Time to declare independance again
- Sat 4th July 2009, 1:06 am
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature`s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. "
So wrote Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independance. Never forget we have the right to institute new government when the old government fails to protect and provide life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
56 Years
- Thu 2nd July 2009, 4:13 am
On July 3, Mom and Dad will celebrate 56 years of marriage. Despite some really tough times, they have been blessed. They have been able to see their children`s children`s children. They enjoy reasonably good health, despite Mom`s eyesight and hearing and despite the fact that Dad was diagonsed with Non-Hodgins lymphoma five years ago. They lived through some tough times when my brother Greg was sick with polymyositis as a kid, and most recently when we lost him in February. My brother Brian came down with Legionaire`s Disease years ago and insulin dependent diabetes. They lived through the loss of each of their parents, including a long stay by my grandmother in a nursing home. They have seen rain, pain and much gain. They have seen their sons marry, and seen their grandkids born and raised and baptized. Now they are watching the next batch of great grand younguns come along.
Dad has worked all three shifts through the years, including the terrible midnight shift, but they survived. Mom was there at home the whole time raising us boys.
Through it all, good and bad, through all the years, they have loved each other, but most importantly they have loved God. They have ministered before Him to others, being so faithful in their calling, with Dad as an elder in the church and Mom as his supportive wife. They have modeled love in the home because they were modeling Jesus.
There is no reward or honor here great enough for them. God has something far greater in store for them. One day they will hear Him say "Well done, good and faithful servants. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Prayer of Jabez redux
- Thu 2nd July 2009, 4:03 am
My daughter, Carrie, was home overnight Tuesday night. She told me she has been reading the Prayer of Jabez. I told her not to be praying that unless she really wants some great opportunities in her life. She had an interview for a teaching job yesterday....and is being hired by Gwinnett County Schools!!! She will be teaching High School chemistry. Carrie had found the opening on line, sent in her resume, and within five minutes the principal called her for an interview. He hired her on the spot yesterday. "Lord, bless me indeed. Enlarge my territory. Be with me. Keep me from evil." I`ve been praying that. How about you? Ready for some challenges? I am. As the song says "With my eyes on you, I can walk on water."
Now I lay me down to sleep
- Tue 30th June 2009, 12:09 pm
I remember learning to pray as a kid. We knelt by the bed at night with Mom or Dad there and would always pray “Now I lay me, down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.” Then we would crawl up into bed, thankfully with no idea of what we had just said. If we had realized what we were saying, we would have been terrified I’m sure.
Back in the good old days when we still prayed in schools, we had a prayer every day in our class just before going to lunch. We thought nothing of it. We just did it. “God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food. By his hands, we are fed. Thank you Lord for daily bread. Amen.” We all repeated it together, then went happily off to lunch. It helped teach us there was a higher power-God.
One problem with our nation today is that so many people don’t know how to pray. Many of our leaders don’t know how to pray. If our illustrious president is praying, it must be a one way conversation on his part. (I’m thinking his prayers are still the ‘Now I lay me down to sleep’ variety.) If he were a man of prayer, he wouldn’t be standing in the White House promising to do more for homosexuals. If he were a man of prayer, he would be leading our nation in prayer every day to get us out of this financial mess. Part of the problem is that he doesn’t know how to pray since I’m sure he is part of the new wave of Americans who did not pray in school and he obviously got no training at home. A more serious problem, it appears to me, is that he’s not plugged into the power source. He thinks he is the power source.
