INSIDE LOOKING OUT

We need a reality check! http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=text

2009-08-10T12:37:00.005-05:00

Please check out the link provided for the ACTUAL facts about the

proposed health care reform. I have been fortunate enough to be

covered for 30 years with the best health insurance plan that can be

bought. I have NO FEAR that this will change. If people would do

more studying and reading of facts instead of believing the rumors

and scare tactics put out by the rich and powerful lobbyists and

politicians, then maybe they could see the truth.

Truthfully, it saddens me to read all these posts on facebook about

"socialized" health care. Do people not realize that we already have

the most ineffective socialized health care in the world and it is

called medicare, medicaid, and SSI benefits. All of the people who

currently are covered by these programs will RECEIVE better care

not less! Study what is being proposed, people!

And to those that say the government is ineffective..........

(Copied from a link on facebook -thanks)

The Government Can't Do Anything Right? Really?!?

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the Public Power Monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the Municipal Water Utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local Police Department.I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.

I can't think of a MORE INEFFECTIVE government sponsored

program than the so-called "drug program" initiated by George

W. Bush. As outlined by 60 MINUTES, it lined the pockets of

the congress that voted it in (and all the members that then left

congress and went to work for the drug companies!), the drug

companies, and insurance companies. BILLIONS of dollars

exchanged hands and none of it was beneficial to the people

who needed it most.

We need to wake up and examine that the health insurers,

health care providers, drug companies, and national drug

store companies are the most POWERFUL people in this

country and are responsible for most of the inaccurate and

scary information being floated around as fact.

The innocent children of this country need to be insured.

The elderly deserve to have access to medicine and health

care without having to give up their grocery money. Quit

believing all the propaganda put out by the Fox News

anchors and Rush Limbaugh. USE YOUR BRAIN!!!!

Read the facts!

We need a reality check. Go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=text

Stand up......

2009-07-17T17:47:00.004-05:00

There has to be some advantage to this getting older, don't you think?
I have noticed that it's much easier to stand up for what you believe
in. If someone doesn't like it, they weren't your friend anyway.
That's not to say that you have to agree or approve. Just that you
respect the rights of others to believe as they see fit.

It never bothers me to see someone post something about a
different political ideology than what I subscribe to or a different
religious belief. However, why should I have to believe as you do
in order for you to approve? Seems kind of simple minded logic to
me. If I hadn't taken the time to study others beliefs or arguments,
I wouldn't have had the ability to develop my own. Part of what is
wrong with the world is the need of some groups to impart their
beliefs on others or ELSE. Seems that is the reason for the majority
of wars that are started.

I find it disconcerting that people take offense by some of the
postings of friends of mine on facebook. My brother is a staunch
republican, but it sure doesn't affect our love for one another. We
kid and even argue about it sometimes, but we also respect the
rights of the other to believe what they choose. I'm sure he sees
my friends and I having a laugh or two about Rush or Palin on
facebook, but he never says anything.

I've always been pretty headstrong when it comes to defending
on the side of basic human rights. I especially liked the daily
devotion sent out by The Upper Room last week about the
struggles of a pastor who stood up for blacks during the 60's.
He was persecuted, ridiculed, and ostracized. But, his daughter
(the author of the devotional) had fond memories of the
principles he instilled in her during a time of "standing up."

Stand up...... you'll be glad you did.

Help in Trouble

2009-06-23T05:07:00.005-05:00

God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble.
Psalms 46:1

I have been conflicted about what to write in the blog lately.
I didn't feel comfortable about several of the things that
seemed to weigh heavily on my mind. I feel so strongly about
issues and yet you don't want to offend or upset your friends
with differing views. So, I waited; I considered; I prayed.

During this time, I received a phone call about an acquaintance.
I was told of another trial she was going through and then the
caller said this, "She is the type that isn't happy unless she is
in a fight of some kind. She enjoys it. She takes delight in it."
That sentence made me very sad. What could the reward be
for that person? Who wants to be in turmoil or cause strife?
We then talked about several people we knew who had tempers
and had been arrested for fighting, as had all their children.
What kind of legacy are you leaving your children and family
if all you want to do is fight? I can't imagine wanting to fight
and fuss. I grew up in a household where that was the norm
and I so appreciate the calm and peaceful state of my house.
God blessed me with that and I truly believe that. I can
remember praying as a young child to someday have a
peaceful and happy home. God hears the prayers of all, but
I think he shows a special grace and commitment to children
in the middle of strife. I really do.

I find real solace and peace when sitting and just observing
the beauty of the ocean and the presence of God's power
and glory seems so magnified. God is everywhere. One
might find him in their backyard garden. Another in the
quietness of their church.

The main thing to remember is the LORD is in control,
even when the storms of life rage around us. The scriptures
abound with instances of God's help in times of trouble.

God can calm the storms in our lives. We need to stop and
ask for help and guidance in prayer. We need to study his
word for instruction. Most importantly, we need to ask for
his help in understanding and discerning his word. He will
give you strength. We have to trust in him, believing that
He loves us and cares about our problems. His power can
solve them.

I know this. He proved this to me as a young child and
He continues to be a "very present help in trouble."

Examine your anger.....

2009-06-06T13:53:00.004-05:00

I started to write this blog three days ago. I was thinking
about different times in my childhood and after, when
anger played such an unwanted role. When you're a
child and made to observe and try to prevent the anger
in a household, you learn just how destructive anger can
be. Over the period of the last three days, my thoughts
and feelings have changed about what I'm feeling and
thinking about for this blog, but the scriptures haven't
changed.

Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? Jonah 4:4

Be not hasty in the spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the
bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9

I can remember more times than I can count, stepping in front
of my mother to prevent her from being hit. I can close my
eyes and be taken back in a second to hurtful comments that
were made to me (as a child!) from someone who was upset
or irritated with my mom. I had no control over what my
parents said or did, and yet I was chastised for their actions.

It's always interesting to me what makes someone angry. You
wonder if there is something that you aren't aware of. Perhaps,
they want to use you as a whipping post and make jokes with others
at your expense. Perhaps, they have interpreted something that
wasn't really there.

I can remember getting a phone call from the elementary school
when my youngest son was in his sixth week of kindergarten. I
was being summoned to the school and I didn't know why. The
teachers sat across from me and were crying. They recounted an
incident that had occurred a few hours earlier on the playground.
My sweet, little shy son who they said hadn't said an audible
word in six weeks stood up to a bully. He defended a new kid in
school and handled a situation they thought deserved some
recognition. The new kid had been called "half-breed" and
told he wasn't going to be picked to be on their football team
at recess. Mrs. Myrick said she was wrestling with what to say
and how to handle the situation, when the bully picked my
son as his first team member. She said that my son stepped
forward and said, "If Michael isn't good enough for your
team, then I'm not either." She said in an instant, the bully said,
Okay, Michael can play, too, and she didn't have to say a word.
She wanted to commend me. She shouldn't have.

I didn't see it that way. I cried because I realized that he had learned
something from a relative simply by observation. What powerful
examples we can be when others are watching. I realized that out of
my mom's weaknesses and burdens, she had taught my son to take
up for the downtrodden and persecuted. I realized that without me
even wanting to, I had become someone who liked to defend the
underdog. I can't change. For better or worse, I was molded by my
childhood and circumstances beyond my control. I had to speak up
for myself and my brother and sister. There wasn't anyone else to
do it. Sometimes now, that doesn't bode well for me. I speak up
when sometimes it's more comfortable for others for me to be quiet.
I wish I wasn't like this, but I'm a product of my childhood. I've
adapted and tried with the grace of God to be the kind of person
and parent that my kids need and will be proud of. However, I'm
human and molded from a childhood of wanting to be accepted by
others.. ANYONE. I sometimes ask my husband and children if
they can imagine what it would be like to grow up feeling like you
weren't loved by anyone. In a child's mind, you don't understand
alcoholism or adult problems....you just know that your life is
different than those around you. You wonder what can be so wrong
with an 8 year old that no one cares enough to "care"?

I sometimes wonder what it must have been like to feel loved and
supported as a child. I learned a lot of lessons by having to raise
myself and my siblings, but I look at my husband sometimes and
envy the way he must have felt supported as a child. Sometimes,
now, when others find fault with me or assume something that isn't
there..... I am transported back to that childhood. It's not fun to be
made fun of. It's not a good feeling to be misunderstood or your
words to be twisted. But, perhaps if it provides them with some
lively discussion or laughter (at your expense)...well, it was worth it
to them.

It's hard to put yourself in someones position when your life was
so far removed from the kind of life they had. But, we must try.
What is the line from South Pacific (yes, I love old movies)........

" You have to be taught /Before it's too late./ Before you are
six or seven or eight/ to hate all the people your relatives hate.
You have to be carefully taught."

Sometimes we carry what we learned from our past whether we
want to or not. That doesn't make it wrong - that doesn't make
it right. We have to be "careful" about what we hate, who we
hurt, who we make fun of, what we get angry about it. Life is
too short to be determined to hurt others.

Ask the Lord for a cool disposition even in hot circumstances.
Anger is destructive. After anger has subsided, it often leaves
a bitter residue of guilt and regret.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Here is something from Steve Goodier about anger, too.

From his book Joy Along the Way, "Getting the Anger Out"

I learned that a woman in Arkansas called her local police
department. She asked about the penalty for fighting. The
sergeant told her that she could be charged with assault and
battery. The fine was $100.

Oh, I want to beat up my sister," she said, "and I wanted to
see if I can afford it."

Anger must certainly be expressed, but this woman discovered
that there is a price for expressing it inappropriately.

You can read the rest of this piece by following the link to the
right "Life Support Systems"

Paul tells us in Gal. 5:19-21 ("works of the flesh") that he associates
anger with such terrible sins as idolatry, sorcery, drunkenness, and
blasphemy, etc.

Maybe we tend to underestimate the seriousness of anger because
we fail to recognize it as the toxic force that unleashes so many other
sins. Just as love can engender acts of mercy and kindness, anger
can produce a deadly harvest of less-than-human behavior.

Aren't they all our children?

2009-06-03T23:57:00.005-05:00

I have Steve Goodier's blog as a must read on my site.
Today's message was especially moving.

AREN'T THEY ALL OUR CHILDREN?There are few things in this life more difficult to
experience than the loss of one's child. Jim Wallis, in WHO SPEAKS FOR GOD tells
about a sad and terrifying incident that occurred during the tragic war in
Sarajevo not too many years back. A reporter who was covering the violence
in the middle of the city saw a little girl fatally shot by a sniper.The reporter
threw down his pad and pencil and rushed to the aid of a man who was now
holding the child. He helped them both into his car and sped off to a hospital.
"Hurry, my friend," the man urged, "my child is still alive." A moment or two
later he pleaded, "Hurry, my friend, my child is still breathing." A little later
he said, "Hurry, my friend, my child is still warm. "When they got to the
hospital, the young girl was gone. "This is a terrible task for me," the distraught
man said to the reporter. "I must go tell her father that his child is dead.
He will be heartbroken."The reporter was amazed. He looked at the grieving
man and said, "I thought she was YOUR child."The man replied,
"No, but aren't they all our children?"

I think that is one of the great questions of our age. Aren't they all our
children? It is a question that deserves an answer.Aren't they all our children?
Those who live under our roof and those who reside with another family?
Those to whom we are related as well as those whom we have never known?
Aren't they all our children? Those on our side of the border as well as those
on the other side? Those of our nation no more or less than those of another?
Aren't they all our children? Those who worship like us and those who worship
differently? Those who look like us and those who do not?Aren't they all our
children? The well-educated and the under-educated? The well-fed and the
under-fed? Those who are secure and those who are at risk?Aren't
they all our children? The highly valued and highly esteemed as well as the
castaways and the lost?Aren't they all our children? Aren't they all our
responsibility? ALL of them? Ours to nurture? Ours to protect? Ours to love?
I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that the survival of our world hinges
on the answer to that question.To say they are NOT all our children is to
condemn the world to more struggle – family against family, group
against group, nation against nation.Aren't they all our children? If we say
yes, can we ever again pit them against each other? "If we
have no peace," said Mother Teresa,"it is because we have forgotten that we
belong to each other."Aren't they all our children?There may be no greater
question for our generation. And how we answer that question will determine
the shape of our world for years to come.-- Steve Goodier

Lessons Life Taught Me

2009-06-03T12:26:00.002-05:00

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer,
Cleveland , Ohio"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote
the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested
column I've ever written."My odometer rolled over to
90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your
friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what
their journey is all about.
14. HMMMM.....I'm not sure where 14 disappeared to. (Rene')
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second
one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't
take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words
'In five years, will this matter?'27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of
anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone
else's,we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Have a blessed Wednesday...... Rene'

Something uplifting

2009-05-29T12:14:00.003-05:00

As some of you might have noticed, I have a link included
on this blog for LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS

This is a blog that Steve Goodier maintains. I have read
his inspirational messages for years and have every one
of his books. Steve is a United Methodist Minister and
inspirational speaker.

Rather than blog about all the things that are really
bugging me, I decided to direct you to Steve's website.

If you want to be uplifted and made to think.........
Check this out. Read the last two entries and any
of the previous ones for a dose of inspiration and
grace. (Last two are BELIEVE IT and THE HAND)

http://stevegoodier.blogspot.com/

Enjoy and have a good weekend!

Rene'

Friends.....

2009-05-23T04:56:00.003-05:00

Love is blind...

Friendship

closes its

eyes.

"Your friend is the woman who knows all about you, and still likes you." -

Elbert Hubard

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is

seldom known until it be lost." - Charles Caleb Colton

I arrived home today to find this beautiful basket of flowers and a

candle from my dear "Florida" friend. I never knew how to appreciate

all our little midnight trips and marathon phone calls until she moved.

I miss her.

I can tell her anything. She finishes my sentences. She knows all my

faults and loves me anyway. She remembers my youth and builds me

up while understanding what I had to endure.

She's better than any medicine or salve when I'm sick or blue.

I never enjoyed flowers any more than the ones I received this date.

But, even more rewarding was the long phone call afterward.

God blesses us with true friends......and I'm thankful.

Who is the REAL evil ?????

2009-05-20T21:22:00.011-05:00

Propaganda......ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to
further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause also a public
action having such an effect (Merriam-Webster Dictionary )

Who are we as a country if we simply follow along and believe some
of the propaganda allowed to be printed in our newspapers? As a
parent, grandparent, teacher, friend of a soldier, we should be
interested in the TRUTH. God gave us a brain and the ability to
comprehend the truth and yet we sit idly by allowing others to
promote their selfish agenda that is filled with lies and misrepresentations.

Are you aware that it is a matter of public record the consulting fees
paid to our former presidents and their families. The Bush family
has literally "earned" millions and millions from the Saudi's while
preaching that we should fight the "terrorists." George W Bush
received financial help from Bin Laden YEARS before he was elected
president.

It's always interesting (and sad) to me to read a "religious" column
about patriotism and the evil democrats when the facts are so clearly
opposite of what she proclaims.

Investigate and study. The future of our country depends upon it.
We have wasted the last decade believing lies and being brought
to our knees financially. This Memorial Day there will be
thousands of families without their loved ones who sacrificed
their lives for an unjust war.

Check out a few of these links:
(From The New York Times)

The New York Times reports: “The episode has been retold so many times in the last three and a half years that it has become the stuff of political legend: in the frenzied days after Sept. 11, 2001, when some flights were still grounded, dozens of well-connected Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, managed to leave the United States on specially chartered flights. Now, newly released government records show previously undisclosed flights from Las Vegas and elsewhere and point to a more active role by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in aiding some of the Saudis in their departure. The F.B.I. gave personal airport escorts to two prominent Saudi families who fled the United States, and several other Saudis were allowed to leave the country without first being interviewed, the documents show. ... The material sheds new light on the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and it provides details about the F.B.I.'s interaction with at least 160 Saudis who were living in or visiting the United States and were allowed to leave the country. Some of the departing Saudis were related to Osama bin Laden. … The Sept. 11 commission examined the Saudi flights in its final report last year, and it found that no Saudis had been allowed to leave before national airspace was reopened on Sept. 13, 2001”H327 Intelligence Whispers reports: “Financial ties between Al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia, and American banks do not end with the Texas payments. A former chief of Mossad confided that Israeli intelligence was well aware that Al Qaeda funded its activities through the top six U.S. banks; including Nation's Bank … The copies were provided by Israeli military intelligence. The source of the funds was Saudi. Furthermore, a U.S. intelligence source recently confided that Florida Governor Jeb Bush was heavily involved in the spiriting of members of the Saudi Royal family out of Florida on a U.S. government plane after the attacks of September 11, 2001. A third check provided by Israeli military intelligence is drawn on the Saudi American Bank, which has an office just across the street from the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC in the Watergate complex. The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki bin Faisal, who acted as the Saudi government’s main interlocutor with Osama bin Laden, is due to take up the post as Saudi ambassador to the United States.”H328 It is disparaging to see the actions taken by the Bush family after 9/11 bounced and twisted around by Washington bureaucrats whose present salaries are paid for by US taxpayers. Plain and simple, Ambassador Prince Bandar and prior President George Bush Sr arranged to have members of the bin Laden and Saud families sequestered in certain areas of the US by flying them around within the US when all other flights were grounded. No one was allowed to interrogate them. After the US airspace was reopened they were secretly allowed to fly out of the US. The Saud family is the prime patron of the Bush family and has the ability to demand such preferential treatment. With bagman Bandar’s corrupt Washington reward scheme, it is assumed those Washington bureaucrats who questionably assisted the Saud and bin Laden family members will be rewarded with Saud family lobbyist consulting fees after their government service retirement. We cannot believe Washington will accept Prince Turki as ambassador when his complicity in overt criminal acts against US citizens is so apparent. We can see how citizens of the US should be finally given the information about the “Great Satan” members lurking in Washington. It is a travesty the US establishment media will not divulge the acts of these people to US citizens.

AND HE SHALL BE JUDGED
Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has always answered his detractors by claiming that history will one day judge him kindly. But as he waits for that day, a new group of critics—his administration peers—are suddenly speaking out for the first time. What they’re saying? It isn’t pretty!!!!
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_9217 (Rumsfeld)

http://men.style.com/gq/features/topsecret (slideshow of classified documents/Rumsfeld)

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher292.html (Citigroup/laundering)

(Guess who leased the building that went down first on 9/11?
What records were being stored there)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_2et5WMvVQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Flightworkers%2Eorg%2Fvideo%2F77024%2Fe%2D911%2Dmedia%2Dbreakthrough%2Ddenmark%2Dconspiracy&feature=player_embedded

(also - google the Saudi government's consulting fees to the Bush family and the
connection and just how far it goes back) here's a little taste of what you will find......
On September 27 the Wall Street Journal reported that the bin Laden family had invested at least $2 million in a fund operated by The Carlyle Group. An unidentified "foreign financier" told the Journal that the total investment was likely to be much larger. The Carlyle Group is a merchant bank specializing in buyouts of aerospace and defense companies. (A merchant bank is a bank that deals mostly in long term corporate loans and underwriting, often with an emphasis on international finance.) The Carlyle Group has high-level connections to the Republican party: George Bush Sr. is a paid spokesman, former Secretary of State (and head of Bush campaign post-election operations) James Baker is senior counselor, and former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci is the group's chairman. According to the Journal, all three have traveled to Saudi Arabia in recent years to meet with the bin Laden family.
The corporate name of the bin Laden family business is transliterated from the Arabic as Binladin. The Saudi Binladin group is a $5 billion business, built by family patriarch Mohammed largely from Saudi government construction contracts. The military barracks at Dharan, Saudi Arabia, were rebuilt by the Binladin Group after the 1996 truck bombing. The family has officially disavowed Osama, who worked briefly in the family business, and is believed to have inherited at least $50 million.
Although not stated explicitly in the Journal report, it is implied that the Carlyle Group was among the banks whose records were subpoenaed as a part of the investigation of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Through a spokesperson, former president Bush said that he recalled only one meeting with the bin Laden family, which took place in 1998. She admitted that there were at least two meetings after being confronted with a thank-you note from a meeting in 2000. Mr. Carlucci is the former chairman of Nortel Networks, which has conducted joint telecommunications ventures with Binladin Group. Mr. Baker reportedly met with the bin Laden family in 1998 and 1999. Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense during the Reagan administration, and now chairman of Forbes, Inc., met with the bin Laden family twice in recent years, according to the Journal.
President George W. Bush has been linked indirectly to the bin Laden family, as well. During the time that W. was a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, his friend and fellow guardsman, James W. Bath, was the business representative in Texas for Salem bin Laden, Osama's older brother. Bath continued to act in that capacity until 1988, when Salem died in a plane crash. The Houston Gulf Airport, in League City, TX, was among the properties Mr. bin Laden invested in on Mr. Bath's recommendation. Hopes that the airfield would find increased use over time, handling overflow from Houston airport, never materialized. The estate has been trying to sell the property since Mr. bin Laden's death. Mr. Bath reportedly received a 5% commission as his fee in transactions in which he represented Mr. bin Laden. Bath also invested $50,000 in two funds controlled by George W. Bush during this time, but maintains that the dealings were unrelated.
In 1984, however, George W. Bush's oil exploration company, Bush Exploration (previously Arbusto Energy) was suffering financially as sources of investment disappeared in the face of uncertainty regarding oil prices. After one attempted bailout by an oil company called Spectrum 7 faltered, Harken Energy bought Spectrum 7 for $2 million. George W. Bush received stock worth approximately $500,000 and a consulting fee of $120,000. Harken Energy was run by Alan Quasha, a New York lawyer who was also a Republican Party fundraiser. Sheikh Abdullah Bahksh of Saudi Arabia, a 16% shareholder in Harken Energy at the time, was represented by a Palestinian-born Chicago investor named Talat Othman, who served with George W. Bush on the board of Harken Energy. Othman made at least three separate visits to the White House to discuss Middle East affairs with then President George Bush. At about the same time, and just prior to the Gulf War, Harken Energy, with no previous international or offshore drilling experience, was awarded a 35-year petroleum exploration contract with the emirate of Bahrain.

The REAL enemy and evil are the ones spouting patriotism and
promoting propaganda. America needs to WAKE UP.

Idiosyncrasies..........

2009-05-17T07:47:00.004-05:00

I read a blog this week that made me go..............hmmmmmm?
The writer was bemoaning his inadequacies with the English
language and the using of proper grammar and spelling.

It made me think about all my English teachers. I always said
that English was my least favorite subject and how weak I felt
in that area. I never had an English teacher that really inspired
me until college. In fairness, I really liked my teachers, but most
of them had been teaching 30+ years, had problems, or were just
not that interested any longer. One year we spent the whole year
learning and reciting and writing on " I think that I shall never
see a poem lovely as a tree." Needless to say, this didn't do a
lot to prepare me for entering high school English the next year.

Then, in my 40's, I went back to college. I was given this speech
about how my skills had deteriorated and that I would probably
have to take "refresher" courses. They had me scared to death
and I had to take the ACT the next day (since it had been over
20 years they wouldn't accept my prior ACT score). I stayed
up all night and was so afraid I would be led out to a firing squad
and refused entrance. The moral of this story is......never be
afraid. They called me the next day and I had set some type of
record. I scored perfect on 2 sections of the ACT (with English
being one of those sections) and missed very few overall. I was
elated simply because of how scared they had made me the day
before! I honestly believe that the simple acts of working for
over 20 years, voracious reading of newspapers and books, and
just living life improved my English skills. Having said that, I
am FAR from perfect and unfortunately write like I talk. I never
know when to shut up! My sentences are too long and sometimes
confusing. Thankfully, I don't do this for a living!

However, it was brought to my attention during my employment
that I had a "gift" for proofreading or catching errors. We might
have a 500 page spread sheet and I could always find the wrong
number. When I read a newspaper and see misspelled words,
it drives me NUTS! I can still recall reading a story about a
disturbance with taking a dog in a local restaurant and the writer
used the word "quiet" instead of "quite" or a headline having
the word "Circiut" instead of circuit. I understand completely
that it would be impossible to publish a newspaper without
mistakes. We all make mistakes everyday. That's just one of my
idiosyncrasies or what we refer to as our OCD problems. We all
have them. I have friends that e-mail me every week and we
compare what errors we found that week in the papers. It's just
our little "thing."

I had reason to think about all that this week. A relative visited
and was talking about a mutual acquaintance. Seems this person
and her mother have a real problem about judging people. They
talk about how someone looks, what they drive, where they live,
how clean they keep their house, how much they make - you get
the picture. I was told how much it meant to my kids that they
never heard anything like that growing up. An example was
given about two of the nicest people in this town and how these
two women were making fun of these two people and the "rolls"
on their necks and their weight. It seemed so odd and just
unbelievable to me. These two people that they were talking
about were actually taking valuable time from their weekend
(they both work) to mow their church's lawn and grounds. To
be completely frank.....these two women should be the last two
people on earth to be talking about anyone else. You know the
saying about skeletons in closets......well, they would need a very
LARGE walk-in.

I decided that my little idiosyncrasy of noticing misspelled words
was pretty harmless.

I had intended on writing something about how we cope with
what life throws us. So, I'll leave you with this thought.

Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The
way you cope with it, is what makes the difference!

Be kind to one another and appreciate your little idiosyncrasies.

A Mother's Love

2009-05-09T05:57:00.004-05:00

A mother understands what a child does not say.- Jewish proverb

I was talking to a friend yesterday and relating how excited I am on
the Fridays when my son comes home from college. I always have
a big meal fixed and look so forward to catching up on his life. When
I was just seven years old, I started cooking the family meals in our
home. Therefore, I have always equated cooking with a way to
show my love to family. I enjoy it and it warms my heart when they
seem to enjoy it in return.

Yesterday, as I was cooking, I thought of my dear mother-in-law.
When I first married my husband, it seemed so strange that we
were expected to show up EVERY Sunday for a big family meal
at his mother's house. This was a tradition that I wasn't familiar
with and on some Sunday's, I just wanted to go home from church
and vegetate after a long work week. However, I warmed to this
tradition very quickly. His mother stood for over 8 hours every
day through the week on a hard concrete floor at her job. Yet, on
Friday, she would head to the grocery and pick out a menu for
our Sunday get-togethers. She always prepared a special meal
with love and was always hopeful that everyone could show up.

I remember one Sunday when she had fixed her famous fried
chicken with homemade "little" biscuits and gravy and all the
fixings. That particular Sunday, all the kids and grand kids
showed up. She usually fixed such a big meal, that there were
enough leftovers for supper, too. On that Sunday, the chicken
ran out rather quickly. About five hours later, my husband
leaves for a few minutes and comes back with two big packages
of chicken and says, "Mom, could you fry us some more chicken
for supper?" That poor woman got up and fried two more chickens,
made biscuits and gravy. Oh.....A Mother's Love........

Years later, we would laugh about that memory. We all asked her
why in the world she agreed to fry all that chicken. She said
because he asked me to. She loved her kids beyond measure.
She once told me that as my kids got older my worry would change.
She explained that when they are small and have a problem, we
can jump in and try to help them solve it. When they are adults,
we are just as worried, but sometimes lack the ability to solve
their problems. They are beyond our control or ability to help.
She said that those are the kinds of problems that worry you even
more. I didn't understand it at the time, but that was a profound
observation. Your kids are always your babies, no matter what
their ages and you always worry and pray for their lives to be
smooth.

This weekend will be hard for me. I miss my mom and mother-in-
law. The last few years of both of their lives, it was me that fixed
meals for them. My mother-in-law always enjoyed my meals
so much and was always so appreciative. I miss her. I miss her
for so many reasons, but I'm thankful that she taught me the
importance of family and the fellowship that goes with a meal
prepared with love.

Happy Mother's Day!

"God could not be everywhere and therefore He made mothers".-
Jewish Proverb

Just thinking.........

2009-05-06T13:41:00.006-05:00

“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.”
(Wayne Dyer)

“Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life -- not by our
standard of living; by our measure of giving -- not by our measure of
wealth; by our simple goodness -- not by our seeming greatness.”
(William Arthur Ward)

The fallout over Miss California's statements just won't stop! Makes you
think about that saying from Proverbs that says "Those who live in glass
houses should not throw stones" She's all upset over the nude photos of
her being released.............

I sat in my dentist's chair for over 4 hours on Monday. He's a great dentist.
I really appreciate his skill and the kindness of his office staff. His parents
lived right down the street from where I grew up. His mom was a teacher
of mine. We made the mistake of ruining our perfect friendship by casually
mentioning politics. We are polar opposites on the political front, and while
some of his statements surprised me, it didn't change how I felt about him.

It's healthy to have different opinions. It's one of the things that makes this
country so great. I was pleased after getting so many e-mails from you to learn
that it's not the differing opinions that upset people, but the judgment attached
by some.

I had a lot of different beliefs when I was 30 years younger. Now, I am pleased
that life has led me to a discovery of some of my mistaken beliefs. It saddens
me to hear racist or homophobic remarks. I heard both in a public business
this week. I have a friend that was pretty homophobic. Then.........they
discovered they had a gay child. I had a friend that knew how I felt about his
racist remarks. Then, his child married someone of a different race. I had a
friend that used to be pretty judgmental about child-rearing. Then, I shared
my thoughts about raising each child on what you, the parent, feels is the best
course for THAT particular child. Every child is different. Every parent has
different ideas of what is right and wrong. We might make completely opposite
decisions about a child-rearing decision, but we both can be right. What might
be acceptable for one child, might be too much responsibility or freedom for
another. I'm so proud of both of my kids. With the grace and help of God, I
had a really easy road as a Mom. That's all the gift I need for Mother's Day.
I'm truly blessed.

I just keep going back to Matthew 7. "Judge not, that you be not judged."
(verse 1) And, especially Matthew 7:3 ..............
3"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice
the log that is in your own eye?

Just thinking...................................................................

Hypocritical....

2009-04-30T19:14:00.002-05:00

Is it just me or is Ms. California the biggest hypocrite yet? She
should fit in great with the Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich,
Ted Haggard, Jerry Falwell model and the rest of the conservatives. Just last week I saw a posting on facebook that disturbed me a little. I like the guy that posted it, but didn't agree with it one iota. Just a few lines down, another statement caught my eye about Miss California "having a jewel in her crown" for speaking her convictions. Like the person that posted that too, but fervently disagreed. And then today............... no surprise.............while Miss California is refusing to take calls from the pageant director, committee, or anyone else affiliated with the Miss California contest; she is out promoting her OWN agenda cloaked under the disguise of her family morals. Give me a break! Has she read any one of the FIVE scriptures that forbid her recent breast augmentation ("ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh" or "know ye that your body is a temple of God")? She accepted a $3,000 spa treatment, $30,000 designer gown, ASKED the committee to pay for her breast job and yet she is out promoting HERSELF under the guise of her MORAL beliefs. Sounds about right for a conservative to me. I could literally give thousands of examples. Instead.....scroll down. Read my blogs on March 3 (Political Serendipity) and March 2nd (Nobody asked me). If you're a conservative, I'm sorry, but this is why liberals get upset with all your posturing. We read columns about virtues and conservatives, all the while they are searching in the streets and on the web for porn, sex, and everything else. I don't try to push my beliefs on anyone, but I get sick to death of hearing and reading from the republicans about theirs! I didn't post this on facebook....you came to MY blog!

Leave Bitterness Behind

2009-04-23T16:53:00.003-05:00

I once read somewhere that you could tell a bitter person by their face.
They are angry and/or unhappy and it shows. How many times do you
see someone in traffic or on the street and they have a pinched or sour
expression? And whey they talk, their speech is usually rather biting.

Bitterness can ruin our lives, but more importantly, it can ruin the lives
of those around us. In Genesis 33 we read about Esau and his right to be
angry with his brother. However, with God's help, he was able to let the
bitterness go rather than let it consume him. Think about Job's plight;
and yet he remained faithful to God. I always liked the verse in Job,
Chapter 5 that said "happy is the man whom God correcteth." And
Helen Keller was able to say, "I thank God for my handicaps. For
through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God." I've often
said that some of the hardships I suffered as a child made me who I
am and I wouldn't change a thing. It's what we are able to overcome
that makes us the parent we want to be, the wife or husband we want to
be, or the person we want to be. A life without suffering would keep
us from developing the skills we need to overcome and prosper as a
person.

I can remember when I first started working in downtown Marion.
It seemed everywhere I went, someone stopped me on the
street and said something about my smile. I never went to the
Methodist church that they all didn't say something about my smile.
What they didn't realize was that it was those very people that gave
me that smile. Sometimes it our struggles that cause us to develop
into who we want to be. Isn't that a great concept?

I got an e-mail yesterday that remarked about a picture they saw of
me and my smile. It took me back to those memories of people
that made me smile almost 35 years ago. It reminded me of all my
struggles before and since. It made me question why I let others
opinions rob me of my smile.

Yesterday I read something on Facebook that surprised me a little.
It was a posting by someone I think is a terrific person,parent, and
friend. It took me aback a little. It reminded me of an editorial I
read almost 5 years ago. I can remember being so shocked. The
writer was listing all the reasons we should vote for George Bush
for a second term. I was so stunned. In hindsight, I know why I
reacted like that. I was thinking about the former publisher and all
our talks and thinking how different this view was from his and
his family's long history in the publishing business. I found it hard to
comprehend how a husband and father could be supportive of a
president with such flaws and serious mistakes in his first four years.
I just couldn't understand how he could want this person to be
our leader and write history for his children's future. I happened
to run into the writer's wife and said something about how much
the editorial surprised me and she said, "why?" I was shocked.
Since then, I have realized that I am often shocked by other's
opinions and why. I try to analyze or figure out how and why they
could come to that conclusion and I take it personally. Needless
to say, that's not a good way to live your life. I'm making a conscious
effort to change. And in fairness, I know I'm influenced and molded
by my past and how it colored my viewpoint, just as they are.

Truthfully, God can help us get past, get through, or get OVER anything.
He can mend our hearts and help us experience healing. The Methodist
church provided me with the love I needed as a child, the answers I
needed in order to overcome, and the people that stood for real
answers on how to live an abundant life.

I had reason to remember a wonderful memory about R. C. and Louise
Hamilton this week. I have shared this memory with them on several
occasions. Several of my friends from the Methodist church know this
story, but it seemed so relevant this week. When I was about seven
years old, a neighbor had picked me up and taken me to the Methodist
church for Sunday school and church. As I was leaving, my mom said
she would be parked outside to pick me up after the services. When I
opened the car door and got in, my mom was crying. I asked her what
was wrong and she said nothing. She turned to me and said I was
watching R. C. and Louise Hamilton come out the side door and thinking
about their lives as parents and people. She said if I wanted to have
a successful life and be able to weather the storms of life, I should do like
them and stay involved and active in church. I've never forgotten
that. I can still see Louise's face the first time I told her this story and
R. C. and I discussed it when I was 20, 30 and even 3 years ago.

They had a storm this week, but they had the strength and anchor to
weather it.

We have a new family member - BB (Big Boy)

2009-04-19T18:06:00.007-05:00

We have a new Frenchie !!

He is so adorable and sweet.

To No Longer Remember...

2009-04-16T13:02:00.003-05:00

And, I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he
removed our sins from us. (Psalms 103:12)

To no longer remember......sometimes that's a trait that
we lament having, once we hit 50. I always had such a
good memory and it's very frustrating to not be able to
remember something. However, I've been considering
just the opposite the past week.

I can remember when my firstborn scribbled on the walls
with a crayon. I scrubbed and scrubbed, but it wasn't
long until he was doing it again. I can still remember it
and trying to reason with him. I guess that memory
stayed in the back of my mind. Just last summer, we
all had so much fun on the beach and the kids built
sand castles and left their hand prints. The tide soon
smoothed it all away, but the memory of those times still
remain.

I use that analogy to explain what I'm feeling about the
loss of my beloved pet. I think I figured out why the loss
is so hard on us. With a mother, father, sister, brother,
wife, husband, son, or daughter; we can love them more
than life, but we are all still human. We make mistakes.
We hurt feelings. We say or do something wrong. And
while we might forgive, it is hard to forget and those
memories stay in the recesses of our minds. With a dog,
there aren't any of those memories. Just pure, unconditional
love and devotion. My dog followed me EVERY step I took.
If I got up at 3am, he was right beside me. If I was cooking,
he was at my feet right by the hot stove. If I was sick, he
was right by me on the recliner and would occasionally turn
around and kiss me. I don't have anything but good memories.
I never dreamed that you could mourn like this for a dog.
My heart actually feels like it's broken.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could be like God? He not only
forgives us, but develops amnesia about our sins. Amazingly,
He who numbers the hairs on our heads, forgets our sin forever.

I wish I could forget wrongs committed BY me and to me. That
would be a welcome ability and save us all so much hurt and
wasted energy. Something to think about..........................

In the April 20th edition of TIME, I read the following:
"With his credo that government was the problem, not
the answer, Ronald Reagan wrote the script for the collapse
we're facing." It goes on to say that MANY readers blamed
the financial crisis on rising deregulation and Reagan. This
was a theory I had longed argued with my brother. Nice to
see I'm not alone. Of course, Bush expounded on it and
bankrupted the country with his rush to a foolish war.

And finally...... Sam Flanary. Loved his letter to the editor in
our little weekly paper. So well written and expressing the
exact thoughts and feelings that I've been hearing around
town for months and months. BRAVO, Sam. Yours was a
welcome voice. God Bless You.

Stepping out in faith

2009-04-11T19:27:00.003-05:00

Jesus saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen
had gone out of them and were washing their nets. (Luke 5:2 -NRSV)

I believe that Simon Peter was a skilled fisherman. But that day he and his
partners were unsuccessful; they had toiled all night and caught nothing.
They left their boats and were washing their nets, ready to go home as
failures. Then, Jesus got into a boat that belonged to Simon. Jesus asked
him to put out a little way from the land and began to preach to the crowds
from the boat.

Jesus knew that Simon's efforts to catch fish the previous night had been
unsuccessful. When Jesus had finished speaking, he asked Simon to go
farther out into deeper water and cast the net. Simon did not know that
a great catch of fish was in store for him and his partners. Soon their
boats were completely filled with fish! Both times!! Peter obeyed Jesus.

Wednesday night and Thursday morning were some of the most difficult
hours of my life. I can honestly say that only the prayers, calls, e-mails
and sweet encouraging words of my friends got me through all of the
pain. On Thursday morning, just a very few minutes before I lost Harley,
a friend felt compelled to send me a long detailed e-mail about her
family and son and their experience with losing a much loved pet.
She didn't have to listen to that still small voice that was telling her
to share all this; she didn't have to take her valuable time in writing
in such detail about their situation; she didn't have to show such care
and compassion.....but she did. We have known each other for years
and years. She has always been so kind and she even worked with
my son at one time. However, because of facebook, we have become
close friends and she has been a wonderful, supportive force in my
life. I feel like she stepped out a little like Jesus told Peter to do.
She cast her net out a little further and I can't adequately express
how much she has enriched my daily life.

How many times does God call us to step out a little further? How
many times do we misjudge or assume someone to be one way or
another in error. I believe that all of us carry scars and perhaps
traits from our past that need to be looked over in order to see
the real us inside.

We need to step out a little more and cast our nets a little deeper.
God Bless you during this Easter season.

Read Luke 5: 1-11

In Memory of Harley........

2009-04-10T09:46:00.002-05:00

I Wish Someone Had Given Little Jesus A Dog

I wish someone had given little Jesus a dog
as loyal and loving as mine;
to sleep by his manger and gaze in his eyes;
and adore him for being Divine.
As our Lord grew to manhood, his own special dog
would have followed him all through the day;
while he preached to the crowds, and made the sick well;
and knelt in the garden to pray.
It is sad to remember that Christ went away;
to face death alone and apart;
with no tender dog following close behind;
to comfort his Master’s heart.
And when Jesus rose on that Easter morn,
how happy he would have been;
as his dog kissed his hand and barked its delight
for the one who died for all men!
Well, the Lord has a dog now, I just sent him mine;
that old Frenchie so dear to me,
and I smile through my tears; on this first day alone,
knowing they’re in eternity.

Author Unknown

Thank you to the dear friend who shared this with me.

FYI: A Monday Review

2009-04-06T01:06:00.005-05:00

If you want to smile, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMppUgSQNPU

If you want to be inspired, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFjikyp7mQ (It is Well With My Soul)
love this line........
(It is in the quiet crucible of your personal, private sufferings, that your noblest dreams
are born and God's greatest gifts are given..in compensation for what you've been through.)
and if you like that, also check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFjikyp7mQ (Amazing Grace w/history)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WafA-0hXor0 (You Will Never Walk Alone)

I also read an article in the April 13th, 2009 edition of TIME that
I found very compelling. Somehow, it wasn't surprising to learn
that the most aggressive and grievous acts took place
in Texas. One out of every TEN soldiers that are recruited come
from the state of Texas and an ugly investigation into why so
many recruiters had committed suicide produced this disturbing
practice. It wasn't until the Houston Chronicle provoked Republican
Senator John Cornyn of Texas to provide answers, that the suicides
were brought to light.
Please read this article: (The Dark Side of Recruiting)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889152-1,00.html

And, for all those that missed my blog about Man's Best Friend,
here is the link to Jimmy Stewart on Johnny Carson
reading a Dog Named Beau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUNJjIwlHk8

Finally, for my friend Debbie and in remembrance of
Bro. Robert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQD-rCJMYw (Green Pastures)

Looking at the wrong side.....

2009-04-03T23:50:00.005-05:00

How many times have you felt like praying for vindication? How many times have
you been hurt or wounded by careless words or deeds? How many times have
you sent a message of true concern and never gotten a reply? How many times
have your words been twisted and been blamed for something that was not your
fault? And the real deal breaker.....how many times did someone hurt your child
with an unconscionable deed?

All of us can relate to these questions. The real test is how you react to these
situations. I can remember two of the most hurtful things that were ever said to
me. It's not what you would think. It was something that I had to pray and pray
to forgive because they were from someone I loved. However, even though I
forgave them, I will never forget it and it still hurts me to think about it. I say
that to say this.......... It is never advantageous to try and get revenge; to
repay a wrong with a wrong. It only heaps more despair and darkness
on your heart.

I remember my grandmother telling me when I was only 10 years old to never
try and get revenge. She said it was God's place to handle the wrongs in our
lives. She said, "The Lord is a Great Collector"..........(long pause) and then
she would always say.... "sometimes he's mighty slow." We would laugh and
let the truth in the statement register with us. I never forgot that. I'm not
saying I had sense enough to always follow it. But the times I did, the person
that had wronged me was taught a lesson far better than any I could have
even dreamed of.

God has a way of handling our mistakes. When we are in our 20's and 30's,
we think everything is black and white and that we know it all. It's only with
a little age and a LOT of lessons that we learn there are areas for improvement.

I like to cross stitch. I can remember someone picking up a stocking I was
cross-stitching and telling me it was a mess and whatever was it going to be?
I turned it right side out and they saw the beautiful image. They were seeing
it from the wrong side. That's what we do with our trials sometimes. Turn
them over and look at the right side-God's side. There's always a lesson and
a design that God is working out for your life. Sometimes we forget to look
at things from HIS point of view.

I was asked one time......don't you think we know this person better and
what they need and want? Well, God answered that for us. I knew the
answer, but sometimes God has to hit someone on the head for them to
learn a lesson. I ended up knowing this person's every care and thought.
I knew at the time what she had told me was bothering her, but others
thought they had all the answers. God ended up handling it all. It not
only was a lesson but the greatest blessing to be a part of.

In Esther, Chapter 8, we read about Esther begging for the King's favor in
over-turning a law against her people. We read that the King was forceful
in saying that NO decree will be changed and none had ever been reversed.
And then................ the former letters were reversed and there was
"light, gladness, and joy."

Sometimes, we have to learn to reverse our former beliefs or thoughts.
We don't become a scholar of his word over night. It takes much study,
prayer, and asking for conviction and leadership in what he wants us
to believe. I would hope that we all decide for ourselves what God is
leading us to believe. Not a Sunday School teacher, or husband, or
minister, or parent can tell us what God wants us to believe. Only
GOD can lead us in that direction and for that I'm thankful.

When I was a child, I attended a service at the Marion Methodist Church
and the pastor's message contained the scripture from Psalms 30:5.
"Tears may linger at nightfall, but JOY cometh in the morning." I claimed
those words and found them to always be the truth. God always brings
us through trials.

I think Corinthians 13 is one of the most recognizable passages, but I
wonder how often we dwell on the words. All the gifts in the world and
work we perform is worthless without love and charity. To really read
what God expects of us is daunting. You can sing all the songs and
praises, teach all the Sunday School classes, preach all the sermons,
direct and lead the children, feed the poor, and yet......without love
and charity, it is nothing - worthless.

Perhaps we should start with common courtesies.
I wronged you... I'm sorry.
I received your kind words.......thank you.

"He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for
our brothers."
1 John 3:16

And, I think that means ALL our brothers......

God Bless and keep encouraging me about my sweet Harley.

And.... Look at the right side...... God's side.

What is your legacy????

2009-03-24T12:19:00.004-05:00

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.... 2 Corinthians 2:10

The last week has been extremely hard on us in the Wallace
household. Our devoted pet has been extremely ill. During
this time, I have been reminded of just how important WHO
your friends are. I have been consoled and lifted up by the
many calls, e-mails, and conversations I have had with old
and new friends.

During this time, I talked with one of my old professors
from college. He wanted to know if the "commies" were coming
and had they arrived. It took me a minute to figure out what
he meant. Then, he reminded me of the "religious" column in
the local paper. He was encouraging me to write the paper and
restore some semblance of intelligence to the points she had
made. I also heard from some out-of-town friends. Somehow,
it didn't seem all that important to me, given what I was dealing
with. I used to make it just fine by completely ignoring her
column and pretending her voice of hate didn't exist. Then, some
of my friends and relatives were hurt by assertions she made in
the name of God. That got me to thinking.................................

And then, I got the sweetest e-mail from a friend I graduated with.
She told me how very much she had enjoyed my blog and knew
her Dad would have, too. Her dad was a very visible and loved
preacher in this county for over 50 years. You couldn't go to a
revival or a funeral that Bro. Robert wasn't there. I got to thinking
about all the sermons of love and acceptance that he preached and
I could close my eyes and see he and Ruby singing "Green Pastures."
I talked to my brother-in-law about the song and was trying to
remember all the lyrics. My brother-in-law is another one that
has had such an impact on different members of our family. He
made the decision to follow God and never waivered. I have watched
him for over 30 years be a good and faithful servant. We have often
talked about what a witness he was through the years and he didn't
have to say a word. I never heard him judge or admonish a soul and
like the rest of us, he had reasons to. Yet, he quietly loved and
accepted everyone and just tried to show them in a non-judgmental
way how to follow Christ.

I'm sure I wasn't the first choice for a wife for my mother-in-law's son.
I was divorced with a child and 5 years older. Yet, through the years,
she became the dearest friend I had. She spent the last 3 years of her
life going into detail about all the things she loved about me and how
much she needed me. She did that because she knew I needed love.
I talked with her sister this week and she began to tell me all the times
that Deanie bragged on me and said she didn't know what she would
have done without me. But, the truth is, it is me that got the blessing.
I have memories of every doctor visit, every late night call when she
needed me, every special meal I prepared for her, and all the games
of cards she so loved.

My brother-in-law captured the very essence of my mother-in-law
when he conducted her funeral. He touched all of us exactly in a
manner that comforted us and reminded us of her legacy.

She was a wonderful friend.......therefore, she had wonderful friends.
She was a wonderful mother....therefore, she raised wonderful
children that grew up to be wonderful parents.
She was just special..... a woman with a legacy hard to match.

Man's Best Friend

2009-03-18T17:50:00.004-05:00

As all my family and friends know, I have a French Bulldog that has
become a very important member of our family. Growing up, I never
understood my mom's attachment to her dogs. I always said that I
would never have a dog in the house. And then along came Harley...

I received a phone call from a friend and she told me about a breeder
that wanted a good home for a 7 month old Frenchie. He was a little
too big to show and they wanted a good home with a boy that would
run and play with him. Much to the surprise of my friend, I said
sure - I wanted Harley!

Within a few days it was evident that Harley was a one person dog.
After we studied the information we could find on this breed, we
found that this was a common thing for a Frenchie.

For the last 11 years Harley has followed my every move. If I'm
in the shower, you can bet that he is resting on the rug right
outside the shower. If I leave the house, he curls up right next
to the back door and cries (in a loud howl) until I return.

Harley is very ill. I couldn't be more upset. Eleven years is a
long time for this breed, but I can't imagine my life or this house
without Harley.

I happened to think about the moving tribute that Jimmy Stewart
gave his dog on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson many years
ago. I never forgot that show and how moving Jimmy Stewart was
in reading his tribute. I searched the web for a written copy
and found the video on YouTube. If you're a dog lover, please
check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUNJjIwlHk8

YouTube - Johnny Carson - Jimmy Stewart - Beau Poem

Congratulations, Chase

2009-03-13T11:11:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I received a phone call from someone I hadn't heard from in several years, Coach Bill Chumbler. I always liked to watch a team that was coached by Chumbler. He has the great honor of taking teams from Illinois and Kentucky all the way to the state championship. His record speaks for his great knowledge and love of the game. He was always especially complimentary of Jordan when he was playing high school ball and that always endears a parent to a coach. Yesterday we spent a little time catching up. He and his wife live in Florida during the winters and he helps out at a preparatory school down there. In fact, one of the players he has been helping to coach was on the front page of Cats Pause recently. He mentioned that Coach Chumbler wanted him to consider U.K.

However, what I was most proud to discuss with Coach Chumbler was the great honor that his grandson had recently received. Chase Palisch, a senior at Centre College had recently been recognized for being a 2009 Rhodes Scholar. He was one of only 32 winners from among 769 applicants from 207 colleges and universities across the U.S. Palisch is Centre's eighth Rhodes Scholar. In the last 50 years, more than 70% of Rhodes Scholars from Kentucky schools have come from Centre. The value of the Rhodes Scholarship varies depending on the field of study. The total value averages about $50,000. per year. I have listed a link below if you want to read more about it. CONGRATULATIONS Chase and Coach Chumbler!

http://www.centre.edu/web/news/2008/rhodes08.html

Look in the margins.........

2009-03-12T07:45:00.004-05:00

Do you ever stop and think about why you believe the way
you do? I watched a movie a couple of nights ago that I
had saved on TIVO. It made me think about a conversation
I overheard years ago. I have thought about this matter
hundreds of times since then. I listened to a mom explain
why she and her husband were encouraging her daughter
to quit a job. The daughter had only graduated a few
months earlier and had moved to a metropolitan area and
secured the exact type of job she had worked and prepared
for throughout college. I won't go into the other details, but
I remember my husband saying when we left that he wondered
if they thought heaven was going to be segregated. The parents
had a real problem because the person their daughter was
working for was gay. I can still see the mom putting her hand
to her mouth and whispering "homosexual."

The movie I watched was moving and thought-provoking. The
priest in it was explaining to a mom why she needed to examine,
read, study, and develop her OWN thoughts about what she
believed and why. She was brought up in a staunch catholic
home and was taught that her children were doomed to hell unless
they believed as she did. I'm simplifying it somewhat, but this
gives you the general idea.

The movie was based on a true story. The book that it was based
on was a best seller. However, the story has been played out over
and over in thousands of homes. Parents tell child that they have
to believe as they do or be ostracized from the family. The mom
kicked her son out and he eventually committed suicide. She went
on to study and research and decide that she had been wrong in
what she was led to believe and very wrong for not studying God's
word on her own.

I remember one particular day when teaching Sunday school class to a
high school class. A young man attended that had never been to our
church before. He was 14 or 15 years old and I wasn't 5 or 6 years
older than him. I had studied and studied my lesson and thought I
was overly prepared. Then, this new student told why they were
visiting our church that day and asked me a question that I hadn't
studied for. He and his parents had gone to the same church for
as long as he could remember. The Sunday before the minister
preached about a scripture and said that anyone in the congregation
that was divorced was going to hell. He asked me what I thought.
I've never forgotten that day. I took a breath and opened the Bible
to the 10 commandments and started praying under my breath. I
asked God to give me the right answer and to lead me to direct this
child with the right knowledge. I'll never forgot that day. The
scriptures and words came to me in a way that would be hard to
ever duplicate. In essence, I told him that everyone sinned and
I couldn't see why this sin would be harder to forgive than any other.
None of us could "work" our way into heaven - we all fell short and
had to be forgiven.

I opened my Bible the other night when watching this movie. I started
thumbing through some of the scriptures that were mentioned in the
movie. I listened as the priest explained that some scriptures that
were taken literally were written in a time when words didn't mean the
same thing. And, he quoted scripture where there was instruction to
bring a woman who had committed adultery to be stoned to death.
On and on......... Why is it that we take some scriptures so literally
and others we seem to ignore? Why is there only the one scripture
that preachers quote when preaching on sexual orientation and
thousands with instruction to NOT JUDGE and love one another?

I don't pretend to want or need anyone to believe like I do. But, I do
sometimes think back to times in my life when I felt like God was
leading me to change my mind about something.

As I thumbed through my Bible the other night, my eyes kept falling to
the margins. I have made a habit the last 35+ years of writing the
name of the sermon, person who preached it, date, and other info in
the margins next to the scripture used in the sermon. My eyes fell
to Romans 14 and a sermon I heard about differences of opinions. It
seems to me that the scripture is pretty plain about our personal
responsibility in showing grace and forbidding judgment.

I spent hours thinking about different questions I had through the years
and how an open mind with God's word and sincere prayerful requests
for conviction led me to the beliefs I hold dear.

When in doubt.........look to the margins.

Open Letter to the Republicans

2009-03-10T02:05:00.002-05:00

Life-long republican and New York Times best-selling author
explains why the republicans are all wrong. And he should
know........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/open-letter-to-the-republ_b_172822.html

Temperance

2009-03-06T17:46:00.004-06:00

I always look forward to reading a column in our
little weekly newspaper entitled, "What would Mom
say." I enjoy it for a number of reasons, but
primarily I think it's because I have such fond
memories of the columnist's father. He would stop
in our insurance office every single day, either
on his way to the bank or on his way back. I always
enjoyed his stories about life and his family. Years
later, when his wife started writing a column, I kept
thinking.....where has she been all these years? Nancy
had a real gift with the written word. I had gone to
church with them for years, but I saw a side of her
through that column that I didn't know existed. She
could make you laugh and cry in the same column -
she certainly had a gift. The last two weeks, facebook
has been mentioned in the column. I couldn't help
but be amused. I understood exactly what Allison was
writing about. My son's girlfriend signed me up to
look at some pictures and I kept protesting;
thought I was too old. I probably am, but I am
really enjoying keeping in touch with people I hadn't
heard from in years. That leads me to my thoughts about
temperance today.

Last night I was looking at pictures of the most
beautiful baby I have ever seen in my life. He is
the new grandchild of someone who had just added
me as a "friend" on facebook yesterday. As I looked
at the pictures of this darling baby, it dawned on
me how I needed some restraint and temperance in
my political rants. The grandfather of this baby
is one of the nicest people in the world. He also
is probably the most dedicated Republican in Crittenden
County. I remember telling him one time when I was
in his office and looking at pictures on his walls,
that he was a democrat at heart. He laughed and
told me someone else in town said that exact same
thing to him.

I also attended a memorial service today. I sat
next to one of my sister-in-laws. She is such a
sweet person. I love her more than I could begin
to convey. I looked around the room and thought
about how lucky and blessed I was to have married into
this family. They have enriched my life so much.
And guess what... some of them are Republicans!!
That's when I had to do some soul-searching. It's
easy for me to be judgmental and questioning
when it's a Rush Limbaugh type character. However,
when it's my school teacher friend or daughter of a
friend or family member; I don't see them as
republicans or democrats. I need to remember this.
I might not understand our philosophical differences or
beliefs, but I certainly see them for all their beautiful
characteristics and deeds. Isn't this country great?
We are free to believe as we choose.

Now, if I only had the gift of writing a profound or funny
column like Nancy.....................

We can learn a lot from a nine year old............

2009-03-03T23:39:00.003-06:00

(Reprinted from The American School Board Journal)
(The Leading Source... The ASB Journal's daily blog)
January 21, 2009
Inauguration provides teachable moment for young and old alike
My mother finally got her party last night.
Over the years, since the Bush administration came into office, she’s dealt with countless cases of berating and bullying from neighbors and friends, some of which was alcohol-induced, who live in a Tennessee retirement/resort community. Even the president of the local GOP nicknamed her “special ed.” (obviously he hasn’t studied his party’s positions on federal special education funding).
I often thought of these people when I was writing�”The Importance of Civics Education,” which appeared in ASBJ’s January issue. While I was writing (around the time of the election) we got an email from a counselor in Louisiana who reported that some of her African-American students were being bullied by McCain supporters, unfortunate incidents that probably went underreported. I also spoke with the group Teaching Tolerance, part of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which had anticipated some backlash and prepared a kit of classroom exercises to help ease the tensions, available on their website.
“One of the things teachers can do is recognize that this is not just a matter of policies, it’s really about young people and their emotional investment and their identity,” Senior Editor Tim Lockette says. “It’s a time to address issues of identity and get young people to think about, what is my role?’”
Last night, some of the few and proud Obama supporters in my mom’s neighborhood threw an extravagant party to celebrate not only Obama’s symbolism and the inauguration, but also the departure of an administration that appeared to dismiss non-conforming ideals and underhandedly encouraged bullying.��
Nevertheless, it wasn’t just celebrating with like-minded friends that my mom excitedly told me about this morning, it was a 9-year-old boy, Jackson, the son of one of her friends.Jackson attends a private Christian school and he and his classmates were very interested in the election. But Jackson was the only one supporting Obama.
“His classmates teased and made fun of him, even pushed and shoved him around, but he stood his ground,” my mom says. The teacher had to step in, and also told the class that she, too, was an Obama supporter.�
�”We were so impressed with this little guy standing up for his convictions!” my mom says. At the party last night, “we gave him a big round of applause and everyone took his picture.”
Regardless of political views, an inauguration provides a rich opportunity to not only teach students about the political process, but also the acts of tolerance for other views and civil discourse. One of the themes that I heard repeatedly in the news coverage of the events was how peaceful the day had been overall, and how former President Bush had graciously worked with the incoming Obama administration to facilitate the transition even though they clearly repudiated some of his ideals.
Hopefully some of those civics lessons reached Jackson’s classroom and others across the country-after all, politics is cyclical and there will be a day when a candidate that repudiates Obama’s vision is elected. Those lessons are probably too late for the 60- and 70-somethings in my mom’s neighborhood. But yesterday was, regardless of your political affiliation, a time to celebrate a historic moment and appreciate the opportunities this country provides.

Associate Editor, Joetta Sack-Min

*Jackson Hughes is my nine year old nephew and a very special young man.
Rene'

Political Serendipity

2009-03-03T06:47:00.003-06:00

The serendipitous result of being raised by a republican father and
democratic mother led me to research and discover just what I
believed on my own.

Today's headlines are all about reinforcing my core beliefs. These
are strictly my beliefs, but I couldn't help but derive some perverse
pleasure in reading about things that should be evident to all.

"Porn in the USA: Conservatives Are Biggest Consumers"
"CIA Destroyed 92 Interrogation Tapes"
"Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh gets into a war of words with the head of the RNC"

How many of us know staunch church-going conservatives who seem to have
"behind closed doors" vices that are completely contradictory to what they
present to the outside world? Let me quote something from the ABC and CNN
article today about porn and conservatives.

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do
consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than
states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.
"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be
consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says.

I could write volumes and run out of room if I bring up Newt Gingrinch and his
zealot attack of Bill Clinton, all the while carrying on an extramarital affair that
included a "kept" mistress in a condo. What about William Bennett and his
gambling scandal, all the while peddling a book on virtues. Need we be reminded
of the airport bathroom stall scandal or Rush Limbaugh's voracious appetite for
pills, pills, and more pills? The conservatives backed John McCain, a man who
carried on an affair with a woman 25+ years his junior and left the wife and
children who patiently waited on him to return from his ordeal.

I just don't get the conservatives. I don't get the editorials that are written
every single day in national newspapers by men who are guilty of more than
what we have covered here, yet want us to support an agenda that even THEY
don't conform to.

I truly believe that there is a special place reserved for Rush Limbaugh
(and it's not in an upward direction). Again, he is fighting within his own
political party; the headlines today are all about his fight with Steele.
Wasn't he the one that wanted the country to be "patriotic and flag-waving" and
support the president in a rush to war with Iraq. Personally, I didn't understand
how anyone with an IQ over 80 could have supported that war. I wore a black
band for 8 years (to the chagrin of several family members) that said "I DID
NOT VOTE FOR BUSH"! Now, today's headlines scream about illegal
interrogations, falsifying of records and worse. Rove and Cheney walk free, even
though they broke hundreds of laws and almost destroyed our country.

The serendipity of listening to a republican, but seeing a different life
played out, was perhaps a blessing for me. In this day and age and
with technology being what it is........republicans and democrats alike
should be looking over their shoulders and watching what they have on their
computers. Big Brother is watching............... perhaps you're not what you purport to be.

Nobody asked me, but..........

2009-03-02T17:14:00.004-06:00

Nobody asked me, but.... does anyone see the similarities
in the Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, and
our own Sister Lucy foaming-at-the-mouth fervor Evangelical
types who claim to be so high and mighty with all the answers
and yet have suffered such personal shortcomings in their own lives?

Nobody asked me, but.....do you see the hypocrisy in Ms. Tedrick
ranting about Obama and the "left" with their programs for health
care and free lunches for kids and yet she enjoys the EXACT same
tax free ride with her "Christian" school and church?

Nobody asked me, but.... do you sometimes wonder about the IQ
of some of these types who tell us how to interpret our Bibles,
who we should vote for, and how we should believe?

Nobody asked me, but...who scares you more? The Ted Haggards of
the world who while leading a 14,000 member church and supporting
the drive to put "Same-Sex Marriage Amendments" on several states
ballots, was having sex with male prostitutes, buying meth, and
improperly touching young male members of his OWN New Life church
- or the clergymen who preach to love one another and to show
compassion to one another?

Nobody asked me, but...are you as sick as I am of reading hate in
the "religious" column of our weekly paper? Do we really need or
want a fanatic zealot telling us how to believe? I alternate
between feeling disgust and pity for the columnist.

Finally, this blog post was precipitated by me reading an article
about Ted Haggard today. It seems Mr. Haggard is making the
rounds again and asking for forgiveness. Now, let's get this
straight. Is this the same Ted Haggard that spouted the evils
of allowing same sex marriages and yet was having dozens of
those exact same sex relations? You remember good old Ted.
He was responsible for having seven states put the Same
Sex Amendment on their ballots. (Including that forward-thinking
adjoining state, Tennessee, who chose to elect the "awe-shucks"
right-wing EXTREME conservative hillbilly, Bob Corker.) I hope all
who supported the hate legislation in Tennessee that Haggard
promoted are proud. And that the fervor that brought you to the
polls brought you the brightest star in the Senate -- Bob Corker.
Who needs Harold Ford Jr., currently the head of the Democratic
Leadership Council, former contender for Speaker of the House,
rising star on the National scene, and a sought-after MSNBC
analyst for his savvy insights into National affairs. We're better
off with the invisible, "awe-shucks" representation that Tennessee
right-wing evangelicals deserve. I remember seeing Harold Ford Jr.
on the cover of Time Magazine, touted as the next truly smart,
up-and-coming politician. Next thing you know, the good old
church-going Tennessee hillbillies were sending in their
contributions to Corker to run ads against Harold Ford Jr. that
were called some of the most vile and politically repulsive ads
ever to be broadcast during a political campaign and that's
saying a lot! Why vote for a highly intelligent Harold Ford Jr.
when you could have Bob Corker instead?

Nobody asked me, but.......no wonder our country is in the
shape it is in. We actually voted for and elected a bumbling
idiot like George Bush and let him completely bankrupt our
country!

A threat to the status quo

2009-03-01T15:07:00.003-06:00

Want to see what change looks like? Real change?

Well, here it is. Last week, President Obama unveiled his budget—his blueprint for America—and it's ambitious, amazing, and unapologetically progressive. As Paul Krugman said, it will set America on a "fundamentally new course."

President Obama called his budget "a threat to the status quo," and trust me, the status quo noticed. Oil companies, big banks and insurance companies are already mobilizing to stop it.
Unfortunately, most folks don't realize how far-reaching and progressive the plan is—that's where we all come in. Here are 10 really incredible things about Obama's plan. Check them out and then send them on to your friends and family so that millions of people will have the information they need to fight to make this vision a reality.
10 things you should know about Obama's plan (but probably don't)
The plan:

1)Makes a $634 billion down payment on fixing health care that will go a long way toward paying for a more efficient, more affordable health care system that covers every single American.

2)Reduces taxes for 95% of working Americans. And if your family makes less than $250,000, your taxes won't go up one dime.

3)Invests more than $100 billion in clean energy technology, creating millions of green jobs that can never be outsourced.

4)Brings our troops home from Iraq on a firm timetable, finally bringing the war to a close—and freeing up almost ten billion dollars a month for domestic priorities.

5)Reverses growing income inequality. The plan lets the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire and focuses on strengthening the middle class.

6)Closes multi-billion-dollar tax loopholes for big oil companies.

7)Increases grants to help families pay for college—the largest increase ever.

8)Halves the deficit by 2013. President Obama inherited a legacy of huge deficits and an economy in shambles, but his plan brings the deficit under control as soon as the economy begins to recover.

9)Dramatically increases funding for the SEC and the CFTC—the agencies that police Wall Street.

10)Tells it straight. For years, budgets have used accounting tricks to hide the real costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts, and too many other programs. Obama's budget gets rid of the smokescreens and lays out what America's priorities are, what they cost, and how we're going to pay for them.

This is the change we voted for. President Obama has done his part, now we need to do ours.

Political e-mails & the price of ignorance

2009-02-27T16:04:00.009-06:00

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" Benjamin Franklin

The above picture is one of my very favorites. I made it with my cell phone camera sitting on the back deck of my brother's house. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day that included a special supper and playing with his three children. My brother is a special person. He is thoughtful and kind. We disagree on very few things, but politically we are polar opposites. He sent me a political e-mail today. He knows better, but he did it anyway. Both he and a brother-in-law that I love dearly, live under the mistaken assumption that they are going to "change" me, I think. I got a political e-mail last week that was a forward and incorrect. I went to snopes.com and there was the evidence; it was an e-mail that had been proven to be an out and out lie, but kept making the rounds thanks to the Republicans mouthpiece, Rush Limbaugh.

One of the quotes in the e-mail from my brother today included the following: "To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

I personally liked the quote and thought it was perfect in describing how I felt about the misuse of our tax dollars for the Iraq war. Of course, the Republican spin was all about how evil the stimulus plan is. Listen, the Republican party has been in power the last eight years and THEY are to blame for the financial mess we are now in the middle of. The "trickle down" theory didn't work, so Obama is in the position of straightening out their mess.

I would like to include an additional Thomas Jefferson quote: "I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others. "

In regard to the Benjamin Franklin quote, I personally believe our country lost a lot of our freedoms in the name of what Bush called national security. I could write volumes about the situation in Iraq and the world's view of the United States during the Bush presidency. Instead, I will leave all of you to interpret all three quotes as you see fit.

A Journey Down Memory Lane

2009-02-26T00:07:00.008-06:00

When Earth's Last Picture is Painted

by: Rudyard Kipling

When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,

When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it -- lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew.
And those that were good shall be happy; they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets' hair.
They shall find real saints to draw from -- Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only The Master shall praise us, and only The Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They are!

Tonight, I have been taking a journey down memory lane.

A very dear friend lost his battle with cancer. Death is not the end,

it is only a bridge to another place. I've been reflecting on some of the

beautiful memories I have shared with Bob and his extended family.

I looked at family photographs and that was what sparked my memory

of this Rudyard Kipling poem. My best friends will recall my ability to

recite this poem word for word and how I learned it, but that's another

story.

Tuesday was a joyful day. I had visits from two different friends that

I literally hadn't seen in years. I had a phone call from a high school

friend and we talked until 1am. However, I also received a phone call

from my friend who is like a sister, telling me that Bob's time on earth

was coming close to an end. I could hear the pain in her voice and I felt

so helpless. As sad as that phone call was, I was also reminded of the

joy of connection. We all need one another.

So long, Bob. Thanks for adding to the fabric of our lives.

I BELIEVE........

2009-02-25T05:16:00.008-06:00

"The weight of this crisis will not
determine the destiny of this nation."

Tonight, the newscasters were all quick to say
the nation was behind our president. It is going
to take all of us (including Kentucky's McConnell
and Whitfield) to work diligently to rebuild and renew this great nation. Wouldn't it be nice to hear Mr. McConnell take responsibility for his part and support of the Bush doctrine and stance on spending over $600,000,000,000 on the Iraq war? And he thinks the stimulus bill needs to be closely monitored? Give me a break. Where was he when Halliburton was playing a Bernie Madoff with our tax dollars?

Our President outlined a "Blueprint for the Future" and I support him.
I would hope that our Republican friends would put aside their
posturing and mud-slinging and do what's best for this country.

Wasn't it nice to hear our president address the country and speak
intelligently and correctly pronounce words?!?!

I believe

The Good Samaritan & the Oscars

2009-02-22T23:22:00.005-06:00

I've always really enjoyed watching the Oscars. Great
music, funny jokes, beautiful dresses, and if we're lucky-
memorable speeches.

I was really moved by Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn's
speeches tonight. It made me consider the parable of the
Good Samaritan and remember something my mom told me
years ago. I will save the story for another day, but my mom
ended a little speech to me by saying "Things are different
from the outside looking in. Remember that before passing
judgment." I never forgot that and the older I got, the more
I realized how wise that advice really was. THINGS REALLY
ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.

I've been thinking about the parable of the Good Samaritan
a lot lately. I have heard that scripture in Luke preached
on so very many times. I've read the background scholarly
advice about how relevant it was that Jesus said the "Levite"
(assistant to the priest), the Priest, or a Jew didn't stop to
help. He used the example that a Samaritan was the only one
that stopped to help. Every sermon I heard and all scholarly
journals refer to the fact that Jews considered the Samaritans
to be from a religion and race that they scorned. And yet, a
Samaritan was the only one that stopped to help. I don't think
it was any coincidence that Jesus had a "man of the law" ask
the question or that he used a Jew and Samaritan to illustrate
his command.

Perhaps, we should remind ourselves of this lesson,
considering the current religious and ethnic tension being
spouted from religious columns and leaders. I think this
parable has very practical and modern applications today,
but that's just me. I think Jesus was saying unless we love
those that have differing religious and even moral beliefs,
then we are not practicing the "love thy neighbor as thyself"
commandment. I remember hearing one minister preach on
this and say that unless we loved the person that was the
MOST UNDESIRABLE to us, as that neighbor, then we didn't
understand what Jesus meant. The stipulations of these
verses are similar to what my mom told me, I believe. I have
found myself taking on the causes of different races and sexes
through the years because I felt compelled and convicted to.
I have my mom to thank for that, I believe.

When I decided to start this blog, I thought it would be a nice
outlet for my political rants. I never dreamed that I would find
myself in the position of erasing several "religious" themed
posts a day. It's certainly not what I had in mind.

I've always been the type to say exactly what I thought. I
think that was born from times when I was in grade school
and being teased about things that were happening at home.
I learned early on to just tell who had done what and then I
couldn't be hurt or embarrassed by it. Perhaps, it has made
me too blunt or opinionated. However, as embarrassed as I
might have been back then, I am just as much or more
thankful for those experiences now. My mom knew what it
was like to have a weakness or to be scorned. I have plenty
of faults; however, being racist, homophobic or unaccepting
of others are not three of them.

Thank you, Mom.

Forever Friends

2009-02-21T06:41:00.002-06:00

Several months ago I received an e-mail from one
of those friends that you know you'll have forever.
She wrote to tell me that her father was going to
soon celebrate his 80th birthday. Sometimes we
go months and don't get to see or talk to each
other. And yet, when we do see each other, it's
as though we last talked the day before. Her
father was one of those people that made you
want to live a better life. He was the pastor
at the Marion Baptist Church for several years,
but he was like a father to me. They welcomed
me into their lives and changed how I thought
a real home and family life should be. I sent
her Dad a birthday card with a note of some of
my fondest memories. I will forever treasure
the letter I received back from him. It reminded
me of one of Steve Goodier's Life Support Messages.
I looked it up (Who's Your Best Friend) and here
is part of his post.

"And do you know who your best friend is? Automaker
Henry Ford was having lunch with a man, when he
suddenly asked the man that very question. "Who is
your best friend?" Ford asked. The man hesitated and
Ford went on. "I'll tell you who your best friend is,"
he said. Then he wrote this sentence for the man to
read: "Your best friend is he who brings out the best
that is within you." Our best friends are those who do
more than simply like us. They also believe in us.
They support us but, occasionally, they nudge us as
well.Someone put it well: "A friend is someone who
knows you as you are, understands where you've been,
accepts who you've become, and still, gently invites
you to grow.

"Now...who is your best friend?

What????????

2009-02-20T09:02:00.003-06:00

Several months ago, I read a letter to the editor of our local paper.
I had never met the author and didn't know anything about him.
However, his letter stirred something in my heart. It seemed so
genuine and heartfelt. I sent him a note telling him how much I
enjoyed and appreciated his letter. I felt compelled to tell him this.
I am thankful that a great friendship has developed because of my
note.

I say all that to say this: Listen to your heart. I have learned
through the years to listen to that still small voice. The hard
part is to not only listen, but to ACT. Sometimes it might not
be the most comfortable or popular thing to do, but I guarantee
you that it will always be the RIGHT thing to do.

I received a lot of e-mails and calls about my post on the 18th.
It's always nice to feel like you've expressed a thought that
is well received. I found it interesting that a majority of
those I spoke with, found one thing more incredulous
than any other about the "religious" article in the press;
the word PARAPHRASED! Tedrick felt the need to "paraphrase"
God's Holy Word. WHAT???????????????????????????????????

Do No Harm

2009-02-18T17:40:00.006-06:00

Is it just me, or does the title of the latest
"religious" column in our local paper, give
you reason to pause.........
ICE A WARNING FROM GOD

I can remember Dr. Bob McGaughey (retired professor of Journalism)
stressing the importance of the responsibilities of
a member of the press. McGaughey was one of those professors
that made you want to go to class, take something from every
lesson he was willing to give you, and just make
you a better human being. I can only imagine what he would
think about this column.

I'm constantly being told by family and friends that live out of
state, how upsetting it is to have this column in our local paper.
I have a good friend who takes it to work and she says that
people simply don't believe something like this exists in this
day and age. These former residents of Marion look forward
to getting their Crittenden Press and this one columnist manages
to insult their intelligence, question their religious beliefs, and
reflect poorly on a town and community they love. I sometimes
wonder how many people have failed to become a member of a
church or accept the love and instruction of God because of the
hate-spewing ramblings of this columnist.

I don't believe that God sent this ice storm to Marion, Ky. to
WARN us. I saw the presence and love of God in more people
than I could possibly recount in this post. If anything, my God
sent angels to help us survive this freakish natural disaster. But,
that's just me. I saw God in the linemen from North Carolina who
were so intent in restoring power to my 88 year old father-in-law.
I saw God in neighbors and friends who shared water and meals.
I heard God when my sons would call and ask what they could do
to help. I am blessed and I believe Crittenden County is blessed.

I've listed below a few quotes about freedom of the press and free
speech. The first one made me laugh and the others gave me
reason to think. We all have a responsibility to make this world a
better place.

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one. A. J. Liebling (Newsweek)

There are many other conditions to free speech. I've got a right to say and believe anything I please, but I haven't got a right to press it on anybody else. .... Nobody's got a right to be a nuisance to his neighbors. Author: H.l. Mencken

All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. we can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.--William Bernbach, of DDB Needham Worldwide, 1989

Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.--Joseph Pulitzer

Article about Towery's induction into the Hall of Fame

2009-02-18T03:45:00.005-06:00

We were all there for this big day and it
was quite moving. This is a really good
article.

*Click on the title and it will take you to
the article.

Carlisle Towery

2009-02-18T03:13:00.006-06:00

Check out the section I added on Carlisle.

Western Kentucky University and The

Crittenden Press called him Crittenden County's

greatest player. We all call him the "greatest"

Pops and grandfather.

I wish I had said this........

2009-02-17T10:15:00.001-06:00

Earlier today, I mentioned that I really enjoy an inspirational
newsletter I receive in my inbox from Steve Goodier.

Coincidentally, a couple of hours later, I received one of the best
I've ever read and the last paragraph was something that I wish I
had said. I had wondered why I hadn't received one in a while and
he had an explanation. However, he made up for it with this message.

Please read "A God too Small"

It's refreshing for me to read something written by someone who
has a long record of encouraging people to live their best life.
He has published many books and is in high demand to speak to
groups and churches.

Here's one sentence from the last paragraph and a link to his website.

If I imagine a god so small as to
favor those who think like me, worship like me and act
like me, then I know very little of life and less of faith.

http://www.lifesupportsystem.com

Today's message:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LifeSupport/message/1094;_ylc=X3oDMTM0bWhubml2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzNDgxMzgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTA5Mzg4BG1zZ0lkAzEwOTQEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMjM0ODg2MjIxBHRwY0lkAzEwOTQ-

Past messages: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LifeSupport/messages

If you need a little inspiration

2009-02-17T07:01:00.002-06:00

I start every day by reading the Upper Room Daily Devotional
You can sign up to receive it in your inbox. Here is a link:

http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/default.asp

Another of my favorite places to find solace, wisdom, patience, & joy
is from Steve Goodier - I used to get it in a daily e-mail from
LifeSupportSystems@yahoo.com
However, I think it has changed to this and you can
look up past messages. My favorite: Joy Along the Way

http://stevegoodier.blogspot.com/

Check this out....

2009-02-17T06:57:00.000-06:00

Bob Cesca: President Obama Is Driving Republicans Insane

The older I get, the more liberal I seem to be. I loved the first line of this article.
Check it out...

The Blogging Begins

2009-02-13T22:17:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Rene's blog: "Inside Looking Out."

Stay tuned for musings, ramblings, insights, friends, family and fun!