In Celebration of July 4th

I Pledge Allegiance

To The Flag Of The United States Of America

And To The Republic For Which It Stands

One Nation UNDER GOD

Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All!
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Believe this says it All

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
T he law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone, we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No Word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here, I must confess.
When chaos reigns, the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make ...
Should I be shot, my soul please take!

~ Author Unknown ~

May God have mercy on our souls as we travel
through this world of non-believers.
And may he watch over and protect those who
fight for our freedom to believe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

God Bless The U.S.A.
by Lee Greenwood
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/proudtobeamerican.html

If tomorrow all the things were gone,I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,to be livin here today.
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom,and they can’t take that away

And I’m proud to be an American,where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,God bless the USA.

Make America Beautiful

My grumble for the day.

People please pull your pants up! How would you like it if all us older folks went around town with our granny panties showing and our pants hanging down around our lower region? Not a pretty image I assure you. Suppose you went to church and saw your pastor dressed in the same fashion, or your school teacher, or lawyer, or parents. You would most likely find it disgusting and degrading. Well news flash ! We don’t want to see your undies, either. If you’re that proud of them show them off to your wife, girlfriend, or significant other, but please pull up your pants in public. It’s disgusting and it certainly doesn’t do anything for your sex appeal I don’t care how young or old you are.

Pants come in different sizes for a reason. Do us all a favor and buy the size that fits YOU! It’s not a cool fad, it’s not a fashion statement, and it is certainly not a way to impress anybody, to walk around holding on to your pants to keep them from falling around your ankles. If you believe that wearing your pants on your hips with your underwear showings is a statement to indication who you are then what you are portraying is that you are a careless, disrespectful, lazy, self-centered thug with no concern, respect or thought for other citizens.

It’s not cute, it’s not daring, and it doesn’t make you a unique individual. It simply shows your lack of self-respect!

If you don’t care what other people think that’s fine, but the least you could do is respect yourself enough and not run around in public with your underwear showing.

Pull’em up. PLEASE!

PS: Parents you could help by not allowing your kids to purchase clothes that are three sizes to big! Do your part and refuse to pay for clothes that don't fit your child.

GROSS!

Priorities

I sometimes wonder why we live our lives at such a hurried pace then today I came across this poem. It made me realize that with the chaos in our world today it is more imperative than ever to stop, look at our lives and prioritize.

If asked to write down the top ten things that mean the most to you in life what would be at the top of the list and what would end up at the bottom? Try it; you may be surprised to find that the things you believe mean the most may not be getting the amount of time they deserve.

No Time, Too Much To Do


I knelt to pray but not for long, I had too much to do.
I had to hurry to get to work for bills will soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer and jump up off my knees,
my Christian duty was now done my soul could rest at ease.

All day long I had no time to spread a word of cheer,
no time to speak of Christ to friends they'd laugh at me I’d fear.

No time, no time, too much to do was my constant cry.
No time to give to souls in need, but at last the time, the time to die.

I went before the Lord I came and stood with downcast eyes,
for in his hand God held a book; it was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said, ‘‘your name I cannot find
I once was going to write it down but never found the time.''

~Unknown



Prioritizing your life can reveal much about who you really are.
~Debbie S.


I write because I care.
Granny

Luck or Blessing?

Today instead of grumbling, I would like to take moment to talk about blessings. How often do we stop and really consider our blessings? Do we even realize that we are blessed, or do we think everything in life is due to luck? We have all heard the old saying, “If I didn’t have bad luck I wouldn’t have any luck at all.” So which do you believe in, luck or blessings?

Before you answer let’s look at the definitions of the two words. Luck is defined as, the chance happening of fortunate or adverse events. Blessing is defined as, something promoting or contributing to happiness, well-being, or prosperity.

Me, I prefer to believe in blessings rather than taking my chances with luck. I believe we all have blessings in our lives even if we don’t recognize them. If you are breathing, if you can see, if you can read this, if you can hear, then you are blessed. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, who your parents are, how old, or young you are, what color skin you have, or how rich or poor you are, you have blessings and you should be thankful for them every day.

Personally, I have been blessed far more than I deserve, as is the case with most of us if we really think about. We travel through life sometimes forgetting that the very air we breathe, the sun on our face, the stars that light the night are more than just necessities, they are blessings, which we take for granted.

If we take a moment to look, it’s not hard to recognize our blessings. Sure, there are trials in life and some of us fair better than others in many areas of life, but I do not believe there is a person alive who cannot find blessings in their life if they only take the time to look.

My mom used to tell me, “To see your own blessings all you need to do is look around you. Regardless of your own trials, there is always someone whose troubles are worse, in one aspect or another, than your own. You should always try to concentrate and be thankful for the blessing you have instead of envying the blessing of others.” This advice has helped me put things into the proper prospective during many rough times in my life.

If you are having a bad day, or something terrible is happening in your life, look around you, I promise you can find someone whose life and situation is much worse. For example, say you just broke your leg and you are suppose to play in the big game on Friday night or go dancing, or whatever, it can be quite a disappointment. However, if you think about the person down the road who is a paraplegic, your broken leg doesn’t seem that bad in comparison. Now, do you feel blessed or cursed? Sure, you may still be a little disappointed, but if you look at the situation with the perspective; except for God’s blessing there go I, you will have a better outlook on your own troubles.

I hope that when you read this you will take a moment to consider your blessings. Start counting them and see how many you can come up with, you may be surprised at just how blessed you truly are.

Trials and tribulations are a part of life, but amongst them are millions of blessings that we often overlook. The time you take to dwell upon your blessings is time that you will not have to dwell upon your sorrows. So, before the day ends take whatever time is necessary to count your blessings; perhaps, just perhaps you’ll find that there’s not much time left to dwell upon your woes.

May God's Blessings Be Bountiful In Your Life!

~Granny

Love is What Makes The World Go Round

In Honor of Father's Day

My Riches

I do not live in a palace like a King or Queen,
or feast on Caviar or expensive cuisine.

For this kind of wealth I have no desire,I
have far greater riches than a King can acquire.

I live in a home on five acres of land,
surrounded by things not made by man.

There are flowers that bloom and giant oak trees,
that provide a home for the squirrels and bee's.

There are chicken's and lizard's and dog's that roam,
in the luxurious, green grass around my home.

There are blue birds and black birds and red birds galore,
and peacock's with colors never seen before.

There is a slow running creek filled with fish and frogs,
along with ducks and geese sunning on logs.

There are owl's and turtle's and cricket's and more,
encompassed by water and woods to explore.

The air is filled with astonishing sounds,
on the wonders of nature man cannot expound.

The can have their palace and their fancy clothes,
God has granted me riches far greater than those.

Thank you Dad for all you are and all you do. I Love You!

(published) (c)1991

You Have a Choice

It’s been fifteen years since my daughter was in grade school and I still remember an incident I overheard one day when I went to pick her up after school. Sitting in my car with the windows down I watched a young boy about eight years old standing a few feet away his irritation obvious by his pacing. A car pulled up beside me. The boy stomped over, snatched open the door and yelled, “Where the hell have you been?” The mother’s response flabbergasted me. “I’m sorry,” she said. She then immediately began explaining why she was late. It took all my resources to restrain myself from leaping from the car snatching the kid out, popping him in the mouth, and giving him a good lesson on how NOT to speak to the woman who had labored to give him life. I couldn’t even mark this up to “Oh, he’s just trying to be cool in front of his friends.” Nope, because he was standing there by himself because the dismissal bell hadn’t even rang yet.

I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but this type of disrespect for not only parents, but human beings in general, seems almost commonplace in today’s society. I can hear some of you already foaming at the mouth ready to tell me how hitting your child is never an option. If you are one of those then I know you’ll be appalled when I tell you that the first time my daughter said a four-letter word she found out what Ivory soap tasted like. “Oh my God! Tell me you didn’t. That’s child abuse.”

Sorry, but I disagree. I didn’t make her eat the whole bar nor did I tie her hands behind her, berate and scream at her and tell her what a horrible kid she was. I simply enforced the fact that for every action there is a consequence and I believe the punishment should fit the crime. The small chip of soap that I rubbed across her teeth tasted horrible for sure, and as I committed what some of you will consider as some abusive horrible act, I explained to her that curse words sounded as foul as the soap tasted. My daughter is now twenty-five, has spent a four-year tour in the Air Force, and her vocabulary is still not littered with four letter words.

I’ll also admit that she found the light pop of the back of my hand a few times as well, until she learned that “Yes, sir," "No, sir," "Yes, ma'am," "No, ma'am.", and Please should precede any words spoken when talking to or responding to adults. I am proud to say, that she still shows this manner of respect at all times. You may be wondering if this type of punishment was commonplace in my home. I can assure you it was not. Why? Because my daughter learned quickly that for every action, there is a consequence. We laid out the rules, we laid out the consequences for breaking those rules and then we enforced them. Children are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. They will push the boundaries; they will experiment, because this is how they learn.

However, if they find that consequences for their actions are simply non-existent, or amount to nothing more than a verbal threat then they feel free to continue their actions and push the boundaries even further until they’ve crossed a line that gets them in real trouble. In fact, some kids do things just to see if their parents love them or care enough to discipline them. I also know this from experience because after a particular incident my daughter told me so. “I just wanted to see if you really cared,” was her exact words to me. She found out real quick, by her punishment, that I did.

Parenting is no easy job. It’s hard to discipline your child. I have literally gone to my room, closed the door and cried every time I have had to administer punishment to my child whether it was physical, verbal, or simply a time out, or restriction. What is best for our child is not always, what is best for us as parents. It breaks your heart when you see your child cry or you know he’s angry with you. As parents, it is our job to teach our children the things that will help them become a self-dependant, respectful, loving, individual who knows how to love and how to be loved. Sometimes the best way to show your child you love them is to discipline them.

There are many doctors, child psychologist, and parents who will disagree I am sure. However, I would put my daughter up against any of today’s kids who have been coddled, spoiled, and allowed to “be their own person”, who have never been spanked, or had a mild pop in the mouth on occasion. And don’t get me started on feeding our kids drugs to make them behave.

Now some of you may be thinking, well this lady is some miss goodie two shoes who has had a perfect life. Sorry to disappoint you. My dad was a long-distance truck driver and my mom, God rest her soul, was an alcoholic, whom I love to the depths of my soul. My life was filled with some pretty unstable times. However, somehow my parents always managed to make sure we kids knew we were loved above all else. I have been a single mom who had to work two jobs just to put food on the table for my daughter and me. I have endured dealing with an ex and all the bad that comes with it. I have dealt with all the issues that come with having to make my daughter respect and love her stepfather, whom she now adores.

I guess what I’m getting at folks, is that every day when we wake up, we have choices to make. We cannot always prevent the things that life throws at us but we can choose how we deal with them. We are all victims of something or someone, but that does not mean we have to continue the cycle. If we don’t start parenting our children, instead of trying to be their pal the cycle will never end.

You have a brain, you have a heart, and you can find ways to make lemonade out of lemons. It want be easy I can assure you. It will indeed, take blood, sweat, and a lot of tears.

I grumble only because I care.

Your life is not what happens to you but how you react to what happens to you. That is what makes you who you are and sets you apart from the rest.
~by Debbie S