Memorial Day- It’s No Picnic

May 26th, 2008 by Jennine

Flag Folding Flap

Memorial Day is a time to remember and honor all those who have died in American wars, a total that the Department of Veterans Affairs puts at more than 1.1 million. More than 1.1 million lives were spent for my freedom to openly worship God without fear of persecution or imprisonment, vote in a presidential election, engage in capitalism at a vegetable stand at the end of my road, and actively pursue happiness according to my God-given interests and talents.

John 15:13 says “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

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So if this great love has been shown to me, I have to ask myself this question:

How do I responsibly live out my life in light of the sacrifices over a half million men and women made for me?

While having an extended weekend to enjoy with my family is wonderful, including the BBQ’s, picnics and other festivities associated with Memorial Day, I can’t help but wonder why there isn’t more to this day of remembrance.

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As a natural born citizen, I was never required to take an oath to uphold the laws and ideals of this land. It was implied the moment I took my first breath. Consider what immigrants applying for citizenship must swear to:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

They must swear to support and defend the Constitution and yet I rarely consider my responsibility to do so. I live in the lap of spoiled American luxury where I’m comfortable letting the politicians handle my implied duty, occasionally complaining when a law is passed which I disagree with or dislike, but mostly blissfully ignorant of the subtle threats to the very thing our soldiers died for.

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Perhaps Memorial Day should be observed by determining to recommit ourselves to the principles on which our soldiers made their last stand. Please consider the following essay written by Jeff Head from Petition Online:

The times that try the souls of American patriots and defenders of true liberty are no stranger to the sovereign union of the united States of America. From its founding, and the battles and campaigns that marked the tremendous struggle against the tyranny of England; through the crisis of the horrific “War between the States”; through the conflagrations which conspiring minds and tyrants drew it into in World Wars I and II; to the increasingly mortal moral, political, and spiritual decline and military squandering of the last 30 years; … the heart and soul of American patriots and their liberty have continuously been tried in the forges of sacrifice, commitment, duty and honor.

Of all of these, the decline of this Republic and every defining foundational principles upon which it rests over the last decades, are without doubt the most threatening. A free people cannot survive or endure in indolence, apathy, complacency, immorality, amorality, licentiousness and lasciviousness. Every ounce of reason in any virtuous and honorable heart cries out that to enjoy true liberty, a people must be moral and retain their virtue. Else, they will not know from whence their liberties derive. Else they will deny the heritage and birthright of the very derivation of their liberty. Else they will demand for themselves every indulgence, craving, vice and perversion imaginable at whatever cost. Else they will invite tyranny to either maintain a corrupted public order (at the point of the sword), or they will be trodden under by more powerful, more committed peoples who desire the land and its riches for themselves.

Such calamities have befallen this Republic and are its sad state today. Although largely untested as a people over the last fifty years in terms of physical discomfort and immediate threats to material wealth and perceived security, yet it has been threatened, attacked and largely overcome in its soul. What remains, unless somehow restored to the moral and virtuous character which attracted many to its shores for so long, is but an empty husk awaiting the inevitable physical storm which will topple it.

There are enemies who know this and who are basking in the near fulfillment of their plans to take advantage of this condition and benefit from it. Their vision of “World Governance” requires that the foundational principles upon which this nation rests, which are capable of producing and maintaining sovereign individuals, localities and States, bound together in an eternal union, must vanish from the earth. This would allow their socio-fascist “3rd Way” dominion to come about. Sadly, by all accounts, and by the very testimony that ones own eyes and senses impart with each passing day, their efforts have been largely successful.

But the principles upon which liberty is founded are true and eternal. They are endowed by the Creator upon all mankind. That same Creator watches over the affairs of nations. Whether one understands or comprehends this is immaterial to the truth of it. As long as such knowledge is held in the hearts and minds of moral and virtuous, reasoned individuals, restoration and ultimate triumph remain possible.

Let us be direct. The time for choosing a course of vigilance is likely past … but if it is not, then it must be now. If the people do not pay such a price in generous and copious amounts immediately, urgently … then soon the ultimate triumph of liberty will come only at the price of the blood of patriots and tyrants. Such conditions, history teaches us, will be couched in the suffering and death of millions.

Let all the complacent and apathetic take warning. Let conspiring and aspiring politicians who have anything other than the preservation of true liberty be forewarned. Let the power mongers hear the resolve of patriots and shake at the sound thereof. Let the decrepit and perverse beware and turn from their ways. Let tyrants fear for their lives. Let those whom would take advantage back away. Let foreign institutions and powers shrink from their wanton designs. As surely as night follows day, unless all such turn from their current path, and unless the hemorrhage of virtue is stemmed … a reckoning and a conflagration is coming. Its approach is etched on the collective consciousness.

Choose well what side of that conflagration one stands upon, for there is a wind rising, there is an awakening occurring in the hearts of a those who will not allow liberty and the principles upon which it rests, to go away quietly into the night. The collision of the forces of morality, virtue and liberty on the one hand, and indolence, self indulgence, vice and tyranny on the other hand is inevitable. It will be forced on the former by the latter. The only thing which can avoid a fiery collision will be the people as a whole, immediately welcoming and initiating a revival of morality and virtue which forces the tyrant and the decrepit out of the public eye and consideration by their very numbers. Otherwise, a dark storm will break upon this land and engulf it. The rapidity with which it will break, and the severity with which it will strike, will be an amazement and astonishment to all. The consequences which it metes out, and the report thereof, will become a crushing blow to the hearts and minds of those who must suffer through it, or even hear of it, until the contest is decided and liberty is restored to its true foundation.

From the unheard voices of tens of millions whose opportunity for life and liberty are snuffed out before being allowed to take a breath, from the voices of the thousands whose lives are being devastated or taken as a result of ever encroaching tyranny, from the wild hills of northern Idaho, from the fires of Waco, from the ruined skeletal walls in Oklahoma City, as a result of the lies, manipulations and deceptions of tyrants and the decrepit, a veritable chorus calling for a reckoning, calling for a return to the Constitutional intent of our founders is rising in its volume and its urgency. It is a sound that cannot, indeed, it is a sound that WILL NOT, go unheard or unheeded.

It is therefore evident that the full flavor of liberty will only be savored by those willing to undergo the hardship and travail of defending it. No principle or belief system, that was not worthy of sacrificing one’s all to maintain, was ever capable of producing the conviction, responsibility and moral virtue required for true liberty. That same Creator who endows upon all their unalienable rights to life, liberty and property, and who is the author of the morality and virtue which define the equitable exercise thereof, has set a high price on liberty which our generation must be prepared to account for. How will that accounting be made? … It is up to us.

In the words of one of the great founders, which words have sounded in the throats of patriots throughout our history as they faced the times which tried their souls, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”.

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“A free people cannot surive or endure in indolence, apathy, complacency, immorality, amorality, licentiousness and lasciviousness.”

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Why is our nation worthy of sacrifice? And how can we ensure that our nation remains worthy? How can we, as American people, remain worthy of the ultimate sacrifice? The first question is answered by men and women brave enough to serve in our armed services. The second is to be answered by the American public, the citizens of this great nation. The third question is for each of us to ask ourselves. Are you living a life worth a soldier’s ultimate sacrifice?

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After Memorial Day is over and you go back to work, dedicate yourself to making their sacrifice worthwhile. Take an interest and get involved in what it means to be an American. Help others understand the importance being an American and living out the American dream. We have life and liberty and must guard them both, but we are only provided the opportunity to pursue happiness, not happiness itself. Whether or not you achieve happiness is up to you, and not the responsibility of our government.

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Your life, and mine, comes at a very high price. We cannot forget.

Below are some ways to honor all those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen — those who have refreshed the tree of liberty with their blood, indeed with their lives, so that we might remain the proud and free.

Military, Veterans & Patriotic Service Organizations of America

Freedom Is Not Free

USO

Soldier Angels

Olive Branch International

Hire A Hero

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Amish Autism? Is There Such A Thing?

May 12th, 2008 by Jennine

Note: I happened to come across a site that is relevant to this post. It’s worth looking at:  Informed Choice

From Yahoo News Today:

Families will make case for vaccine link to autism By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 12, 7:34 AM ET

WASHINGTON - The Institute of Medicine said in 2004 there was no credible evidence to show that vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal led to autism in children. But thousands of families have a different take based on personal experience.

Some of them are going to court Monday as attorneys will attempt to show that the mercury-based preservative triggers symptoms of autism.

Two 10-year-old boys from Portland, Ore., will serve as test cases to determine whether many of the children and their families should be compensated. Attorneys for the boys will attempt to show the boys were happy, healthy and developing normally — but, after being exposed to vaccines with thimerosal, they began to regress.

Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood vaccines, except flu vaccines that are not packaged in single-doses. The CDC says single-dose flu shots currently are available only in limited quantities. In 2004, a committee with the Institute of Medicine concluded there was no credible evidence that vaccines containing thimerosal caused autism.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Contentment

February 13th, 2008 by Jennine

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This article, written by Laine from Laines Letters, really drives home the idea of how important it is to be content even through difficult circumstances. I’ll admit, I complain WAY too much when the going gets tough. I tend to be content only when things are going my way, the way I planned or hoped.  I want to see my circumstances through the lense of what God can do through them rather than how I must endure them. Read this great perspective:

Dear Sisters,

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

There was a time in my life when I was homeless. My parents had been in the middle of a bitter divorce when the LORD miraculously healed their marriage. However the ravages of the divorce proceedings took much of what we had in N.H. And what we had was a lot in the world’s eyes. My parents had a beautiful two story home with a built in bar and rotisserie along with a built in aquarium and fountain between two spacious living rooms. They had a big, black cadillac. They had a beautiful cabin cruiser boat with a driving deck on top. My younger brother and I attended a private school. My father had two high paying jobs. By the world’s standards we had it all.

Then my parents started to have trouble in their marriage. The trouble lasted for three years with my father leaving and coming back and leaving again. Finally he left for good. I remember my mother breaking every one of our dishes in the corner cabinet out of sheer frustration. I remember my father begging her to open the door very early one morning with my brother and I crying beside her; she resolutely kept the curtain shut and the door firmly locked. I remember my mother stealing the cadillac from my father’s work late one night (my father had disabled it) and having it impounded for it was registered in her name. I remember my dad getting the worse divorce lawyer in town who was known for his cruelty. The man lived up to his name in my parent’s divorce proceedings. I remember my mother tearing up her wedding picture and packing my father’s belongings while leaving them on my grandmother’s front lawn with the destroyed picture on top. I remember my mother throwing her wedding rings in the kitchen trash and my digging for them at my father’s insistence after she left the room. I remember the lights being turned off when my father didn’t pay the electrical bill and my grandmother bringing us a casserole and candles for dinner. I remember my mother going to work as an Avon lady after being a homemaker all my life. I remember the cadillac being replaced with a yellow Volkswagen bug that didn’t start very well and had no heat in freezing temperatures. I remember my mother giving me homemade doll clothes one Christmas while my father brought in box after box of beautifully wrapped large gifts for us kids. I remember all our belongings being sold from room to room. The vacuum went for one dollar. I remember my brother suffering silently but revealing it through constant physical problems. I remember being given one box to put my things from my room and crying that I might be given a bigger box. I put the handmade doll clothes in the box and still have them to this day. I was eleven years old and the world was a painful place.

How did it all change? My mother gave her heart fully to Christ. She started crying less and singing more. Every chance we got we were in church. She was always reading her Bible and praying. My mother took people in to help bring in an income. We had a lovely Christian teacher stay with us one semester. We bicycled and walked through the cemetery reading head stones with my mother for something inexpensive to do. We picked blueberries for days on end during the blueberry season to use in the winter. We prayed every night that my dad might repent, give his life to Christ, and come home. In the mean time my mother played gospel music very, very loud while singing from the kitchen. She had a regular Bible study with a missionary woman from church who helped her to speak kindly to my dad. My brother started to get help from a Christian counselor which helped stop some of his physical problems. Where my mom had taken from my dad before, now she gave to him. She gave my dad the boat. She gave my dad the house. She stopped talking to my dad and started writing letters to him. It was easier to express herself in a letter and not get angry. My dad started writing back. The pastor visited my dad at his work. My dad knew many people were praying for him. One day my dad packed it all up and left the state in his new blue convertible car. He left his two jobs. He left his family. He went as far away from us all as he could. He went from N.H. to California.

My mother trusted God. She was excited to see what God would do. The house was up for sale. “Our future was in His Hands,” she would say, as “The King Is Coming” would sound forth loudly from the stereo. She sent me to a Christian camp for two weeks (paid for by our little church). It was at this camp that I broke down the last night. My counselor came outside where I had fled and asked me if I would like to give my life to Christ. I nodded “yes” and had a hard time praying with her. God was using the divorce like gold in His Hand.

My father, on the other side of the country, was now selling Kirby vacuums. The vacuum store was across the street from a Gospel preaching church. My father decided to visit the church because the people coming out of it looked so happy. It wasn’t long before he gave his life to Christ. But he didn’t want to go back home. He was content right where he was. He was content receiving my mother’s letters and attending his new church. The LORD moved him back when his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. My father led my grandfather to the LORD on his deathbed. He then packed up our family and moved us all to California. All across America he kept telling us about this great church that we were going to attend.

We lived in a volkswagen van for months and months parked at night at a rest stop just out of town. Then we started sleeping on the floor of the vacuum store once everyone had left after 10:00 p.m. I heard my mother complain only once when she longed for a shower. The next place we lived was with a Christian family that my mother had met at the laundromat next to the vacuum store. They had a daughter that was not nice to me. I remember needing to borrow a dress from her for school pictures. She came and got me out of class that day and told me that she had decided she wanted to wear the dress I had on. I had to go to the restroom with her and switch dresses. It was a very humbling experience to walk back into class with a different dress on.

Again, the LORD was teaching me to be content in the circumstances that He put me in. I learned a lot by watching my mother change from being contentious to being content. Her new attitude affected a big change in my father and a big change in me. My father who had previously held two prestigious jobs was now selling vacuums with Godly conviction while taking the best care of us that he could in a volkswagen van. He built a little cooler in the van for us so that we might have cold milk. He made two beds in there for my brother and I and for my mother and himself. He made wonderful meals for us in a pressure cooker on top of a little Coleman burner. He made two cat beds for my mom’s much loved cats. He played Christian music for us from a stereo he rigged up between the two front seats. “The King Is Coming” still sounded forth loudly from the stereo. He waited patiently while my mother went to the rest stop bathrooms to wash and curl her hair or to walk her cats on the grass. He tried to find the safest place for us to spend the night. He pulled a tiny trailer behind us which housed my beloved box from my room. And he took us faithfully to his much loved Gospel preaching church.

We had a lot of laughs and fun in our van. Things were pleasantly different between my mom and dad and getting better all the time. I remember my mom and I laughing when a boy invited me to the seventh grade dance. We laughed because we wondered where he would find our van parked to pick me up. I remember my brother asking my father over and over if he was going to leave again; and my father gently assuring him that he wasn’t. My brother soon returned to his jovial boyhood self.

The LORD is awesome. The LORD is awesome. Not one thing in my life has He wasted. It is all used for His Perfect Will and His Glory. The pain. The joys. He is our awesome, awesome God.

Now my parents live next door to me. I am very close to both of them. They are very close to my husband, my children, and my in-laws. We call them “Missionaries on Wheels” for they spend six months out of the year in their motor home traveling around America and Mexico. Whoever they touch, His Presence has been known and shown. My mother is a prayer warrior with much faith. My father has the gift of helps and has given so much to many people. This year they helped build two churches in Mexico sometimes using only a tuna can to dig through the rubble. They are an incredible team. We still attend my dad’s Gospel preaching church. Truly my parents are God’s gift to me. Am I crying? You bet.

Love,

Laine

Oh, and the ripped wedding picture is now taped together and pasted back in my parent’s wedding album. The Father used His Insoluble Glue: Jesus Christ Our LORD. When I look at the mended picture, I see the power of the Living God. Strength perfected in weakness.

“I love you, LORD, my strength.” Psalms 18:1

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