AMERICA IS STILL A GREAT COUNTRY

The following quote is supposedly from David Letterman. I find that hard to believe, but whether it originated from him or not, it is "thought provoking". Here is the e-mail that I received this morning. 

      - Charlotte

No matter what your political convictions are this is an eye opener ... What a thankless people we are!!!

David Letterman, on President Bush. (Surprising)

David Letterman wrote this; it's the David we don't often see ...

'As most of you know I am not a President Bush fan, nor have I ever been, but this is not about Bush, it is about us, as Americans, and it seems to hit the mark.'


'The other day I was reading Newsweek  magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe.  It must be true given the  source, right?
The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of  the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?'

A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?

B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time  and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state.

F. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

L. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and  pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all -volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it ... are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable" discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids sell ing lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sell s, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way ... Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New
York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

-David Letterman
 

SMILE

Let us pray for our election as they did in India.

Praying for the Upcoming Election

God interveined in India. Let's pray for his intervention in our election

Patrick Joshua is the Director of the National Prayer Network and a father figure to the prayer movement in India .

Because of a special burden for our nation, he visited the United States twice in recent months, including a trip to Houston . Patrick believes the U.S. is at a very critical time in history, the impact of which will be felt around the world. During his visits, Patrick told the story of God's intervention in India in 2004, in response to the fervent, united prayers of His people. At that time, political forces had mobilized with the intention of turning their nation in a direction that would make it almost impossible for Christians to share or practice their faith. Those forces had the momentum and the numbers as the Christian population in India is a minority – by some estimates representing only 6% of the 1.1 billion people in the nation. The situation was desperate.

Many thought it was impossible. So they turned to the God of the impossible and began to pray. In cities and states across their nation, a movement of united, fervent prayer arose, but with a unique focus. They weren't praying for particular candidates or political parties. Instead they were praying for the person of righteousness, the person of God's choosing, to be elected in every elected office.

Right up until the day of the election every poll and pundit predicted the election would be a landslide for those who were opposed to the gospel. When the votes were counted, however, the results revealed a different story. In district after district those candidates and political allies who opposed the gospel had been soundly defeated. At a national level they were out of power. Needless to say the press and the pundits were stunned. No one saw it coming.

So what happened? It seems God heard the cries of His people and touched the hearts of the voters as they went into the voting booths. Some believe a corporate conviction came upon the people and they indeed voted for the person of righteous, the person of God's choosing. This was seen most dramatically in the states and regions where prayer was the most concentrated and fervent. In one of those states, laws that restricted the advance of the gospel were immediately repealed. While our situation is certainly different, Patrick believes we are at a critical crossroad. He has encouraged us to follow a similar pattern in prayer for our upcoming election.

Here's the pattern for prayer as we approach our election.

Prayer Guide for the Election Begins with Heart Preparation: Come into God's Presence with Worship. Thank God for his great mercy and many blessings. Ask God to extend his mercy to us and to our nation. Pray for the upcoming election.

1. Those running for office nationally: Instead of praying for specific candidates or political parties – Pray that the person of righteousness, the person of God's choosing, would be selected in every congressional district, every senate race and for the office of President.

"Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people." Proverbs 14:34

2. Those running for office at the state and local level: Pray that the person of righteousness, the person of God's choosing, would be selected in every elected office at the state and local levels.

" When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan". Proverbs 29:2

3. Those voting: Pray that each person voting will be convicted to vote for the person of righteousness, the person of God's choosing, in each elected office and in each ballot initiative. Pray for God's Presence to overshadow each person as they make their decision.

"The Spirit of the Lord will be upon him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears" Isaiah 11:2-3

4. Those involved in the election process: Pray that every official involved in the election process would serve with honesty and integrity of heart.

"The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight." Proverbs 11:1

5. Those praying: Pray that God would empower intercessors and people across the nation and around the world to call out to Him day and night in extraordinary prayer during this season.

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of grace and supplication." Zechariah 12:10

6. The Church: Pray that the Church would be fully awakened, engaged and empowered during this critical season. Pray that we would understand the urgency and importance of this election and the implications for the advancement of God's purposes in our nation and around the world.

"The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this". Isaiah 9:7

7. Our nation: Pray that God's plans and purposes for our nation would be established during this election season. Pray that we would be a nation who follows God and is a blessing to the nations of the earth.

"Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". Matthew 6:10

I didn't realize how much I would still be using this blog but today after visiting Amanda Bowers' blog I just felt like I had to share this with as many people as possible. It is so good. I hope you will watch this video and then pass it on to as many people as you can. This is so important.

I'VE MOVED

Yes, I have started doing most of my blogging on my new blog and I hope you will visit me there, but first -- please check out the post below. I know that quite a few people are still coming to this blog and I thought it would be a good place to post today.

TIME FOR CHRISTIANS TO SERIOUSLY PRAY

As stated above, I am doing my posting on a new blog now, but I see that quite a lot of people are still coming here to this blog and so I want to post the following admonition I received today in a forwarded email from a good friend. I totally agree with these thoughts and I have been praying many times every day about this situation, but I think we cannot pray too much and I want to encourage more people to really think seriously about the situation at hand. Voting is just a few days away. I did not write this, but I wish I had.

This is ONLY for those people who believe in the power of prayer... Can we?

Will we?

I was very dismayed when, recently, a member of my Church said to me with great resignation that she was afraid Obama will take the presidency. These words came from someone that in the past has been a great prayer warrior.

What is happening was my question!! Why are we Christians settling for the loss of our Christian heritage, not issuing a battle cry and falling to our knees and taking our country back?

We allow ourselves to be stripped of the right to pray at school functions and in school, we have the Ten Commandments removed from government places and are told we cannot pray publicly or proclaim Christian principles, all the while providing public prayer places for Muslims. We allow Muslim mosques to operate in America funded by Saudi Arabia , and proclaim anti-American, anti-Christian threats and terrorism.

What in the world is going on and why are we being so apathetic? Why aren't we praying? Our God is an Almighty God who is waiting patiently for us to raise our voices to heaven to stop the tide of the anti-Christian actions in our world today.

Now we have a charismatic, albeit inexperienced, candidate for president that does not respect our flag and refuses to wear one on his lapel except when it becomes politically expedient, and whose own wife and pastor that he loves profess to have strong anti-white feelings, and

we sit back and say 'it is a given, we can do nothing' ????

There has never been a time in 2000 years that we can do nothing, never a time that we must sit back and allow the evil in men's and women's hearts to take over our world! We should be afraid, very afraid because our apathy is leading us to perdition. It is time for all Christian Americans to raise the battle cry and take our nation back!

Maybe McCain on his own cannot defeat Obama, but our God can and He will if we take to our knees in prayer and raise a mighty cry to the heavens. We have the power to change the course of this election and to keep a man as suspect as Barak Obama from leading our country to who knows where with his message of 'change'; a change which I fear will be away from our Christian ideals, and away from Christ, and further away from one nation under God to one nation under Allah.

We are great at passing stories and pictures around the internet, but where are our prayers and prayer warriors praying to stop this tide of Barak Obama? We can bring our country back to its Christian roots and stop the undermining of our country by Muslims. We can stop our country from being 'under Allah' but we must begin to pray; to pray as our country and our lives depended on it because they do. We can stop all these atrocities against God's commandments that have taken root in our country through something as simple as sincere prayer, a call to God to deliver us, to protect us from the evil that is upon us.

OK, prayer warriors, here is your challenge... Start those prayer chains. Get the spiritual power working on our behalf and stop Barak Obama the proper way, by calling on our God to save us from the deception that charismatic preaching is using to lead us on the wrong path. Stop those who would take God out of our country and our government. Raise up good men to lead us and protect us. But we should not rest on our laurels and allow ourselves to be taken further off the path of Christianity and to have God removed from our presence in our schools, courts,

government and businesses.

Invite God into the fray. Ask that His power rest upon us and give us the victory. Ask him to raise up a mighty army to defend us and to protect our country as he did in days of old. Let us be victorious beginning NOW. The battle is His but we must call on Him without ceasing and

unite our voices and hearts in prayer and fasting.

Please pass this around to all people of prayer that you know and maybe, just maybe, we'll bring a victory for us and ultimately for Him. AMEN!

WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY?

Jesus said "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

The question is not "What would Jesus say, but what DID Jesus say". 

"I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15

"Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26

Please click on the Spiritual Sundays picture to go to that blog where you will find other bloggers who have posted spiritual/inspirational posts on their blogs. We would love to have you participate as well.

PINK SATURDAY

I'm happy to be participating in Pink Saturday again. It amazes me how many women love pink. No wonder. It is the best color on the planet. (my opinion)

Visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for more Pink Saturday posts. 

One of my birthday presents -- Here is the large pink object with white polka dots that I promised to post today. Isn't that a darling container? We have a new Container Store near us that has literally thousands of containers. My daughter was thinking how I would enjoy using this for a Pink Saturday post. She was right and I love it. Inside the box was a gift card from Sur la Table, one of my favorite places to shop. Picture was taken in my daughter's living room.

These last top pictures I took in Sedona when we were there a few days ago.

Laura Bush talking about breast cancer awareness. Her pink suit and the pink flowers behind her qualified her for this post. Also you can see one of the pink candles at the right of the TV that I previously shared. Laura is such a lovely lady. 

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Just to remind you that later today Mr. Linky will be up on Spiritual Sundays for those of you who wish to participate. Ginger and I are hoping that more and more people will discover this blog and be encouraged and blessed by reading what others have chosen to share and we're also hoping that more and more people will want to share their spiritual/inspirational posts as well.

AROUND TLAQUEPAQUE

Here are a few more photos we took at Tlaqepaque.

This was the sign in front of one of the little shops.

Strange looking characters.

Strange looking horse.

I hope you have enjoyed our tour around Tlaquepeque in Sedona, Arizona. We observed that there were lots of people there that day - the most we had ever seen there and we've been there quite a few times.

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAYS

If you're interested in what I posted for Vintage Thingies Thursdays this week, you can go to my Dolls Dolls Dolls blog because that's where I posted it this time. You can click right here to go there.

After I posted this I read my hubby's blog and thought it was so good that I wished I had posted it. It's a quote from Ben Stein. I wish everyone in America would read it. You can go there by clicking right here.  And I hope you will. Hugs again.

MORE SEDONA

Remember this picture I posted some time ago? It was taken a little over a year and a half ago. Look how it has changed. The picture below was taken in the same spot. I wonder if someone broke the beautiful glass sculpture or if it was just moved.

Below is a picture of the window behind where I'm sitting.

We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant called Judi's. This lovely lamp was sitting in the window right by our little table.

This was the dessert we shared. Yummm!

MY BIRTHDAY

So many of you have wished me a happy birthday and I thank you for that. I really did have a happy birthday. I started celebrating Saturday night when our kids took us to dinner and ended it yesterday (Monday) when Hubby took me to Sedona for a little sightseeing and shopping. (We missed John McCain. He was there over the weekend, but went to New Mexico on Monday.) If you've ever been there you know what I mean about the sight seeing. The scenery is breathtaking. 

I'm always impressed with the beautiful bronze statues in Sedona, but it seemed like there were more there yesterday than usual. I thought I would share a few of them with you.

I thought these little kids walking on the log were so cute.

Here they are from a different angle.

It's a little hard to see in the shadows at the bottom but this is where the above statue is located. All of these beautiful pieces of art were located in Tlaquepaque except the first ones of the kids on the log. I'll share more pictures with you later. This is all for now. 

I'm saving one of my gifts from my kids for PINK SATURDAY. It is something big, very pink and has big white polka dots on it. Are you curious? You'll have to wait until Saturday. LOL

ANOTHER INDIA POST

I am grateful to Peggy for hosting the Mission 4 Monday blog. You can click here to go to her blog for more mission sharing.

I mentioned in a previous post that I spent my birthday in 1999 in India. This is one of the boys at the Kids' Home whose birthday was the same as mine. I think it's pretty neat that they took our picture together. How about that shirt he has on. I told you the guys there dress in western style clothing.

Here is a picture of Hubby and me with Dr. Mary. She was the doctor there at the hospital on the compound. She was a very interesting lady. We enjoyed visiting with her. I've heard that she is no longer working there but she was there for several years.

You knew I couldn't write about anything too long without bringing "shopping" into it. Above is a picture of a neat place to shop in New Delhi. It was an indoor shopping mall but it was configured entirely different from our malls. I bought several nice things there. This shopping area was located a few blocks from the hotel where we were staying there. I'll tell you more about that hotel at another time. 

I took this picture as we were driving through New Delhi through the car window. It amazed me how cattle were everywhere in that country. They have the right of way on the streets and roads there. It is so sad that for millions of people cows are sacred and even when people are starving they are not allowed to eat them. In fact beef is not even sold there. It makes me feel like crying every time I think about it. 

Thanks for letting me share with you.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

   

Sarah of Everyday Elegance has invited me to participate in My Favorite Things Monday. I already have a post scheduled for Mission 4 Monday but when I got this invitation, I just couldn't say no so I'm doing another post here late Sunday night for tomorrow. The theme is from The Sound of Music and whenever I think of that movie, I think of this picture of my daughter that I took when she was a young girl back in the 1960s. It was right after she had seen that movie and she, like everybody else, loved it. She put on this old costume of mine and struck this pose.  So, what is my favorite thing? Right now I can't think of one specific thing. I have so many favorite things, but this picture is definitely one of them.

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

I took this picture many years ago in our back yard of the setting sun. When I was looking at different Bible verses and saw this one, it reminded me of this picture, so I decided to use it to illustrate. 

There are many warnings in the Bible about forsaking God and following after false gods. The first of the Ten Commandments says "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." I know I have posted about this same subject before, but for some reason this subject keeps coming to my mind. 

Please visit our Spiritual Sundays blog for links to other spiritual/inspirational posts. You can click on the button at the top of this post to go directly there. If you would like to share something you have posted on your blog, please go there and sign your name and link your URL. There are instructions there on how to do it. It is under the box for signups. It says "Learn more about Spiritual Sundays here".  Just click on that. We are always so happy to have new people participating.

PINK SATURDAY

A couple of weeks ago I saw some pink wedding and bridesmaids dresses on another blog and it reminded me of the pink dresses my bridesmaids wore. Our professional pictures were only in black and white, but this picture was taken with my little Brownie camera. It had faded a lot. This is the best I could do with restoration. 

I found this picture of me and my daughter when she was a baby taken back in 1960. After she was born I couldn't fit into hardly any of my clothes. This dress was one thing that fit and, of course, it was my favorite color - PINK. I don't think the couch was quite as dirty as it looked in the picture. I'm blaming it on the faded original picture that I tried to restore on the computer.

We painted our bathroom pink. The tile in there was pink and blue, so naturally I would want to paint it pink. This is our son brushing his teeth in our PINK bathroom. This picture was taken in about 1964. We got pretty carried away with pink paint when we lived in that house. That house belonged to the church where my hubby was the minister, and the outside needed repainting. They let us choose the color. Guess what color we chose? (I think it was probably my idea) - PINK. Big mistake. It turned out looking like Pepto Bismol. They didn't leave it that color too long. We still laugh about it every time we think about it.

Visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for more links to Pink Sunday posts.
P.S. Don't forget Spiritual Sundays coming up later in the day on Saturday. If you have never visited this blog, I hope you will check it out. It is a place where bloggers can go to share their spiritual/inspirational posts. If you have a post you want to share you can sign Mr. Linky and it will lead others to your blog. If you want to just read what others have posted, you are certainly welcome to do that too.