What to do?

These are perplexing times. Sometimes I just have to turn off the TV and radio and not listen to any more news! It's all bad, bad, and worse; and just when I think I've heard it all, I hear more! At the suggestion of friend and author, David Zanotti of The American Policy Roundtable, John and I went on a one week TV and radio fast - just to be quiet our minds and think more about what God has to say about all these things. Basically, it boils down to "He is Lord of lords and King of kings." Thank God!

Keeping that in mind, I was seeking the Lord today on behalf of our nation, primarily with the concern I had about the Federal Government casting its lot against certain states. Everyone - unless they live in a cave - knows that Arizona, after exhausting all efforts to have the federal government protect the border, passed a law saying that, basically, "the law is legal." We have since seen the legal and semantic storm of fury that the government has wrought upon that state. Then there's Louisiana and another example of the government not protecting national borders, this time from the devastation of oil. The state could have protected itself, foreign aid was ready to assist, but the federal government blocked them and then didn't do anything until long after it needed doing. Then there's Texas. Because Texas said "no" to government subsidies that it didn't need, the government has singled that state out to make an example of it by withdrawing further aid. (Maybe other states should follow that example.)

Then there's a long, long list of legislative actions that have taken place against the will of the people - nationalized healthcare, who-knows-how-many bailouts, the recent overturning of Proposition 8 in California, ad nauseum. There is a ground swell of uproar and protest at the violence done to the Constitution, but the Administration and Congress continue to stop their ears; and when they do respond it's to tell us how stupid we are.

Then today I see that 12 states have decided to ignore the law that requires them to send absentee ballots to overseas military personnel in time for them to be returned and counted towards an election, and that the Department of Justice has decided to ignore their defiance of the law. Not only does this disenfranchise those who are laying their lives on the line in the service of this nation, it's also interesting to note that those 12 states had supported Pres. Obama in the 2008 election. (Do we see selective law here?) The Department of Justice also turned a blind eye when white voters were intimidated by New Black Panther Party members, and yet the Administration is working tooth and nail to obtain voting privileges for illegal immigrants.

It's enough to make your head spin and spin and spin.

As I ponder these things, embattled states and embattled citizens, I can't help but wonder where does this lead? As a Christian my first preference for effecting cultural change is through the long, but sure process of reformation rather than the abrupt, knee-jerk process of revolution. Reformation has a live-able, workable plan for change. Revolution just has change, and I think we've had our fill of that. I still believe that this country yet has time for the processes of reformation to take hold of right principles, and to take our country back to its Constitutional foundation. But that time is very, very short. Like maybe the 2 1/2 months left until the November elections.

I detest the thought of revolution. "But, God," I prayed, "You always work reformationally!" Then it occurred to me, not always. The history of our nation reminds us that after the colonists tried and tried to continue to function under the established covenants between themselves and the Crown, they finally came to the unwanted decision to cut themselves off from a ruler who had forsaken those laws, and hence a covenantal lawsuit was drawn up by the colonists against King George and England. We know that lawsuit as the Declaration of Independence.

I pray that we don't come to that this time around. I pray that the Church would repent of her sin and return to God that He might heal our land. I pray that God would raise up righteous leadership that desires to serve rather than be served. I pray that He shows us mercy! In the meantime what do we do, what can we do, as all these things play out? This is what we do, regardless of what happens, we will "...do justice, ... love kindness...and walk humbly with [our] God."

Summer-izing

Oh, my, this is a long entry! But, never fear, it's just a photo-summary of the summer, at least up to this point. The summer's not over yet, and we have some momentous events yet to take place! So other than tending horses, boarding dogs, trying to keep gardens going, doing house-refurbishing and attempting to keep cool in record heat, this is what we've been up to! And it's been a grand summer!

Memorial Day weekend was an appropriate time for Eric to come home after six months of deployment in Afghanistan. It was a joy and a relief, and Eric got to meet his new son for the first time!

Backtracking a month to May, we had the great blessing to go to a couple of weddings; the first one was in Fort Worth and was the marriage of the daughter of our dear friends, David and Kathy. Here are all four girls, minus son, Michael. L t0 R are Margaret, Mary, Alice, and Ann. These kids were just babies yesterday!

While in Ft. Worth, we stayed with some other dear friends, Randy and Cheryl, and had a great time together. We had lunch at Joe T. Garcia's, and it had been a loooooong time since John and I had eaten there!

Not only is it fun to see old friends, it's also fun to great fun to see their grand-children! Aren't they precious?!

The next May wedding was up in the mountains of Southern California outside the little town of Julian, best known for its quaint western roots and its amazing apples, and therefore its equally amazing and delicious apple pies. Our niece, Laura, was married there - it was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful time of being with family.

Cousins Sarah, Lisa, Kristin, and Katie. It's crazy seeing them all grown up. Weren't they running around playing Barbies and putting on plays just yesterday?

Grandma Molly, Katie, and Grandpa Orv. The girls always love being with their grandparents!

Jim and Dee Anna, whom we always love spending time with.

Alan, having joined the Army to become a Chaplain, left for Ft. Jackson to spend his summer at school and in training. Before he left, he and Kristin took a little time away and the boys came to Nana and Papa's house for some summer fun. 2 boys+2 cans of shaving cream+water=a lot of fun!

Wedding #3, along with vacation, took us to sunny South Texas where, among many other things, we enjoyed the Corpus Christi Hooks playing at our favorite minor league stadium, Whataburger Field! How can you lose with that combination? Baseball, sea breezes, and Whataburger!

Niece Courtney and new husband, Justin, leave their wedding reception for their honeymoon. Justin is a pilot, hence the paper airplanes amongst the birdseed! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a ton of fun with lots of cousin-dancing.

We had lots of relaxing time, too, while down south. We spent as much pool and beach time as was possible. Here Omari and Mama Pops enjoy shady breezes by the pool.

An apres-wedding brunch with Paula, Uncle Victor, Eric, Patty, Alan, and many others you can't see. Note the large coffee carafe. We went through a few of those!

At another eating opportunity we got to catch up with my baby cousin, Liz,and her husband, Julio, and daughter, Genevieve. Liz had lived in Thailand for several years and it was wonderful to reconnect with her.

July 4th is approaching and Papa and the boys sidle up to Uncle Sam.

One of the highlights of the summer for me was going to the beach with my cousin, Teresa, and our little grandsons, Jacob and Omari. Teresa and I are only 3 months apart and have been going to this same beach since our babyhood. It was very special for the two of us to go once again, only this time with our grandsons!

Daughter, Kristin, with her sons, on the same beach she played on as a baby; as did her mother and grandmother!

Eric, Kelly, and Omari - evening at the beach. It's the perfect time to be there!

On another evening "Unca Ewic" takes the boys crabbing. Patrick looks on intently as Eric slowly pulls in the crab line.

Cousins Gilbert and Andrew decide that the net is the best way to go after the crabs.

Gilbert tries the line again while Patrick looks on. Warm sun, warm water, fresh breezes ... it's a great way to be a kid!

I love this photo of all the little men marching through the water after the big man.

A 2nd trip to South Texas takes me first to San Antonio where one must eat at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk, and then on to the Frio in Leaky for a Choir Reunion.

It had been 30 years since old choir buddies met, and there was so much to catch up on, so much laughing and story-telling to do! Even our choir director, Miss Garrett, was able to join us. It was a very special time.

Still laughing, and Miss G is calm as ever!

In May, Justin had departed Tennessee for southern Georgia, Ft. Benning and Boot Camp to be exact. Here he is on the evening before his graduation, at the close of Family Day. It was good to see how well he had survived!

Proud Dad and proud Son following graduation ceremonies!

Proud Mama,too! After graduation, Justin was assigned to Ft. Sill for artillery training. At lease he's behind the weapons, I tell myself.

Thus sums up May, June, and July. It's now August and life rolls swiftly on. In 3 days a young man will join us as a boarder for his freshman year at New College Franklin, Alan graduates from Chaplain training on Sept. 2nd and moves with Kristin and the boys to Germany! Justin also will go to his new post in Texas in September and John begins his new career as a Business Coach and Sales Trainer. It's exciting, it's scary, and it's all in God's hands!

A Face of the Times

If you are reading this, I can reasonably assume that you are beyond Jr. High/Middle School age, and if that's the case I can also reasonably assume that you've been taught at least some modicum of history involving America's Great Depression of the 1930's. Besides reading or listening to how dire those times were, you would also have seen photos of those times - of the men, women, and children who suffered want and woes. Those were hard times.

These are hard times, too. It may not look as bad now as it did then, but we are not so much an agrarian society as we were then, and the false facade provided by credit cards have masked the dire difficulties that many people live in today. This morning on the radio, embedded in the newscast, was a foreclosure statistic for our area. Currently, as many as 1 home out of 125 are in foreclosure. That's a lot of homes. That's a lot of families.

It has been 17 months since John lost his job. In all that time we've not had income enough to cover our living expenses, but we did have sizable savings tucked away and things are beginning to look up in the employment department. So, we've been able to keep our home, have lived carefully, and have watched the hand of God help us again and again.

Yesterday, I was at the gas station filling my tank with my weekly allotment of gas when a man approached me. Now this gas station is very public and very popular since it has the lowest prices in our area, so I wasn't afraid of him since so many people were there. This man came up carefully and reluctantly, and said, "We're from Grassland. We lost our home in the flood. Things haven't worked out and we're trying to make it down to Shelbyville to live with my in-laws." He paused. Now I've seen a lot of pan-handlers in my lifetime, but there was a kind of pain in this man's voice and eyes that I'd not seen before - at least not in real life. But, then I remembered those Depression-era photos of broken men and women and realized that this was what was standing before me.

"I don't do this kind of thing, but I have to now. We have about 40 miles to go and our tank is empty. Do you have a couple of dollars to spare? I thought maybe I could borrow a little here and there." His voice was choked and tears were brimming in his eyes. If he was a fake, he deserved an Oscar. But the pain in that man's face was as obvious as the hard tan and worn clothes that he wore. His wife sat in their small car parked at the curb looking straight ahead.

I told him that I understood what it was like to be in the middle of a hard time, that we'd lost our income, that God had provided for us, and of course I had a couple of dollars to share with him. He dropped his head in humiliation and expressed his thanks with profuse apology. As I went to check my wallet, I discovered that all I had was a $10 and a $20 which had to last another 3 days. Remembering God's faithfulness to me, without hesitation I took the $10 and told him that I didn't have a couple of dollars but could give him $10. He almost looked frantic at that point and after stumbling for words said, "I'm not any sort of predator or anything, but if you'd like to give your address to my wife we will pay you back." He was pleading as he sought to distinguish himself from the average bum. Again I told him that God had provided, that I had enough to share, and someday he could help someone else out who was down on their luck. He took my hand and shook it, saying thanks only with tearful eyes. As I left, he and his wife were putting some gas in their tank.

I don't tell you this to brag on what I did. To the contrary, I look back and wish I'd given him the $20. My heart breaks for this family, and for all the families that find themselves in these kinds of straits. Time are hard. God is faithful.

Out of the Mouths of Funny Babes

I found four day-planner calendars recently while looking for some old yearbooks and photographs. They date from 1983-1986, years that my two eldest were very young and when my third-born arrived. Looking through these calendars with all my ordinary day-to-day notes was sure a trip down Memory Lane! It was poignant and surprising ... how did I manage to get all that stuff done with multiple little children?? It makes me tired just reading it! One thing, though, that tickled me greatly was reading my occasional comment about what one of the children said that day.

1983

Kristin: says "Bye-bye" while walking away.

Candy canes are "K-k's" or "Cuppy-cuppy"

Santa Clause is "Tanta Cause"

Jingle Bells is "DeeBoBo"

Gingerbread Men are "Dindo-mah-bey"

It's pretty clear that Kristin's lingual abilities really kicked in about Christmastime.

Eric, 4, wanted to "kill some Easter eggs" that year .... meaning that he wanted to dye them. 'Kill', 'dye'... you know.

1984

Eric: "I have two arm-skulls!" Skulls meaning bones - I laughed about that one for awhile.

About Peaches, our dog: "Peaches is broke-housen." Of course, I still talk like that to this day.

1986

Kristin comments about Eric who is hiding: "We don't have a little boy any more!"

Kristin: In April - "Can we have a Christmas Hunt?" meaning that she wanted to hide candy canes and hunt for them.

In December - "When do we get to gun the Easter Eggs?" She apparently hadn't gotten the holiday traditions

straightened out, and she got stuck on the dye word, too, just like her brother did.

Eric: (And this just cracked me up.) "O Lord, your kingdom is good and indigestible!"

1986

Upon learning they had a baby brother:

Eric: "Does he like jets?"

Kristin: "I knew it was a boy."

Some things just never change.

I wish I'd written more things down over the years, and sometime perhaps I'll find some other notes while I'm looking for something. A little while back I saw a small notebook that was devoted to writing down kids' sayings, so I bought one for Kristin since her boys are at the age of uttering those entertaining things. In 25 years or so, I know she'll get a good laugh when she reads that little notebook.

In closing, let me share with you some recent cute quotes from my young grandsons.

Gilbert, age 4: "The moon isn't plugged in. It doesn't have batteries, either."

Patrick, age 3: "C'mere, Bobert!" (translation: Come here, Gilbert!)

I know we're going to have many more years of entertainment out of the mouths of babes! Now, what are some favorite sayings of your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews? Please, entertain us!

Serving Stars

Military service is no rarity in my family. My Grandfather served in the Civil Air Patrol, some of my great-uncles served in the Army and Marines during WWII in the European and Pacific theaters respectively; other uncles have served in the Navy, Army, and Coast Guard; cousins have served in the Navy, Army, and National Guard; my father and father-in-law both served in the Navy during the Korean War; and last but not least, my husband served in the Navy as a pilot just as the Vietnam War came to a close.

We have photos and stories and relics from all those men's service - it was just a given part of the life of our family. So, why were John and I so surprised that 3 out of 4 of our children have chosen life in the military? John especially was always careful to impress upon the kids that they shouldn't do something just because he had done it. That kind of pressure on a child never ends up well! But, we finally concluded that, really, it was just natural that they made the decisions they did. So I'm celebrating their decisions by sporting a 3-star Service Flag on the back of my car, and it just amazes me each time I look at it!

The most recent addition to this military tradition is son, Justin, who graduated from Army Boot Camp at Ft. Benning, Georgia just this past Thursday. Justin had spent his last few years reveling in the academic areas of language and Biblical studies and spent the bulk of his college studies in these areas. We had fully expected him to combine these affections and go into education. But, he didn't - he enlisted in the Army! After the shock subsided, it began to slowly dawn on me just what he did during his entire childhood and high school years - playing soldier! He read about military actions and heros of all eras. He had collected gear from WWII, made his own chain mail, shields, and other knightly wear, and became a Civil War re-enactor. He loved it! And now he's a real soldier, and we are proud of him!

Daughter Kristin has loved history since she knew history existed! In particular she has had great affection for the Civil War era and became not only a re-enactor, but a docent, National Battleground Park tour guide, and researcher of one of the great Southern generals, Hiram Grandbury. Now she is married to her own soldier/soon-to-be-chaplain and will be serving her country along with her sons as a military family. We are proud of her and her soldiers!

Eldest son, Eric, serves in the USMC as a Harrier pilot, recently completing a tour in Afghanistan where he was an integral part of the Marjah Offensive. He spent his teenage years competing with his horses, but ultimately decided to take the path of an earlier interest - his love of aircraft and flying. He, along with wife Kelly and son Omari serve their country as the best of Marine families. We are proud of them.

And finally, daughter Katie. Will she, too, join this little group of 3 service stars? Nah..... but we wouldn't be surprised is she's the kind of star who entertains those service stars! And we're just as proud of her, too!

Things Above and Things of Earth

The morning's text at Sunday worship today was Colossians 3:1-4, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

This is the central theme of Colossians - Christ, the center of all things. Pastor Nate spoke of seeking and setting as found in this passage -active, focused words depicting 'movement towards' and 'founding on' a whole new life. When we seek those things that are above, we must set our minds upon them and if we don't, we fall back into anxiousness and worry, supposing ourselves to be our own savior. Thus, we find life to be a series of pendulum swings between pride and despair.

So what are those heavenly things that we're supposed to seek? And how do we find them? Those things are where Christ is, and we find them by looking to him and not to ourselves. Our salvation is assured by the strength of the position of the One who saved me.

Pastor Nate concluded his message with two statements that really caused me to think back over the last 20 months or so: "As we look at those heavenly things, all of the rest of our life falls into line, into it's own priority beneath Christ." And "We will seek the risk of the Kingdom if we know that we are rooted in, founded upon, set in Christ."

Even though I have loved Christ as my savior from an early age, I have had a great propensity to try to be my own savior. It's that classic old original sin, thinking that I actually knew better than God. It got Adam and all of mankind into a lot of trouble and it's been no different for me! Coming to the end of my rope got my attention, and the knowledge in my head of the sufficiency and efficacy of Christ finally moved into my heart. Seeking and setting were key.

So how do you seek Christ and set your mind on him when the tempest of life is howling around you? God's word, first and foremost, is solid and sure. But, when your mind is raging it can be kind of difficult to read the Bible, if not downright impossible sometimes. That's where seeking and setting came into play, and for me that meant going, week after week, to Sunday worship. Even in the midst of confusion or pain, darkness or despair, there I could say the Word in the Call to Worship, the Corporate Confession, and the Profession of Faith as found in the Apostle's Creed. I could pray the Word in the Lord's Prayer itself. I could sing the word in various songs and hymns, the Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, and even in the singing of the Benediction. I could hear the Word in the Old and New Testament readings, the Scriptural Text, the Assurance of Pardon. And finally, I could taste the Word in the Eucharist. Week after week, the work of the Word did its steady and sure work upon my heart and brought me to firmer ground.

I know that my life isn't fixed. It can't be until I step into eternity, but in the meantime when life begins its inevitable ups and downs, I know that the sure and certain Word will be my refuge and my rock.

Happy Birthday, America!

Today we celebrate the 234th birthday of our country and the signing of the document that declared our national independence from the tyranny of a king. While the war that followed is frequently called "The American Revolution", it was actually the rule of the English king, King George, that departed from justice and from the covenants established between the Crown and the Colonies, thus forcing the colonies to declare their independence in order to retain those principles upon which they were founded.

I saw a poll on TV this morning that noted that only 65% of American citizens knew from which nation we declared our independence. The remaining 35% had no idea and guessed it was from nations such as China or Brazil. China or Brazil? Crazy.

In order to know where we are and how we are to proceed ahead, we MUST know from whence we've come. As you celebrate the 4th of July, or on any day for that matter, take a few minutes to refresh your memory on the principles upon which we based and declared our independence. If you've NEVER read the Declaration, you may wonder how it is that we have drifted so far, and hopefully will understand that if we are to maintain our freedoms we must return to these principles.