Happy July 4th

I haven't posted in a long while. Facebook seems to have replaced much of my musings. But on this July 4th, I just want to take a moment to remind myself how very blessed we are to live in this country, and how it is the responsibility of Christian citizens to get involved in order to preserve and protect what God has established!!


"They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society. They reared the fabrics of governments which have no model on the face of the globe. they formed the design of a great Confederacy, which it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate." -James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 14

"As grace is at first from God, so it is continually from him, and is maintained by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from the sun." -Jonathan Edwards

"Strive to the be greatest man in your country, and you may be disappointed; strive to be the best, and you may succeed." -Benjamin Franklin

"On my arrival in the United States it was the religious aspect of the country that first struck my eye." -Alezis De Tocqueville, 1826

"Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few; it is the universal right of all God's children." -Ronald Reagan

"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat:

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant my feet!

Our God is marching on!"

-Julia Ward Howe, published version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" 1861

What we deserve

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This cartoon illustrates a very common belief -- namely, that if God were real, he would never allow certain things to happen or continue. Justice would be immediately dispensed. Wrongs would be righted when we want them to be. The "bad guys" would always get what's coming to them!

It's hard to wait on the Lord! Why does He make us wait so? What's the point? What are your thoughts on this subject? Let's hear 'em!

(click to enlarge)

This is totally the way it is in our house! Matt & Emma are always thinking that they are missing out on something paramount to a Disney World experience, when in fact, we typically just collapse at the end of the day! Sigh. Youth is wasted on the young!

[Click on the cartoon to enlarge]

This could explain why we haven't gotten any snow!

Winter Falls

Driving up the winding, forested road towards Hot Springs, one encounters around a certain turn a great waterfall, seemingly out of place amid the dense trees and viewless corners. A chasm suddenly appears, revealing a steep drop and a cascading torrent which crashes a hundred feet below. The winter day we happened upon the falls saw temperatures in the single digits, creating a fog as the water reached the bottom which rose like smoke and clouded the rocks below. The trees near the falls appear as if freshly snowed upon, each donning a white coat created from the mist. It appears at once beautiful but strangely eerie, and I am reminded how a cold heart touches everything around it. The falls roar and rush with fierce movement, but all around is frozen, motionless, silent. And I see that when I sin, I rage and command all around to listen while I leave my hearers stricken and still in the wake. Cold words or deeds can fall with great force and create an icy smoke which lingers and lands on those closest to us, leaving them dumbstruck and shivering. Like the trees around the icy falls who await Spring, how those who dwell in the midst of an icy heart long for the Son to rise up and bring warm life again! Thank you God, for a gentle yet powerful glimpse into my own depravity, and the hope I have in you!