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... no, I did not misspell that. Here is a couple of GREAT ideas that I thought I would share with you. These are ideas based on actual event going on in our own country RIGHT NOW.
1. Let's host a public school sponsored holiday concert that different groups can sign up for to perform thier traditional holiday music. But lets not permit a local Christian group to perform "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night" so as not to offend anyone. The Jewish, Muslim and Kwanzaa celebratory music is okay, because to alienate them would be racial discrimination. This actually happened in a public elementary school this past week.
2. Now, in the ever increasing offensiveness that is the Christian religion, let's prevent our employees from saying "Merry Christmas" to arriving customers, so as to not offend anyone. Remember, retail is the reason for the season. Even better yet, let's forgo any recognition of Christian celebrations at all in the retail chain store "Target" and have thier holiday promotion all say, "Have a Happy Winter Soltice!" After all, everybody seems to forget the practicers of witchcraft this time of year. We might make them feel unwanted to do otherwise.
3. You know what? This should take care of anyone who might get the wrong idea about Christmas. Let's just remove Christ from Christmas altogether, and call it X-Mas. Sure Christmas is about the birth of Christ and all, but that might alienate our athiest public and redirect the shoppers somewhere else, bruising thier shatered egos.
I am not just tired of this. I am angry. You walk up to a Jewish business owner and tell him he can't display his menora in the window or the Star of David, and the ACLU will be all over you like white on rice.
But let a widow put up a manger on her front line, and the city files an affidavit to force you to take it down, citing that by displaying such an item is insensitive to the beliefs of other people and religions.
There's nothing wrong with being a Christian, just be sure to keep it to yourself, or we will throw you in jail.
I know that is not quite what is going on, but to me it seems that it is not that far off. The current government and economic powers that be are trying to prevent us from worshiping the way we see fit as directed by God because they claim that it violates the 'separation of church and state' clause of the first amendment.
There is no such clause. The phrase "separation of church and state" doesn't even appear anywhere in the constitution. It comes from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 to answer a letter from them written in October 1801. The Danbury Baptists were a religious minority in Connecticut, and they complained that in their state, the religious liberties they enjoyed were not seen as immutable rights, but as privileges granted by the legislature - as "favors granted."
Jefferson's reply did not address their concerns about problems with state establishment of religion - only that on the national level. The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," which led to the short-hand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state." (http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html)
The current generation is fooling themselves by believing that United States was not fouded on Christian priciples. It was founded by pilgrims who left England so that they might escape the oppresive royal government and worship God as thier religions required.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, First Chief Justice John Jay, names synonymous with the spirit of our country. Founding fathers of the U.S.A.
Over 200 years ago they shook off the chains of tyranny from Great Britain
by divine call citing 27 BIBLICAL violations they wrote the Declaration of Independence with liberty and justice for all.
Of the 55 men who formed the Constitution fifty-two were active members of their church. Founding fathers like Noah Webster who wrote the first dictionary could literally quote the Bible chapter and verse.
James Madison said, "We've staked our future on our ability to follow
the Ten Commandments with all our heart." These men believed you couldn't even call yourself an American if you subvert the Word of God.
In his farewell address, Washington said, "You cannot have national morality apart from religious principle," and it's true.
Abe Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government of the next." So when you eliminate the Word of God from the classroom and politics you eliminate the nation that Word protects.
Since Engel v. Vitale in 1962, America is now number one is teen pregnancy and violent crime. Number one in illiteracy, drug use, and divorce. Everyday a new holocaust of 5,000 unborn die, while pornography floods our streets like open sewers.
America's dead and dying hand is on the threshold of the Church, while the spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah vex us all. When it gets to the point where people would rather come out of the closet than clean it, it's a sign that the judgment of God is going to fall.
History tells us time and time again to live like there's no God makes you a fool! If you want to see kids live right stop handing out condoms and start handing out the Word of God in schools!
The beauty part of it is this. When they tell thier employees to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, I have to laugh inside because the root word of holiday is "holy." Therefore to all these perpetuators of Christian persecution I say, "Happy Holydays!"
Peace and Good Will to us All, through God's grace within Jesus Christ.
Happy Holydays! |
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I found out a short while ago that the divorce rate among military families with a soldier deployed overseas is currently at about 70%. That is a staggering number if you think about it. If you have an army company with one hundred married troops deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, it is expected that around 70 of them will get divorced as a result of events that transpired while they are over there. Whether it be the soldier or the soldiers spouse.
I find that my strongest pillar of my strength is my faith in my Lord, Jesus Christ. I hear stories about spouses back home getting lonely and seeking comfort in the arms of another and even stories about deployed soldiers (while rare because they don't have much time to sleep let alone carouse) satisfying carnal desire while overseas, even though thier loved one is at home diligently awaiting thier return.
Does this mean that I believe that this may happen to me? I seriously doubt it. But nonetheless, temptation is the realm of the devil and he uses this, his strongest of tols against the righteous on a farely regularly basis in a manner of forms.
In my case it is dreams. I have long suffered from troubling dreams about my realtionship with my wife. Most of it stems from a failed marriage with an unfaithful wife when I was just ninteen in South Dakota. Since I have been married to Angelina, I have had dreams that she has taken the children and left me. The reason in my dreams for her leaving has never been quite clear. The one thing I have noticed about any cause is that she is usually agry at me for something that I am unaware of and she will not tell me no matter what I inquire of her.
Usually I only have these dreams if we are separated for whatever reason for a substatial amount of time. I have not had these dreams for a long while.
In the last few days however, they have begun to resurface. But they are different in a major way that makes them even more unsettling. In these new versions of the dream, my wife has taken to leaving without reason, but she doesn't take the kids with her, and she refrains herself from showing me any affection.
I know that the devil is using these dreams as a form of temptation to break my confidence in my wife's fidelity and to possibly break up a relationship that is forged in the fires of God's love. Angelina and I are both professed Christians and we both walk firmly in the path of Christ. I have no doubt about the strenth of her morals or integrity. The only reason that I am not insanely pulling my hair out at the root these days is because of my faith in the Lord. I wish more people had the same resolve in thier religious convictions.
The fact of the matter is that more and more poeple marry because of what they feel is a meaningful relationship that usually amount to nothing more than a satisfying lustful romp. They get married young and six months down the road, the physical relationship is no ,longer new and exciting and one or both of them find pleasure in someone new, dissolving a bond formed by God.
The Lord never gives us an obstacle that we cannot overcome, this is true. The thing is, most of us can't overcome these obstacles with out God. It may seem like a catch twenty-two to some, but it is His way of strengthening your faith and character for some situation down the road where you are REALLY going to need his love and guidance. He wants to make sure you have all the tools necessary to tackle any given situation that may be put in the road before you.
That is why it is said that He test those he feels are worthy.
Have you ever noticed that He tests everybody, sinner and believer alike?
That's because He feels EVERYONE is worthy of His love and effort. He desires that no one fall short of His grace (though even the Bible says that we ALL do, whether we are saved or not)and all of us spend an eternity with him.
He allows the serpent to tempt us with the forbidden fruit to test our resolve and strengthen us when we come through the trials with flying colors, albeit we may not comes out without any scars. But thoughs scars remind us of the times we walked through the fire and came out alive.
Alive in Him.
I know where these dreams are coming from. They are NOT coming from my Lord, and they will not deter my Love or confidence in Angelina.
Ever.
So go ahead, Lucifer. Hit me with your best shot. I cover myself with the armor of the Lord. I wade in His love and stand in His grace. Afflict me with all the dreams that you wish, because in the end, I've read the Bible, and I know how the story ends.
Doesn't look promising for you, buddy.
Peace |
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I was trying on my new Star Trek uniform I recieved in the mail today when there was a knock at the door. Upon opening I see two members of the Pierce County Search and Rescue team. They inform me that yesterday morning, a little girl went missing.
The girl, Adreanna Jackson, was last seen at about 7:45 a.m. near Portland and Orchard streets in the Tillicum area of Lakewood in Pierce County.
Her father walked her part way to school not knowing that school was cancelled due to snow.
She has been missing now for over 24 hours. They tell me this just after I let my my two older girls go with a friend to the apartment building behind us to thier friend's house to play.
This is the first time I have ever let them out of my sight. Sure I watched them go over there, but it still leaves a parent with an uneasy feeling. Let alone what Adreanna's parents must be feeling right now.
Suddenly I really want to hug and kiss my girls. I have already been through the loss of one child, I'm not sure I would be able to keep sane if I lost another. I certainly hope that my mother-in-law doesn't hear about this, which she probably will, because it is all over the news right now. Amber goes to school with this little girl. She's not in the same class, but that is still WAY TOO CLOSE for my comfort.
I guess what I am trying to say right now is that no matter how bad your situation may be, thank God and count your blessings because there is always someone else who is going through something far worse than you are.
So go hug and kiss your children, or even your grandchildren, you never know when you won't have that opportunity anymore.
Peace |
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We all knnow how the rest of the phrase goes, in one form or another depending on where you grew up. But what brings this phrase to mind is this. I donwloaded a free karaoke program for my PC yesterday after a conversation with the apartment manager regarding things she likes to do.
It reminded me of how much I too enjoy karaoke. What better way to bone up or break into the hobby than in the privacy (in an apartment complex?) of your own home. As for quite a few of us it is probably bett for the audial health of the world if we keep it that way. Nevertheless, I realised that the microphone I had attached to the computer was sub-standard for use with karaoke, So I went to the PX and purchased a traditional cardioid mic and plugged it in. VOILA!
After I belted a few Elvis tunes wearing boxers, a white dress shirt, socks and black sunglasses (just kidding, but there was an Elvis song in there somewhere as I recall) my three daughters soon discovered that they too enjoyed karaoke! Amber is apparently a budding Mariah Carey and loves to sing ABBA's ever popular "dancing Queen."
Patricia was cool with just about any song that was played but she preferred to literally speak the words with flair and it came out sounding like a two year old's version of William Shatner's "Rocketman" remake. Cute though.
What took me by surprise, though was Linda's request for "the soldier song" which I wasn't quite sure what she was referring to. Apparently I have been listening to "American Soldier" by Toby Keith WAY too much lately, as she began to sing word-for-word the song, until she finished.
I hadn't even turned on the karaoke program yet.
It was heart-warming, and cute too, when she got to the parts that say, "I'm an Amercian Soldier" she really turns up the heat and has these little rockstar poses she assumes while the music is actually accompanying her vocals. I just wish I owned a mini DV camera because that is definitely one that would have been sent to Angelina.
The girls love all the soldiers out here and simply insist on saying "hi" to any troop that comes within visual range.
It is nearly hell just trying to shop in the PX with all that camouflage surrounding them.
So in closing I had just assumed that they wouldn't find it very entertaining.
I guess you know what that makes me look like now, don't you?
Peace |
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Something happened this morning that I am not sure what to make of it. My wife called me this morning to let me know she had arrived from location of training to location of mission. The nature of thier mission over there does not allow much time for familial communication. She has called me twice since leaving, and sent me a one line email saying pretty much "love you, talk more later."
Well this morning she calls me at 2 am and asks, "How is everything going?" I began to say, "You haven't had a chance to check your email have you?"
But before I could even finish the sentence, she sad "OH SHIT! I gotta move, I love you."
click
*shiver*
It could very easily be nothing, but that is enought to rattle the senses. I will be waiting on pins and needles until I hear from her again, not knowing the cause of her sudden start and reaction.
I love you , Angelina. God be with us all.
Peace |
| » Love is falling frm the sky. |
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My wife grew up in L.A. I am a small-town boy from South Dakota myself and I have more than seen my fair share of winter weather.
On our first date while we were both stationed in Korea, we went to a movie we both regretted watching called the spitfire grill. When we came out it was snowing (nothing new to me)she said to me, "Keep walking, I'll catch up in a minute. A split second later I was head square in the back of the head with a snowball. When I turned around I see this cute little mexican girl with a grin from ear to ear giggling like a schoolgirl, making a snow angel.
She quickly informed me that she hadn't ever seen snow before and she couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Then she spent two years with me in South Dakota, never tiring as I did of the snow.
The reason I bring this up today was as I was doing some music editing I glanced up at the window to see the sky filled with huge snowflakes that were quickly covering the ground.
Snow makes me think of her.
Merry Christmas, honey. This is your present from God.
Nov. 29th, 2005 @ 10:35 am
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| » Growing Up Too Fast? |
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I just tasked my six year old to go through her nine drawer bureau, and neatly place everything on the bed, then to place everything bag in the drawers in a particular manner due to the fact that we just moved here and my girls now have to share a dresser. She is diligently following instructions regardless of the fact that her two sisters are running around in thier room playing and bugging her.
Not too long after my two year old informed me that the TV is not working (which usually means that the movie is over)and I immediately called out to Amber to fix it. She said okay, and paused from her laundry task to change the two year olds movie out for "Madagascar."
The thought crossed my mind that my six year old seems to be very technologically inclined. There is a level of pride that came along with that thought, but it also made me ponder the possible situations that she may face in the year that mommy is in Iraq. She may be asked to deal with some things that a six year wouldn't be normally expected to tackle.
I am a father of four girls (our first, Kimberly, died in a car accident when she was four months old) and Iwe are now faced with mommy being away and not able to do the things that a mommy normally would do.
It seems that Amber's instinct, even at six years old are automatically kicking in. The other night I observed her reading a bedtime story to her sisters. She is beginning to fill in the roll as much as she can at six years old, of mother to her sisters, four and two years old. I am tearing up just typing this. If that makes me a sissy than you can go to hell because it makes me mighty proud of my six year old.
I can only imagine what my wife is thinking and feeling while she reads this from 9000 miles away.
I really don't want to make her grow up any faster than necessary, that is a situation that I faced growing up. But at the same time, we live in turbulent times and changing times call for diversity, strength and fortitude.
All of which I see in my oldest daughter, Amber.
Peace
Nov. 28th, 2005 @ 03:40 pm
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| » The Definition of a Two Year Old's Love... |
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I wish I were a Vulcan, like Mr. Spock. Then I could use my amazing mental abilities to randomly probe the thoughts of my children.
For example:
I would love to know what is going through my two year olds mind when I ask her for a kiss, or tell her that I love her, and she smiles at me and then sticks out her tongue and gives me a raspberry.
Or when I explain something to my six year when she asks a question that she doesn''t quite buy my reasoning and gives me that, "Dad, your so full of shit" look.
At the very least I could give my daughters a more valid feeling about why the Army took mommy away from us for so long.
My four year old just told me that all will be well as long as I give them one of the chocolate-chip cookies I baked last night.
Hmph.
Out of the mouth of babes.
Peace.
Nov. 28th, 2005 @ 10:56 am
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| » Good Day Sunshine |
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Haven't heard from Angelina in a couple of days. I am sure that there will be time where a couple of weeks or more may go by that I will not hear from her, but it still sucks not being in the know. I could better handle this if I at least had the slightest Idea of what she was doing, or how her day went.
Woke up this morning to get Amber off to school only to find that my coffee pot was broken. Argh! Hope that is not a foreteller of my week to come. End of month is quickly approaching, so I can guage for the first time how I stand with finances and everything since becoming an Army spouse. New bills have already started to roll in. So far everything looks good.
Nov. 28th, 2005 @ 08:01 am
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| » A Song of Longing and Diligence... |
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I re-wrote the lyrics to Toby Kieth's "American Soldier" to reflect my position as an Army Husband:
She’s an American Soldier
I'm just trying to be a father
Raise three daughters on my own
For my soldier is their mother
And right now she's not at home
Cause she rolled out Friday, early
All business in her suit
I pray God gives her success
And she comes home to me soon.
I support her from the home front
And I worry every day
That her mission sends her somewhere
That puts her in harms way
Taking care of our three children's my responsibility
And I just can't let her worry
That there's something wrong with me
And I can't call in sick on Mondays
when the weekends been too strong
I just work straight through the holidays
And sometimes all night long
You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey, I'm true down to the core
Cause she will always do her duty no matter what the price
She's counted up the cost, she knows the sacrifice
She said, "I don't want to die for you
but if dyin's asked of me
I'll bear that cross with honor
'cause freedom don't come free."
She's an American soldier, an American
beside her brothers and her sisters she will proudly take a stand
When Liberty's in jeopardy, she will always do what's right
So I'm back here on the home front
Tossin' through the night
American soldier, she's an American soldier
Yeah, an American soldier, an American
Beside her brothers and her sisters she will proudly take a stand
When Liberty's in jeopardy she will always do what's right
She's out there on the front line
So you can sleep in peace tonight
American soldier, she's an American
An American, an American, an American soldier
Nov. 27th, 2005 @ 11:42 pm
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| » Trepidation |
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I have noticed that there are all sorts of support groups that handle military wives and thier problems. While I understand that the largest portion of military spouses are female. We army husbands DO exist and I find the lack of male related support items to be appaling.
Every time I go into the PX or the clothing & sales, I find a ton of pink tee-shirts, coffe mugs and bumper stickers that say some form of, "Proud Army Wife." As a veteran myself I have absolutely no problem with spouses showing pride and supporting thier servicemen, but I think some more thought needs to go into these items.
I did however find a cute item in the PX the other day that they apparently can't give away, I felt would be great for my oldest daughter. It is a dog tag that reads, "My MOM is serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom." It appears that the dog tag addressing fathers has been out of stock for some time. Once again as expected. My wife noticed these discrepancies as well before she deployed. She told me over the phone the other day that she finally found a tee-shirt thtat read, "Army Husband."
In Kuwait.
Ah well. I don't know if there really is nothing worth talking about when she calls besides her complaints about all the hurry-up-and-wait stuff she is running into right now, or if what she would like to tell me she cannot for OpSec reasons. It's kinda cute when she talks to my mother in law using a code they worked out for people and locations.
I can't wait for my middle child to start her classes in school so I only have to drag the youngest around with me when I run errands. I forgot how inappropriate a place like a military administrative office of any kind can be for children. Been seven years since I even had the need to walk into one. That was active duty.
Now I know what my mother was talking about when she complainied about not being able to get anything done at the Tri-Care office with us around. Later on I'll get into my thoughts about what it is we are "doing" over there.
Oh, yeah, one last thought. Who crazy-ass idea was it to cancel FX's, "Over There?" I ought to monkey-stomp the jackass who thought that was a good move. Finally a close to accurate presentation of what our troops see and feel, and they go and cancel it. I can only watch, "Off to War" so many times before I can't stand it anymore. I must have seen the whole series six time by now.
Peace
Nov. 27th, 2005 @ 09:03 pm
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