Will Rogers' Reflections

Will Rogers died in 1935. I sure wish he was around today so that he could make some more observations. He would have a field day. But then, what he saw then was not too different from what he would see now. Only now it's a lot worse. Well, here are a few of his amusing quotes from my daughter's lit book. I'll probably be coming from time to time with other nuggets from either her literature or history books. Thank God, ABeka is still teaching solid American History and may I say, teaching it quite well. They also do a great job of giving the students thoughts from the hearts and minds of many of the great Americans (of all races) who made this country unlike any other.

Now a few chuckles from Will. That is, if you're still able to laugh about these things. Which quote is your favorite?

• I am going to Washington as a delegation of one from the American Comedians' Association to get us some aid. No industry has been hit worse than us professional humorists. There is just too much unconscious amateur talent among our elected officials.
• 
  Say, can't you just see a Cabinet meeting? The secretary of war reports: "Sir, wars--none; peace--none; average: 50 percent." The postmaster general reports: "Sir, so many letters sent, so many letters received, so many letters lost."; The secretary of agriculture reports: "Sir, farms in the U.S.--eleven million; farms mortgaged--eleven million; farms carrying second mortgages--10,998,634. The department reports progress." The secretary of labor reports: "Sir, number of people laboring--ten million; people living off people laboring--ninety eight million, including twenty-three million government employees."
• 
  If you want to know when a war might be coming, you just watch the U.S. and see when it starts cutting down on its defenses. It's the surest barometer in the world.
• 
  Well, I'll tell you, the country is doing fine, if we can just keep some prominent man from getting up and crab it by saying: "We have reached the bottom."
• 
  A fool that knows he is a fool, is one that knows he don't know all about anything. But the fool that don't know he is a fool, is the one that thinks he knows all about anything.
• I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

May the Dog Tag Be True

My younger daughter has a ministry where she sends birthday cards to soldiers who are serving overseas, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. She does this through a Christian lady who heads up a group of people who have a heart for this. Since our pastor writes gospel tracts, we thought we would get him to do one for this purpose, so he's writing one that Neesie can include with her cards. Well, I've been helping him look for a graphic for this military tract and ran across several that I liked. This one was my favorite. Look at the dog tags. How does that one in particular make you feel? (click on the picture if it's hard for you to read what it says.) Wow. How seriously we need to be keeping before the Lord on this matter.

Anyway, this post is a reminder, though I know most of you have not forgotten our troops. Let's continue to pray for their safety and protection, of course, but also that the words on this one dog tag might someday be true again.

Rooting for the Underdog

If you are like most folks, you tend to root for the underdog is most matters of life. I think we all do. As many of you know, one of my great joys is bird feeding. But one thing you have to realize if you are going to be an ardent feeder of songbirds is that you are also going to attract hawks, who want to make a meal out of those darling little feathered cuties coming to your yard. All during the fall and winter months, this is a common occurrence in our backyard. Even though I've been told on many an occasion that "the hawks have to eat too" and "this is the way God made them," I always, ALWAYS cheer when the little guys escape when the enemy rushes in. And I always, ALWAYS am sad when a hawk gets his dinner from among my clientele.

And of course, there's sports. Unless, of course, it's one of the teams that I'm a fan of, I usually am pushing for whoever is not favored to win. Now in baseball, it looks as though there is a good chance that both of my teams, the Yankees and the Phillies, are headed to the playoffs, and if either is favored in a particular game, you can be sure I won't be rooting for the underdog in that case. Now, please don't ask me what I will do if they face each other in the World Series! Red shirt when they're in Philly maybe and blue shirt when they're in New York?

This brings me to the point of my post. One of my very favorite journalists, Thomas Sowell, wrote a great article today. It's all about underdogs, starting with an interesting synopsis of the career of baseball catcher Ernie Lombardi of the former New York Giants. I really like the way Mr. Sowell ties this all to himself personally. It's unusual for him to talk about his own life and he makes such a good analogy to what many of us believe politically, that I thought it was good reading to help us keep our perspective on all these things.

I'd like to add that first we look to God to take care of us. Then we pray for a strong initiative, and lots of determination. Just like Mr. Sowell had after his rough beginning. Read his article here.

Then I was thinking about the many underdogs among us who could really use a helping hand. I sure wish more of the many churches of our country would step up to the plate. Maybe that would help to get the government out of the batter's box.

My Hope

"On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.’ These are the words that came to the heart and mind of a man named Edward Mote while on his way to his job as a cabinetmaker. During the day, the stanzas came to him. I know many of us have said it many times, but it's almost as if many of these hymns were inspired by God. So many of these writers were men and women whose relationship with the Lord was so close, and they knew the Word of God so well, that these biblical expressions just poured forth out of them like water bursting out of an overflowing reservoir. Oh, that I could be filled with love for the Savior and His Word in a way that comes close to that of these old saints. If only I had fewer distractions keeping me from a heart of dedication like the hearts of many who have gone before. Praise the Lord for these old saints, though. They have left us a heritage. I only hope we will treasure its value as we should.

How biblical is that: our only hope is nothing less than Jesus Christ and His blood and righteousness? We may get a bit bent out of shape over the condition of the world that we live in, but those of us who have Christ have the one hope for this life and the next. May we glory in that.

He alone is my Hope. Is He yours also? I have no righteousness of my own, but am covered in His. Are you?

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.


‘On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.’

~ Edward Mote 1797-1874

Hi, It's Me

Finally, after all this time of blogging, I have decided to put a profile picture. Now you can see that I'm a person, and not those two bears. See the top of my granddaughter's head barely visible in the picture? Quite appropriate, I would say. I cut her off, however, because I didn't want to put one little grand without the other and decent photos of me are extremely hard to come by.

Happy Friday.

Ouch

Sorry to bring up this unpleasant topic and to display this photo, but this little lady shown above (and her sisters) is driving me batty. Unfortunately, late summer and early fall around here are made quite unpleasant by these critters. And now, they're coming into the house every chance they get. Let the dog in, and usually at least one seems to get a free ride inside. We usually kill at least about three mosquitoes a day somewhere in any one of our rooms and today, while getting my lunch, I killed one on my face! And she had blood in her!! Probably mine, as they LOVE me.

Just wondering: Do you have a mosquito problem where you live? Also, do they bite you and do you get whelps like I do? They don't seem to bother my daughter and I know a few other people like that. I wonder why they prefer certain folks over others. This is one area of popularity I could do without. Another question. It's my understanding that only the females bite. Could someone tell me why 99.5% of them are women?!

Oh well, waiting for the first frost.

Encouraged

I am encouraged. For one thing, I was encouraged by the happenings in Washington on Saturday the 12th. If you have not read about it, please do!

But what really made me feel not so alone on where I stand on the issues, most particularly, about what is going on in America, is this article written by a lady who none of us have ever heard of. But judging by the comments she received on this article, I don't think it's the last time we'll hear from Mary. From the comments, it seems that people of all races were excited and warmed by this article, and it's one more thing that is starting to make me feel as though there is hope. But why wouldn't there be hope? Christians have been praying!

I think some of you may read posts at the "American Thinker" site. I've heard of it, but never have gone there much. I read at another blog that someone was recommending that folks read the article so I went. I am glad I did and thought perhaps you would like it too. Here it is. You'll get the most benefit from this if you have time to also read what most of the commenters have to say. Of course, there would be the expected comments from "trolls," but they are greatly outnumbered. So, by and large, it is one more thing that the Lord has sent to help us to keep pressing on.

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35); Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37); And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge...(Eph. 3:19) Unto him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. (Rev. 1:5)

Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me!
All my trust on thee is stayed,
All my help from thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy Name;
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within:
Thou of life the Fountain art,
Freely let me take of thee;
Spring thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.

~ Charles Wesley, 1740

Amen, Mr. Wesley. Amen and Amen.

My Way of Remembering

I don't know why, but there was something about this video that hit me. For some reason it made me teary. Actually, I was looking for something completely different to post about 9/11, but in my pursuit, I clicked on this out of curiosity. Maybe it struck something in me because of all of the talk this week about presidents and school children. Apparently, this video shows our then President after he heard about the second plane hitting the trade center. At that point, he was sitting there listening to these darling kids reciting their letters and sounds, while processing events that were to change our nation forever. Imagine, this man in the position he held, having just heard what he had, and needing to maintain his composure and continue to be interested in what was happening in this classroom. Early in the video you will see when someone comes over and whispers to him that earthshaking, historic information.



We all remember where we were and the circumstances we were in when we first heard the news about the attack. But imagine these children now and in the years to come. I would guess that they're in their early teens now. Do they ever have something to talk about when they remember 9/11. They will really have something to tell their children when that day is remembered in the years to come.

And of course, he will always remember that place and those circumstances when he first learned about it. Events that followed in the years to come would prove to make him fiercely hated by some and intensely loved and appreciated by others. In the news, we were to find that we would hear little about the latter. Later that day, in a short message to the nation at Andrews AFB, he said: "We will do all that is necessary to protect America and the American people" from such a thing ever happening again. I believe that he meant it with all his heart, and that he did just what he said he would do.

So, this is my way of remembering 9/11 this year, amidst fervent prayers for the country I love. Many people across this land are meeting today at county courthouses to pray. I wasn't able to go myself, but I sure can do the praying part. Please dear Lord, bless America, and help her, and forgive her.

We're Desperate

One of the things that irks me the most about this ongoing controversy over health care is that the current administration, with the help of the media, consistently presents the position of those on the other side as being against reform. To me, they make you think that the GOP doesn't want anything to change. Conservatives DO acknowledge that there needs to be changes. The Republicans in Congress have drafted good solid proposals for change. But they're not being heard. Offers to sit down and discuss these proposals have been refused. As wrong as Rep. Wilson from South Carolina may have been in his conduct last night, I do understand how frustrated many of these people must be.

We do need change, as I just said. I think everyone knows that. No one is really saying otherwise. But we want change that is good and right for all. Let's be real and honest about this thing. Let's not play games. Listen, for every sad, sad story that people can tell about real people in America who have had tragic results from our system, there are even more sad, sad stories coming out of Europe and Canada about the sufferings of people who have nationalized health care. Let's not exchange stories, but facts. Real facts. "We can swap health care horror stories all day, Mr. President, but at the end of the day, people still come to America from all across the world to be treated in our hospitals, by our doctors, with technology created by our free market system." says Jeff Shreiber of America's Right. Jeff has a very comprehensive analysis of last night's speech. He's up on the bill and knows his stuff. I suggest anyone who really wants to understand this matter better, to read his post.

This is not what I wanted to say initially. Just had to vent a bit first. I came here to post this: We are in a desperate need in this country. We are only concerned about health issues, economic woes, education, human rights, etc. Our leaders and unfortunately, most of our people are not the least bit concerned about the horrible state our nation is in spiritually. Yes, we have needs. Some of them have to do with problems with medical care; some have to do with the state of the economy; some have to do with problems in our public educational system. But we are a nation of people who have turned our backs on the God who has providentially guided and helped us. We have rejected the Savior who is the only hope for eternity. And in that, my friends, our need is most desperate.

Birthday Followup

Following up on the last post: A few pictures from Lena's special day. Threw one in of Shana too so you can see how she's growing. Her birthday is next! (October)

Opening one of the gifts we gave her. It was a set of magnetic shapes to build with.

Shae-Shae enjoyed her sister's birthday!

Lena loved it when we sang Happy Birthday--especially the part when she heard her name. She's heard it sung so much to other people!

Somebody's Three

A special somebody, named Selena, is three years old today. Where on earth did the time go? It was just yesterday that I made this post and this one wasn't it? Well, three years HAVE passed and today we go over to her house to celebrate with her, her mommy and daddy, and her little sister. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Growing tall, talking up a storm, and busy as she can be with her coloring, drawing, and other busy work. Soon to start preschool with her mama (she's sooo excited), books are a favorite. You often see her cozy on the couch with loads of them, and she's always ready for someone to read to her. That's our "Lena."

If you have time, please go over to her Mama's blog to read her heart for her little girl.

Well, one thing hasn't changed and never will: Her Nanna loves her very much.

Happy Birthday, Nanna's girl!

School's In Session

That's right! We just completed our fourth day of the new school year. I can barely believe I have a Junior in high school now. I can barely believe that we have survived ten years of homeschooling and have now started the eleventh year! Only the Lord could have brought us this far--we never could have done it without Him. In the beginning of it all I said I would take a year at a time, and each year we decided to do it again! At first,we lovingly called ourselves the "Solid Rock Christian School", but the fact of it is that we are a satellite school of ABeka Academy in Florida. We've been in the video/dvd program almost the entire way, and for high school we've been doing it for credit with the school, which means papers have to be sent in by a certain date. Keeps me on my toes! Otherwise, I would be forever dragging my feet grading quizzes and papers and keeping up the grading sheets.

I wasn't happy about having to get back into the school routine, but now I've settled in. Got all our books where they should be. Got all the tests and quizzes put in the place where they should be. Doing my assignment sheets every other day, and enjoying the sound of the the video teachers (and often the chuckles from my daughter over goings on in the video classroom). Actually, I like the sound of the teachers as they instruct the kids in the classroom, and their often remarks to "you who are listening at home..." Especially Mr. McBride. He's a favorite around here and Neesie has him for TWO subjects this year: Bible and American History. The latest of his was filmed in 2007, so I often wonder what Mr. McBride would be saying about the things going on in government today. Neesie will have him again next year when he's her teacher for American Government. I wish you could hear this guy when he teaches--he is something else. All the young people LOVE his class. Btw, he's a staunch conservative politically.

And all week the weather has been GORGEOUS here. A little cool for some people's liking, but I could keep it all year. How's it in your neck of the woods?