Happy Independence Day!!

Happy Independence Day! 

When I think of how blessed we are to live in the land of the free...because of the "brave"...and their sacrifices for us...well, it can be truly overwhelming.

What a beautiful way to start the morning...

Remember when we recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school? That was the first thing we did before beginning our work for the day. We took it for granted that our people would always feel just that proud and thankful to live in such a wonderful land and have such freedoms.

Regardless of what may be happening in Washington, D.C. these days, whether or not we agree with everything or nothing at all, I hope we can still agree that we are privileged to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.  We need to pray for our nation every single day, because these freedoms we hold so dear are becoming very fragile. There are enemies circling our land with evil intentions because they do not appreciate the freedom we so take for granted. They are waiting, like a crouching lion, watching for our most vulnerable moment, when we aren't looking, and they are preparing to pounce upon us and destroy us...not only from without, but from within.

So continue to be vigilant, be prepared, and most of all be PRAYING for our country, our leaders, our friends and neighbors and families.  Don't let this great United States become divided, disloyal, and destroyed.  

Hear what God said to King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

"13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, 

or command the locusts to devour the land, 

or send pestilence among My people, 

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, 

and pray and seek My face, 

and turn from their wicked ways, 

then I will hear from heaven, 

and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Here's what's on one of my calendars for July:

Wow! We sure need that reminder, don't we?  Our freedoms are not to be used to do whatever we please in our own flesh or to hurt or injure another life by our so called "freedoms".... but to love and serve one another...

So let us remember on this 4th of July to put our trust in God and not in men or other "powers"...

"7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;

But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

8 They have bowed down and fallen;

But we have risen and stand upright."

Psalm 20:7-8

Have a blessed and wonderful 4th of July!

Now I need to go get started on my preparations for the day. My sister Doris and her hubby Art are traveling here for lunch...BBQ chicken, Potato Salad, Beans, Coleslaw, Deviled Eggs, Cake, Watermelon, and most of all,

Home made ice-cream!!

So be watching for pictures tomorrow, if I can remember to take them!

 

Friday Foto Friends~Come along with me

Good Friday Morning Everyone!  I hope you have been having a wonderful week and that you are ready for a joy-filled weekend.  Hey! I believe it is a 3-day weekend for most of the working/school world, thanks to President's Day on Monday!  I actually never liked that they combined Abraham Lincoln's birthday (Feb. 12) and George Washington's Birthday (Feb. 22) to make one day because I believe they are each worthy of their own celebration, but I guess it is fitting that we should honor all Presidents at some time.  Even if we don't agree with their policies or politics, we definitely should pray for our leaders always.  Here's some Bible passages that gives us good reasons to pray:

I Timothy 2:1-4

"1. Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 

2. for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 

3. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 

4. who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

So whether or not we agree with or like or dislike a governmental leader, we still should pray for them daily.  Who knows but that God may hear our prayers and change the hearts of those who are in authority?  Stranger things than that have happened!

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 says:

"13. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 

14. if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I did not intend to start this off as a political message...but certainly it is always right and fitting that we should be praying for our nation and our leaders, as well as the leaders of other countries who may have an impact on our freedoms and security, especially during such turbulent times as we are currently enduring.  

Okay, enough said about that...now on to the Friday Fotos! It is now afternoon...I started out early this morning, but got busy with grocery shopping and other mundane events of the day...and now that I've had my afternoon nap, maybe I can concentrate on this post before the day is over.

I love that the daylight is starting to remain a bit later these days, so that we can take a ride or walk in the evening after supper.  Last evening we took a little country ride, and I asked hubby to pull over so I could get a picture of this collapsed old barn. Something about this intrigues me...

This is the view to the right (west) of the old barn in the evening waning sunlight...

And here is the view to the left (east) of it.  Certainly is a beautiful location for a...dilapidated  collapsed old barn that has seen better days.

"You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Psalm 16:11

Speaking of "pleasures forevermore"...on the right side of our house (looking from the street) there is a fencerow between our lot and the next lot...and every spring these pretty little yellow "Carolina Jessamine" flowers blossom all along the fence.  They are wildflowers, and probably not really good to have their vining tendrils climbing up into the trees, but they are very lovely and I enjoy their beauty for while they last. 

And further delights to finish out this post for today...Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird are still considering their options on the birdhouse...they haven't moved in yet, but they seem to be checking it out every day, so hopefully it won't be long before they "move in" and start the nest-building all over again!

Do you see them both in this picture?  Look closely.

I think they especially love that this property comes with a nice place to bathe...

Even Mrs. Bluebird is testing out the water.  Bobby the Squirrel makes a good place to hide if you are particularly modest...

Hey! Stop watching me bathe!!!

I'll just go underwater where you can't see me!

Meanwhile Mr. Bluebird is enjoying the view from up in the tree...

And Mrs. Bluebird is drying her feathers on the rooftop.

Meanwhile, this Goldfinch (I think that's what it is) flew in to check out the sights.

And also to see if there is anything good to eat.  I immediately went to the Ace Hardware store today and picked up some finch seed (nyger seed).  Hopefully they will come back!

Oh, I almost forgot...those of you who are Facebook friends have probably already seen these sunset photos from the other evening...this was on my way to choir practice...and the beauty of God's majesty in the skies had me singing His praises all the way to church:

And this was the view over Still Waters Pond last evening after we got home from our little ride:

Again, more of God's beauty in His heavens...

So,  as day is dying in the west, I guess this is a good place to say farewell for today...

I hope you enjoyed the views with me.

Tomorrow will be another busy, but fun and happy day.  We will be traveling south about an hour or more to meet up with family and friends to continue the birthday celebration for my hubby and also another dear friend we've known for years.  We believe birthdays are a good reason to bring family and friends together to visit and enjoy one another while we are still able to do so. It doesn't have to be a significant year or a great milestone.  We just believe that we should celebrate life while we are living and take every opportunity to "share the love" with each other as often as possible. Life is short...take time to enjoy the ride while it lasts!

I'll be back with pictures when I get home...or as soon as I can anyway.

Have a happy weekend!

Freedom Isn't Free

"God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood and the USAF

Some thoughts for the 4th of July. We have so much to be thankful for. We live in a free country, and we've been blessed beyond measure.

We have clothes on our backs, food in our stomachs, and a roof over our head...we have the freedom to stand and salute the flag, because so many fought and died for us so that we could live here in freedom. Or we have the freedom to kneel and not salute if that is what we think we should do, because we don't believe in what our flag represents. We have that right to make that choice because we live in freedom...because so many died so we could have that freedom...kind of ironic, isn't it?

We have the freedom to work, play, pray. Freedom to pursue our dreams, attend the colleges of our choice, freedom to worship, freedom to live in safety and peace. Or we have the freedom to protest when we don't like the way things are done so that we can make a point.

But all of our freedoms could so easily be lost if we don't realize the value of what we have.
On this 4th of July, Independence Day, May we take the time to be thankful for these freedoms and recognize what is at stake here. There is no greater country in the world than America. Even with all our problems, we still have the freedom to choose how and where we will live.

For those who don't appreciate what you have here, perhaps a trip to places around the world where others are wishing they could live in America would help. Go to Africa, Somalia, China, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, just to name a few.
Spend time in the jungles, deserts, war torn lands where thousands of people are starving and dying everyday from government imposed sanctions against their own people. Spend a day in an African village where children are dying for lack of water and food, living in a mud hut in the middle of the heat of the desert, naked and swollen from famine. Then come back here and tell us we shouldn't celebrate our freedoms or that America is not a good place to live.

But let me just make this one suggestion, until you have experienced what it would be like to live in a country where there are no such freedoms, and where people are dying for just a drink of water and would
gladly come and eat the crumbs from under your table just so they could survive, please don't put down our nation. Please don't bite the very hands that have been feeding you and taking care of you since the day you breathed your first breath.

Please don't be so ready to destroy what so many have fought long and hard to protect for the sake of millions who do appreciate it...Take a moment to be thankful you were born in America, where at least you are free.

It could so easily have been you who was born in that mud hut in Africa, or that jungle in Asia or South America. It could so easily have been you who was shot down in a war ravaged village in the middle of the desert.

I, for one, am extremely thankful to be an American. I pray we never lose these freedoms that we have taken for granted and taken advantage of. We are so blessed beyond measure...even the poorest people of America are better off than many people in this world.
So count your blessings and thank God that you live in the U.S.A.

Postscript: I wrote the above this afternoon on my Facebook page, after reading someone's tirade about how we should not celebrate the 4th of July, and how ashamed we should be of our country.  The worst part of this is that the person who wrote it is someone who has had a life of great "privilege" and has been blessed more than many...but that person does not attribute that blessing to God...no, that person doesn't believe in God. That person lives in a home that was literally a gift, paid for by the hard work of generations of people who did not take their freedom so much for granted. People who would always stand for the National Anthem, and were proud to be Americans.  But this person believes there are far better countries than America in which to live. However, that person has never, to my knowledge, traveled outside of the eastern seaboard of the United States. If they had, they never would say these things about America being so terrible a place to live in. They would be kissing the very ground they were given to live on, debt free and paid for. My heart breaks to read the kind of hatred and vitriol coming out of the mouth of one so blessed. But this person thinks we are the problem. We are the ones filled with hatred.  

What is really sad is this person is just an example of what so many of that generation seem to think and feel. They are blinded to the truth of what is truly an injustice in our society today. But I don't want to go there and cause further division.

I pray for healing of our nation, our people, our hearts.  However, as most of us here already know, there can be no healing in our nation until there is first repentance in our hearts.  I know we all have our own personal issues and feelings about what is right and what is wrong with our nation today. But God gave us a way to heal our land.  It is found in 

2 Chronicles 7:13-15

13 "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, 

or send pestilence among My people, 

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, 

and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, 

and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 

15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place."

I know we've all read that verse many times, or have heard it preached upon often...but it is the only remedy for our current situation in our land. My prayer is that we will all think about these things during our Independence Day celebrations this weekend, and as we celebrate our freedom, let us humbly pray and seek God's face, repent of our own wrong-doings, and be a part of the healing and not a part of the division.  At least that's my prayer for me.  

Have a blessed and wonderful 4th of July weekend! Even if we can't be together with everyone we'd like to be with, try to do something special to celebrate our freedom!