praise and glory.
So many comforts to make us secure,
His strength for our trials that we might endure.
I’m thankful…….
For the quiet hours when we can meditate,
And know that God is ever present and holds secure our fate.
In all the little things we often do not hear.
Sure as the sun and stars, we know that God is near.
Just as we hear the whisper of a gentle a breeze,
Or leaves rustling on the ground or falling from the trees.
I’m thankful……
For the time alone when we can tune in,
The memories stored away and play them back again.
The birth of a new born babe now turned sixty-one,
The tears & laughter in between and the victories that were won.
The many friends who share our joy and often share our sorrow,
The good times had and the plans made for tomorrow.
I’m thankful!

Too Fast

I've watched several commercials lately, "Life comes at you fast." It is like a wake-up call. Just when you decide retirement is all about rest and relaxation..............Bam..............you are reminded life is not all about you.

We read about the destruction caused by flooding; children dying of aids; the shooting of innocent people, the killings by radical rebels in Iraq and in other parts of the world, etc., etc

We can make use of our escape mechanism and tell ourselves we have already done our share (after all, we are retired), or we can reach out and help relieve the suffering of others.

We can make an impact in their misfortune. When we let ourselves be used by God, he will give us the added strength & resources we need.

Go away world, you are coming too close,

I see the destruction from the power you boast.

The dead and the wounded caused by war,

There must be a way to love others more.

I see the way of the Militant,

Justice and dignity is what he wants.

Rebellion and riots afar spread,

There must be a way to hold hands instead.

I see the forsaken everywhere,

Poverty, hunger, the naked, the bare.

No schools in which to learn,

Or security for which they yearn.

I see it all world, you are coming so fast,

I'm comfortable in the way of the past.

I've built a wall between me and my brother,

It will take time to reach each other.

Lord God above to you I yield,

Tear down the wall and a bridge build.

I have so much, teach me to share,

For a wounded world, teach me to care.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Recently the daughter of friends died after battling cancer for over a year. Children aren’t suppose to die before their parents…………are they? Why do such things happen, when, God promises blessings?
In a column by Sinclair Ferguson printed in the Dallas Morning News he said:
There are three principles with which every Christian should be familiar. God works in a variety of circumstances; He is never doing only one thing. God works with a variety of people, What God is doing may not actually lie within that person. .God works towards a variety of goals, Each principle is working in all the circumstances of people’s lives to bring them to the right place at the right time.
How can we be sure God will ‘work all things together for good?’ The Apostle Paul answers in Romans 8:32, if God did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up(to suffer on the cross) for us all, we can sure He will give us all things with Christ. Hold on Jesus' words to Simon Peter: "You do not understand what I am doing now: but afterwards you will understand." John 13:


No value have the things of earth

Within the person of the man

Save as they serve to bring to birth

A fruitful knowledge of God's plan

The fiercest war that man doth wage

Takes place within his earthly cage,

From this he has to free his soul

To bring to birth the Christ, His goal.

David Mitchell 1982

Father's Day

Taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:The driving force behind the establishment of the integration of Father’s Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Creston, Washington. Her father, the Civil War veteran, William Jackson Smart, as a single parent raised his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father’s death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.

The first June Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in SpokaneUnofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. President Woodrow Wilson was personally feted by his family in 1915. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until 1972, during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

On this Father’s Day, June 17, 2007, I have no poem of my own, so I am printing a poem our son, Don wrote to his father when he was 25 years old. Later, I will print poems of our other sons.

Well, this is just a story of how a boy became a man.

He never really noticed such.

He never had a plan.

He left his home & family to educate his mind.

But got lost in search of wisdom,

‘cause he’d left the truth behind.

Yet the years were good to him, each day his knowledge grew;

But with his understanding

A bitterness came too.

And though he wasn’t Atlas carrying all the world,

His burden was just as heavy

He wished he were a bird.

It wasn’t because of war and hate, death, disease or pain,

But because these things were everywhere,

And the song remained the same

So he wandered on from day to day with many directions to choose.

And he tried to follow all of them,

Except for just a few.

And though each endeavor brought no wealth or fame,

He lived and learned of life and love

And from where he came.

And then he met a pretty girl with wildness in her eyes.

She seemed so full of all his dreams,

And she never told him lies.

So they dreamed their dreams together and felt each others fire.

And shared as one their laughs and cries,

Their souls most treasured desires.

Before, the Lord, they promised each all that was in their hearts.

For deep inside they knew at last

They’d never be apart.

And by their love, the Lord above blessed them with a son.

The boy had become a man at last

with their new number one.
Thanks Pop for letting me carry on
Donny 6/17/79

Flag Day

FLAG DAY-June 14
During America’s War for Independence, the need for a single national emblem was realized. On June 14, 1777, Congress passed an act stating “that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” June 14 is now celebrated each year as Flag Day.

In 1704 after Vermont and Kentucky became states, Congress established a flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes. This design, which remained for 23 years, was “The Star-Spangled Banner” Francis Scott Key wrote about in 1814.

Finally in 1818, Congress settled n our current design. They returned to 13 stripes with the number of stars equal to the number of states - 20 at that time.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

The pledge of Allegiance has been expanded since it first appeared in the magazine , Youth’s Companion in 1892. In 1923 the words “flag of the United States of America” were substituted for “my flag” and in 1954, the phrase “under God” was added. The Pledge, adopted by Congress in 1942, was written in response to then-President Benjamin Harrison’s call to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discover of America by showing patriotism. No one knows for sure who wrote the pledge. The magazine’s circulation chief, Francis Bellamy, gets credit from the U.S. Flag Association. But advocates of Mr. Bellamy’s assistant, James B. Upham, who think he wrote it, bitterly dispute the point.

THE PLEDGE
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united States of America
And to the republic for which it stands,
One nation under God,
Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming/
Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
Thro’ the perilous fight,
O’re the ramparts we watched,
Were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The lyricist, Frances Scott Key, was a lawyer negotiating the release of a prisoner of war on a British ship two years after the start of the War of 1812 when he overheard the British talk about their plan to attack Baltimore on Sept. 13. The British detained him to keep him from warning American troops. He anxiously watched the fire from the deck of the ship, and when he saw the U.S. flag stil waving at daybreak above Fort McHenry, he was inspired to write the poem. When he was released, he showed a copy to a relative, who took it to a printer. Set to the music of a popular tune, it was an instant success and was played by the Army March 3, 1931.

FLY YOUR FLAG!

ACT OR REACT

Bill and I live at Chambrel, a retirement for Senior Citizens. A new resident was at breakfast recently and
rudely asked me to get out of his way while we were both in line to get food. My response was “Wait your turn,” in not too pleasant a voice. The resident seems to be rude and grumpy all of the time. I thought he sure is a sullen fellow. Am I going to react to this man each time he is rude? Why should I let him decide how I’m going to act, and as I thought more about this incident, it occurred to me that the important thing here was the word , ACT not REACT as I had done.
I am usually cheerful, smiling, helpful and to let another person determine whether I shall be rude or gracious is to relinquish control over my personality. I decided I needed help to become master over my own actions & attitudes, so I turned to God.
I asked what could I do?
"Build me a better world, " God said,
I asked: "How? This world is so complicated
And I am so small."
Then God, in His Infinite Wisdom replied:
“Just build a better you!”