Tag: United States

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Imagine No United States
Imagine No United States

Today’s post is dedicated to all the men and women who serve our Country. With a special appreciation to my Father-In-Law who turned 84 yesterday, and to his wife, who turns 87 tomorrow.

Without the two of them, their daughter Cheryl, wouldn’t have been born 52 years ago February 4th. And without Cheryl, who knows where I’d be today.

“Dad” served in Europe during WWII. “Mom” stayed behind and prayed he’d come home alive.

Here’s a beautiful 3-4 minute patriotic video.

Splendid images, decent music, and powerful quotes from some of America’s greatest leaders and Presidents.

Click here only if you have the extra 3-4 minutes. If you pause long enough to view the whole thing, you’ll be very glad you did.

jeff noel Sobriety

Yesterday, United States President Obama. Today, Orlando’s jeff noel.

Different people, same word.

Sobriety.

December 31, 2001. New Year’s Eve. The biggest “drinking day” of the entire year.

But not this day, December 31, 2001. Not this man. Not ever again.

Sobriety.

President Obama Sobriety

Rarely watching TV, I was captivated the other night when Charlie Gibson was interviewing United States President, Barack Obama, on the ABC Evening News.

The one word that really made me put things into perspective, was a word the President Obama used to describe how the decision to send US troops to Afghanistan was different from other critical US policy decisions.

Sobriety.

President Obama spoke of a certain level of sobriety that was needed on that particular decision. He said it was the one decision that was different from all the others. I paraphrase here, to illustrate the magnitude:

“Bailing out the auto industry or the financial system is one thing. But picturing Arlington Cemetery, with a mother, sitting in the rain, in front of a tombstone…..”

Citizen Soldier

Not talking about the Three Doors Down rock song Citizen Soldier, or our Country’s National Guard, for whom the song is dedicated.

Talking about all the active duty men and women military personnel I’ve seen this week. Orlando to Atlanta, Atlanta to Columbia, Columbia to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Dallas.

Decided, in the spirit of giving, to not only give thanks internally, but to give thanks externally.

So I awkwardly asked how best to show appreciation for their efforts. They all said basically the same thing.

A simple thank you means a lot.

And so that’s what I’ve been doing, going only a little out of my way (that’s all it takes), to thank each and every one I pass.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. One of the service men, heading back to Iraq and leaving behind a wife and three children (16, 10, 6) at Christmas time, wound up being an angel for me about five minutes later.