Just a Few Moments of Your Time To Really Thank a Servicemember for Their Service

https://www.facebook.com/events/573649859386620/permalink/573677702717169/ 

I will be voting for Cassaundra! You should too! Come on now... what an easy way to honor the military and their families! Commit to this! Share the link! Blow it out of the water! Just a few moments of your time can put something substantial behind the phrase, "thank you for your service!"

Red Friday

What beautiful music,

 and how sad that this must be done... 

Red Friday is a designated day for wearing red in support of our troops, as a way of showing we have not forgotten, nor are we unaware they are still dying for their country.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151809448667385&set=vb.520452384&type=2&theater

It is Hard to Title These Posts

You just have to see this, then you will understand... but what do you call the experience of viewing this story?  I love words, but I have none...

Find This Web Site, You Will Be Inspired

 

I love the scripture that says, "A three fold cord is not quickly broken," which represents God's promise that a marriage anchored in His love has an advantage.  Certainly the marriage of this young couple portrays this love anchored in His love.
My husband served 30 years, two of those years in Afghanistan and Iraq.   We have son-in-law who didn't have a wife when he was seriously wounded in Iraq in 2003, so I have some knowledge of the sacrifice this young couple has endured.  I am sure the young Soldier in this video knows the blessing that a godly wife brings to the life of a man.

To avoid his mother being upset and worried, our son-in-law didn't even tell her he had been wounded as he recovered for months at Ft. Sam Houston, about four hours from where she lived.  How lucky this young Soldier is, and how lucky my son-in-law is today, for God has gifted him with a loving wife, and her whole family's love and respect as well.  He is a hero, as is this young man, in every sense of the word.  He suffers still today the physical effects of his wounds, although they are not readily visible, but his heart long ago triumphed over them.  

My husband continues to serve in Iraq with the State Department, determined that the ground gained in Iraq and Afghanistan against terror in the world, and those who commit it, will not be lost.  Today in Afghanistan our troops are still on the ground, still in harms way, still sacrificing every day.  Keep them, and those who struggle, having paid the price for the ground thus gained, in your prayers, and look for ways which you can support them now.

From 1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

 1.  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 

 2.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 3.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 4.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

 5.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

 6.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

 7.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 8.  Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; whee there is knowledge, it will pass away.

 9.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10. but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

11.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

12.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;  then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13.  And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love. 

The David of the Bible Was a Soldier

And a man after God's own heart.

He wrote and composed many songs about God.

Leonard Cohen wrote this song, 

and David and God are both in it.

But who better can perform it than 

Marine Cpl. Tim Donley, along with Musicorp,

and the Kansas City Symphony.

"Hallelujah"
I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

David knew the burdens of a Soldier, and so do these men.

WHEW ON THAT SHUTDOWN THING!

Soldiers are tough!  They will do what they have to do!  Eat what they have to eat!  Sleep where the have to sleep!  But man, GI Joe and Traveler are tired of doing their own mechanic work!


So many ordinary Americans found themselves frustrated at bearing the load of the government shutdown, our elite troops were no exception!

SOMETIMES IT IS A LARGE COMPANY WHICH IS AN INSPIRATION AND MY HERO!

WHAT A WONDERFUL THING THIS COMPANY IS DOING FOR OUR VETERANS AND MILITARY!  PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE SERVING, AND EVERY  VETERAN YOU KNOW, AND PATRONIZE THIS WONDERFUL COMPANY!

The Gary Sinise Foundation has teamed up with Jos.A.Bank offering free suits to qualifying veterans/service members through the Uniform for Success project.
To qualify, email or fax their DD214 if you are no longer in the military, or a statement of service if they are still active + a copy of the front of their driver's license to: contact@garysinisefoundation.org
Fax (818) 432-8999

Make sure to include full name, full address, best contact phone number and email address. On their forms, they may black out the sensitive info (i.e. SSN).

The vouchers may be redeemed by the intended recipient only, are not redeemable for cash value, and may not be used to purchase items other than a two-piece ―Executive Collection‖ suit. All Vouchers will expire on Veterans Day, 11 NOV 13.

If you have any questions, email contact@garysinisefoundation.org.

The Plan is Prayer on Labor Day

I had a discussion on Facebook just now with someone in the military whose judgment I trust.  It is a holiday here in the States, but I would remind you, around the world the War on Terror rages on. This is the conversation I had. Read the word of a weary warrior, a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a patriot... be assured, he and thousands and thousands like him are on the job.  Make time in your own life to honor and support them every day.  YOU owe them a great deal.

I have a cold fear rising up my spine, a fear that the American people do not have the will and fortitude to finish what we are about to start...
Excuse me, what our government is about to start... I wonder, will they accuse Obama of just greasing the wheels of the economy and feeding the military industrial machine? 

Buzzy Sørensen: Actually, it's a very good plan & people will be alot safer all over the world when this is finished. Has to be done.

Thank you Buzzy, I needed your assurance on that. Funny how I trust implicitly the word of someone I have never met in person, over my own government. The knowledge that people, some very, very, good people, are going to get hurt... I am a mother... war hurts me to my core. I guess that is why freedom will never be free... Please be careful, your mother would want you to, your wife has probably given up on the idea of it ever happening... but God gave you a mind and an intellect... and she wants you to as well. God implanted a generous instinct for self preservation in you, use it in generous amounts just now. I just want to leave the internet, (the puppy chewed through the T.V. cable, so no news from there until Thursday,) and go outside and garden for the next dozen or so years. Were it not for men and women like you I would, but for your sake, and for your band of brothers and sisters, I cannot.   As it is, every day I will go to that huge fallen oak in the woods, and the little platform I built for the deer hunters, and get on my knees and pray.
 
Men and women from countries all over the world are standing shoulder to shoulder working to preserve our liberties, and the lives of innocent people everywhere.  PLEASE, take a generous part of your day to pray for them.

Caption:  Had to wait an hour to fill up with diesel at €1.69 EUR/L [gas station food is the suc]. Roads clogged with tanks moving north. "Welcome brother, have a nice day".
 

I Let the Girls Bring a Whole Barbie Village in From the Barbie Barn

Little girls and big girls too love to "play Barbies."  One of the neat things I have done at the ranch for military families is just for the "girly girls" among our visitors.  Actually, everyone is fascinated by the Barbie collection, and spending hours playing with the little toys engages children for hours.

I Love Sundays in Bellville

I love Sunday morning in Bellville, Texas.  Living in a small place where there is still a town square really is fun.  There are little shops all around the square and a cafe.  Of course, Big Hats, and Little Whispers is one of the neatest place in town to eat.  You never know if the building is going to fall completely over or not.

There are many businesses on the square as well as the quaint little shops.

The dry cleaners and the Chamber of Commerce are on the square as well as the Edward Jones office.

 The sidewalks always have flower containers during the spring, summer, and fall, and there are beds of flowers all through the town.

 Jewelry shops, craft stores, and a beautiful high end art gallery, just down from Big Hats and Little Whispers.

 The old town was established by Czechoslovakian and German settlers. and many of the restored homes reflect the architecture from the "old country."

 

 Mimi Bella's is full of treasures you will love browsing through.














Old farm houses dot the country roads surrounding our little town, and there are rich agriculture roots in the community.

Tribute to the Mothers of Our Warriors

To the Unknown Mother

There is a young man upon whose countenance I have never looked,
Only knowing him from his written words and images placed on Facebook.

So easily a mind filled with wisdom, courage, and honor is seen.
In my admiration of this young Soldier the lines I long to read between.

I find etched in millions of pixels which come from a virtual space,
The qualities of leadership humanity longs to follow in this life's race.

In my ponderings I often wonder of the woman who gave him birth.
For surely it is from her that he learned much that makes up his worth.

I realize his father too was a strong and disciplined man who played a part,
Still always I know well it is a mother who most stamps a man's heart.

 What words and dialogue did she use to shape his mind and his soul,
Ensuring as God's Word promises, from truth he will not depart when he is old?

As she held his tiny child's hand while he learned to walk and to talk,
How was it she fashioned a yearning for integrity in the midst of the world's squawk?

In her visage and life deeds what did he view that so inspired and fashioned,
A fearless warrior heart, filled also with tender love and compassion?

Among all of the creations and designs from the world and existence of womankind,
None stands so eternal as the skill which creates the man who becomes defined.

I Saw Sad Eyes

 

  

I Saw the Sad Eyes 

I saw the sad eyes of women who had been betrayed,

By those who from honor should never have strayed.

They could not have known what would come to them,

      Integrity was pledged and they believed without a whim.

In a dark hour their faith and loyalty was shattered. 
Their lives, without regard, left broken and tattered.

Time seemed strangled and unable their injuries to mend.

To go on with life seemed to have nowhere to begin.

Then in chorus the sad eyes look around in panic and pain,

In a moment they knew other eyes revealed the same stain.

                                                                                                                                             
 Hearts united and power and change came with more ease,      
 The weakest were lifted first by the women from their knees.

Words and tears were shared and brought balm to their soul wounds.

Slowly in unity they overcame, and the living of lives resumed.

 I saw the sad eyes of women who had been betrayed. 
By those who from honor should  never have strayed.