WAR IS NEVER THE ANSWER

From My Own Little Corner Lord, have mercy on all their souls. It is time to stop the fighting. It has gone on for decades and it has solved nothing. I am neither Arab nor Jewish, neither Israeli nor Palestinian, but I am human, and it is killing my heart to see the children of these countries maimed and killed. This fighting has been going on for years, and has solved nothing and the only thing that has come out of it is pain, heartbreak, destruction, and death. Why are we still shedding blood in the name of God? Do we really think that is what He wants? He wants us to kill and maim each other over a piece of land that is called THE HOLY LAND? What kind of sense does that make? This is not the Middle Ages, this is the 21st century. We have the ability to send a man to the moon, to live in space, to travel around the world in a matter of days. And the only solution we can come up with to settle a land dispute is to kill each other? Does anyone else see the complete idiocy of this? Can no one else understand that war and killing is never the solution? If you kill in the name of God and the other side kills in the name of God, how can the killing stop? You can't both be killing in the name of God. God says killing is a sin, so in my humble estimation, both sides are wrong. They are doing what the Lord Jehovah told us not to do, and they are doing it in His name. Talk about the ultimate sin. I would venture to say that war is it.

This is only my humble opinion. I just want the bloodshed and horror that we call war to stop. It is time to come up with a better solution. And I know we can, but it will take a lot more effort than simply pushing buttons and trying to destroy the people that you disagree with. I will take the willingness of both sides to decide that peace is a better way than war, and it will take a lot of give and some take by both parties.

In the meantime please continue to pray for peace and enlightenment. May your God bless, and keep, you and yours.

Memories-Old And New

From My Own Little Corner Well, it has been several weeks since I last posted a blog entry. In that time we have celebrated Thanksgiving and this year there is truly much to be thankful for. My mom is doing extremely well, my dad is a healthy 81 years old, my oldest son, Nathan, got married to a wonderful young woman named Nicole, my youngest son, Jacob, continues to do fantastic at college and will graduate in May, my husband and I are fat and happy, my brother and sisters and their families are all healthy and happy. We have a home, with a dry bed and food in our bellies, which is so much more than a lot of people have, and for that, we give thanks. I have friends that have lost their jobs, their homes and are in worse shape than they have ever been, but they haven't lost their faith and continue to remain thankful. It looks like Trina and her gang may move into the house across the street and I'm not sure who is more excited, she or I. Randy's "Misfits For Jesus" ministry is booming, which can be looked at in two different ways. Hallelujah, he is touching the lives of so many people. At the same time it is sad that there are so many that are homeless and in need of his services. Check out what he is doing at http://www.misfitsforjesus.com/. My sister, Sabrina, generously opened her house for all of us again this year for the Thanksgiving meal and it was scrumptious. Thanks, Bebe for all of your hard work. I will leave it to Trina to post pictures of that family gathering.

All in all, God has been VERY, VERY good to us this year and I am enormously thankful.

At this time of year I tend to get a little melancholy. One more year is past and it is time that I cannot get back. When I look at the pictures of my little boys, I can't help but be a little sad that those days are gone. The days of Santa Clause, of the excitement as they wrote their letters to the guy in red, the look on their faces when they got up on Christmas morning and saw the little elf footprints, that I had so painstakingly made from cornstarch, that led from the fireplace to the tree, the wonder in their faces as they watched the Christmas lights on all the houses as we drove home from Memaw and Pepaw's house on Christmas eve, the way saying "Santa Claus is watching you" was able to stop whatever naughty thing they were doing. I really miss those days and almost feel jealous of my friends that still have those little guys to enjoy the holidays with. But the memories are always there and now that they are grown, we have the opportunity to make new ones. A new daughter-in-law, new traditions to celebrate, and the excitement of waiting for them to come home are all new for me. I suppose that I will eventually get used to the new traditions, but for now, I miss the old days. I miss having my son right here with me. I miss the two little guys that are wearing those pilot's caps. I miss my daughter.

For those of you with little ones, cherish every moment. They will grow up fast enough and then you will look back and wonder where the time went. I know I do.

A New Understanding Of An Old Pledge

From My Own Little Corner Sorry for the three new posts in one day, but I had a lot to say. :) This was left in the comments sections on one of my Veteran's Day ireports thanking my dad and my father-in-law. It gives a whole new meaning to our Pledge of Allegiance.


"ONE NATION UNDER GOD"
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE

This is my right
Each day of my life
To honor my Country
In dawns early light

TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The place of my people
Who walked on these shores
Who fought and died for
The colors she bore

AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS

For a nation of many
Who came to be free
Oppressed and all broken
Who sought liberty

ONE NATION UNDER GOD

For power and glory
His name shall remain
We shall not relinquish
His light is our flame

INDIVISIBLE

Each state born together
In power shall reign
With God's hands upon us
Our power remains

WITH LIBERTY

For it is our right
And we shall be strong
To always remember
Where Glory belongs

AND JUSTICE

No panel of judges
Can choose what we say
Our Nation's allegiance
Will not change today

FOR ALL

We watch as these people
Who brought so much pain
Now given the same rights
This Nation ordained

We will not abandon
The rights we all share
God and our Nation
The glory we wear

So wave sacred colors
Of red, white and blue
Stand in allegiance
With God next to you

Daisy A Day

From My Own Little Corner When I see a picture of my mom and dad together, this song often pops into my mind, as it reminds me so much of them. It is by Hank Snow and to this day I cannot sing it without crying. So this is for mom and dad. I love you.


He remembers the first time he met her

He remembers the first thing she said

He remembers the first time he held her

And the night that she came to his bed

He remembers her sweet way of sayin'

Honey has something gone wrong

He remembers the fun and the teasin'

And the reason he wrote her this song



CHORUS

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

I'll give you a daisy a day

I'll love you until the rivers run still

And the four winds we know blow away



They would walk down the street in the evening

And for years I would see them go by

And their love that was more than the clothes that they wore

Could be seen in the gleam in their eyes

As a kid they would take me for candy

And I'd love to go taggin' along

We'd hold hands while we walked the corner

And the old man would sing her this song



CHORUS

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

I'll give you a daisy a day

I'll love you until the rivers run still

And the four winds we know blow away



Now he walks down the street in the evening

And he stops by the old candy store

And I somehow believe he's believin'

He's holdin' her hand like before

For he feels all her love walkin' with him

And he smiles at the things she might say

Then the old man walks up to the hill top

And gives her a daisy a day



CHORUS

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

I'll give you a daisy a day

I'll love you until the rivers run still

And the four winds we know blow away

For My Father

From My Own Little Corner This post was written on the 10th, to be published on Veteran's Day, November 11th. I can remember being a child and seeing my father in his dress blues and feeling like he was the hero of the world. He was sooooooo handsome and when he wore that uniform, I felt such a sense of pride. As I have gotten older, I have come to realize that I had many reasons to be proud of my dad, and the least of them was how he looked when he donned his military uniform. The uniform symbolizes, for me, all that is good about our Armed Forces. They work tirelessly for our country, first learning, and then teaching other young men and women, the skills that they will need to protect us. From how to work radios, read radar, fly planes, run ships, read and send code, how to march, follow instructions, drive tanks, use weapons, and many more than I cannot even begin to remember. These things alone are reason enough to be proud of our Armed Forces, but when you compare them with the ultimate sacrifices that they make for our country, they pale in comparison. They leave their families behind, go through a rigorous training regimen, live in foreign lands, fight in wars that no one really wants to fight-but somebody has to-under conditions that are barely livable, give up their limbs and the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. And for what? To guarantee that you and I can live our lives with a measure of freedom that is found no where else in this world. To all the veterans, thank you. To the wives, mothers, fathers, children, and all family members of veterans, thank you. To my father, you always were, and always will be, my hero. Thank you for fighting in Korea, thank you for being in the military, thank you for protecting my country, thank you for taking care of us, thank you for all the wonderful places that I got to see as a child (one of the perks), but most of all, thank you for fighting for my rights, the most important of which we all just exercised in this last election. Because of your sacrifice, we were able to go to the polls and do what many people in this world can only dream of, elect a new President to lead our wonderful country, The United States of America. So please, go out today and thank a veteran for their selfless sacrifice. Because of them you have the freedoms that you cherish so deeply. We must not forget that. May your God bless and keep, you, and yours. Pray for peace and enlightenment. I LOVE YOU, DAD!!!

58.5%*

From My Own Little Corner In the tradition of my baby sister, Catrina, I am doing my own version of wordless Wednesday, but with a few words as a forward. Regardless of your political affiliation, yesterday, November 4, 2008, was a historical day. This country made a giant leap forward in it's reputation as the greatest nation in the world. People of all races, genders, religions, ages, colors, and political backgrounds came together and voted. They waited for hours, in some cases, for the chance to exercise their constitutional right to vote. The turnout was unbelievable. As of the typing of this post, 125,244,014* people out of 213,005,467* eligible voters had placed their vote for the President of these United States of America. That is approximately 58.5%* of the people who are registered. The result was another monumental moment, in our remarkably long list of monumental moments, as a democracy. We finally may have put the behind us the most shameful part of our legacy, racism. At least I hope that we have. Here, then, are some pictures to commemorate this truly phenomenal day.

*these are new numbers available as of 11/10/2008

It's Showtime

From My Own Little Corner
Okay folks, we have had two years of electioneering and now it has come down to it. Tomorrow is election day. The first Tuesday of November, every four years, part of the American people go to the polls and elect a new a President. I say part because, although most people are registered to vote, a good portion of them do not exercise that constitutional right. I'm not sure why, but I do know that if this election has done nothing else, it has certainly electrified the voting masses. That is something that this country has needed for a long time. There are too many people who look at voting as a chore that they are not willing to do. It isn't, it is a privilege that thousands of our forefathers died defending. I think that it is time that we remembered that, and that we remember that our constitution guarantees us the freedoms of religion, speech, and to vote for the person for President that we feel is the best for our country, among our many other rights, and that our forefathers died for all these rights as well. Having said these things, I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind people that voting is one of the most important duties of every citizen. It is these freedoms that make the United States of America the great country that it is. So get out and vote. And if you decide not to, then don't come complaining to me when you think that things aren't going as you feel that should be. Because if you don't use your right to vote, then you have no right to b@#ch. May your God bless, and keep, you and yours.