Memorial Day Thoughts and Blessings

"Oh say, can you see

By the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed

At the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watched,

Were so gallantly, yeah, streaming?

And the rockets' red glare

The bombs bursting in air

Gave proof through the night

That our flag was still there

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free 

and the home of the brave!"

Thank You, Lord, for so many who have gone before us, fighting valiantly for the safety and protection of our great nation, and the freedoms we hold so dearly.

Help us remember and honor them today in our hearts, 

and never forget what it cost those brave soldiers and pioneers so that we could have the blessings of 

living in still the greatest nation in the world.

May it ever be blessed by You, Lord, and let us not take these freedoms for granted.

Help us remember that freedom is not free. It was paid by the blood of those who loved this country so much that they were willing to fight and lay down their lives for our sake.

May we never forget their sacrifice.

Amen.

John 15:13 

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"

Have a blessed Memorial Day, dear friends,

and take a moment to honor the memory of those great men and women

who gave their lives for us.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a few Bluebird pictures...Yes, father Bluebird is still busily feeding his young family. Mother Bluebird is as well.

These pictures were taken last evening, and the lighting was getting dim, so they are not as clear as I'd like, but they are great close ups of father bluebird with supper in his mouth...ready to feed his hungry brood.

However, I learned that as long as I was sitting there on the porch taking his picture, he would not go to the birdhouse and feed them.

He soon flew away because I had not left yet.

And because of this pitiful face looking out the window, hungrily awaiting his supper, I decided I'd best go inside and allow them to be fed.

Usually around Memorial day we try to plant something in our Memorial Garden in memory of our son Matthew. He passed away from his valiant battle with cancer on May 25, 2014, which was actually Memorial Day weekend that year. And so every Memorial Day brings back those memories to us.

Recently, my sister Doris had given me a lovely new azalea bush, which she intended for us to put in the Memorial Garden. I've had it for a little while, but we just hadn't gotten around to planting it.

So over the weekend our son Scott finally planted it for me. It was starting to get a bit stressed from the heat and needed to get planted.

It doesn't look like much right now, but it will soon perk up and begin growing, and by next spring we should have some lovely azalea blossoms on it. We planted alongside some other smaller azalea bushes that we had planted earlier this spring in the "Secret Memorial Garden".

(Secret Garden and Memorial Garden combined)

When we come and sit in this lovely cool spot beside Still Waters Pond, we know that Matthew would be very pleased to be remembered here of all places. If he were still with us, he'd be out there fishing in that pond every chance he could.

Okay, what are you doing today to commemorate this day of remembrance?

Our church family is going to have a picnic today at the church parsonage.  It is a kind of celebration of coming through the pandemic this past year without losing any member of our church due to Covid. We were extremely blessed and very thankful. Our congregation is made up of primarily senior citizens over 70 years of age. The only person we even know who was diagnosed with Covid was actually a younger person in his 30's, and he came through just fine.  We are counting our blessings for sure. God has been very gracious to us and we give Him much thanks.

Have a blessed and beautiful day today.