I did a Spiritual Sundays post on my other blog, but thought this graphic was so nice I decided to link it there too.

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS - MEMORIAL DAY

I Am a Soldier
By Neal T. Lesh

I am a soldier born to follow or lead.
To serve my country in time of its need;
To protect our great nation with my heart and my soul
To preserve our new freedoms was one of my goals.

I joined in the struggle [a new nation to forge]
And fought with my brethren to run off King George
Severely outnumbered, Red Coats everywhere,
To continue the fighting was so hard to bear.

Finally it was over; fighting came to a close
From the ashes of tyranny a new nation arose
I returned to my family no longer a boy
But a man and a soldier with a heart full of joy.

I am a soldier, keeping rifle at hand
In defense of our people as we open new land
I have sworn to protect with all of my might
A republic of freedom based on that which is right.

I am a soldier who is sickened at heart
At a nation in danger of breaking apart
More than just vanity has brought us this far;
Fighting brother on brother in a great civil war

There will never be peace in the land of the free
If we fail as a nation in the wisdom to see
That our constitution provides for each man's equal due
Not just for the many at the expense of a few.

I am a soldier, who has fought the Great War,
In the trenches of France with a passion to score
In the name of what's holy in the name of what's right
Against enemies of liberty, I carried my fight.

From the beaches of Normandy to Iwo Jima’s sand,
Soldiers died by the thousands in some far distant land
They had shared noble reasons for the lives that they gave---
For the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I am a soldier, not a demon, as some people believe
For it's not in my nature to kill and cause grief
I would rather take up a far greater cause,
Turning sword into plowshare without even pause.

It's a much better world when we sleep and devise
 All those wonderful musings where our hopes come alive
I am a soldier with conscience and I wish that I knew
How to use all my power to make dreams come true.

I am a soldier standing guard through the night
Supported by others who join in the fight
To do what it takes we work as a team
So others can share in America's dream.
 
There are those in this world full of anger and hate
Who'd tear down our country; they now stand at our gate.
That so many people have died at their hand
Should send out a signal throughout our great land.


I will take up this battle for the families who cried
For  the loss of their loved ones who needlessly died.
Yes, I am a soldier and I’d die if need be,
For your right to be happy and your right to be free.

Dedicated to all who lost their lives as defenders of our country and our way of life in the attack on the Pentagon, Washington, DC. September 11, 2001 

I am so thankful to God for all those who have served to gain and to preserve the freedom of our great country and I want to share this poem about soldiers with you today for Spiritual Sundays. Click HERE to go to our Spiritual Sunday blog to share or be blessed by what others have shared there.

Watch Your Kids

Every summer the warning is sent out in our area to watch your kids around water. There are so many swimming pools and every year young children drown. I thought about that as this little guy was getting pretty close to the edge of our pool. The rest of the family had moved on, but this one lingered  behind.

There you go. Now he's going away from the water.

Here's the Daddy keeping watch on the fence. I've noticed that he is usually around not far from the family. 

There he goes walking along the fence.

Here they are on the lawn again.

The reason I was concerned about them getting too close to the water is because last year we found a baby quail floating in the pool. It was so sad.

If you didn't see my last post, you can scroll down to see more pictures of this sweet little family.

A NEW FAMILY OF QUAIL

Last year we had a family of quail living in our back yard. I did several posts with pictures at various stages of development of the babies. Well, this morning Hubby looked out in the back yard and exclaimed excitedly, "There are some baby quail in our backyard again." So I grabbed the camera and shot through the window. They move so fast. If I had tried to go outside they would have been gone before I could have opened the door. Here is the new little family. The Daddy quail is always around close by but didn't get him in any of the pictures I took this time.

Here are the babies up close.

You have to look closely to see the babies in this one.

They were already gone when I took this picture but decided to include it because I think the flowers are pretty. No, on second look I think I see them right along the edge of the green. That's right. I remember when I took it the mother had already gone behind the palm tree.

This one is just for the flowers. No birdies.

PREPARATION FOR MEMORIAL DAY

It is the

VETERAN 

not the preacher,

who has given us freedom of religion.

It is

the VETERAN

not the reporter,

who has given us freedom of the press.

It is

the VETERAN

not the campus organizer,

who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is

the VETERAN

not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is

the VETERAN,

not the politician,

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the

VETERAN who

salutes the Flag,

It is 

the VETERAN

who serves

under the Flag,

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,

AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

GOD

Bless them all!!!

I also want to pay tribute to my dear uncle Emmet, a veteran of WWII. 

I SUPPORT OUR GOVERNOR

BOOK REVIEW - GIVEAWAY

In my last post on this blog I told you I had started reading Joyce Meyer's new book called eat the cookie ... buy the shoes. (I didn't capitalize the title because as you can see it is not capitalized on the book cover.)

Joyce Meyer, a #1 New York Times best selling author, has written over 80 inspirational books and two novels plus thousands of audio and video teachings. I have heard her teach on TV but have not had the privilege of hearing her in person. I did not realize she had written so many books, but when I learned that this book was available for review, and being a cookie and shoe person myself, I jumped at the chance. I also liked the shoe connection because my daughter had seen her in a shoe store a few years ago looking for a pair of brown shoes. I mentioned it in my last post.

After finishing this delightful book, I was tempted to eat a cookie to reward myself, but alas, there were no cookies in the house. Perhaps I should go out and buy a pair of shoes. No, what I need to do right now is finish writing this review.

Joyce wants to help readers of her book to experience joy and celebration. She says it took her many years to learn this important concept. She calls it giving your soul a vacation. She states that the entire premise of "eat the cookie ... buy the shoes" is designed to let your soul rest. It is not wrong to let go of life's demands and circumstances for a while and do something you enjoy. She also emphasizes the need to not try to fix all the problems in life by yourself, but to turn them over to God who can do a much better job of it than you can anyway. She also points out that time after time God ordered his people to celebrate. She also states that fun and enjoyment are needed in our lives, and we can't be healthy without them. She says that for too many years she was addicted to guilt and the only time in life she felt right was when she was wrong. I think there are a lot of people who can relate to that. She says we need to lighten up, give our souls a rest and in the long run we will get more accomplished. She gives little nuggets of advice all through the book. Here's one I like. "See how many days you can go without getting into a bad mood or finding something in your life to complain about."

You may be fortunate enough to win a copy of this book. If not, I think it would be a good investment to obtain a copy from a bookstore or from Amazon.

The generous folks at Hachette Book Group are allowing me to host this book giveaway for five (5) copies!

• Winners are restricted to the US and Canada. No PO Box mailing address please. You do not have to be a blogger to win.

• I must have a way of contacting you, so be sure to leave your email address in your comment.

• Some choose to omit the @ sign and the . dot by writing it in "code" like this: you (at) your email (dot)com.

• I'll close the comments May 27 and pick the five winners. I will contact the winners via email to get their mailing information. The winners will have three days to respond. If I do not hear from them within three days, I will select another winner(s).

Eat the Cookie ... Buy the Shoes

See the pair of shoes on the left? Those little brown patent leather shoes were our daughter's all time favorites. She saw them in a department store, and wanted them. They were rather expensive so we decided not to buy them. When we got in the car to start home, she started crying. She really really wanted those little brown shoes. She was never one to "throw a fit" to get what she wanted, and we knew how important those shoes were to her, so we went back in the store and bought them. We have been so glad ever since that we did. She has never forgotten it and every so often she will bring up the subject of how much she loved those shoes. You may or may not be curious about the other three pair of shoes. The ones next to her belonged to her brother and the other two were cousins.

So why in the world am I writing about these shoes? It reminds me of another "shoe" story. Our daughter was in a shoe store in Scottsdale a few years ago trying on shoes and said she heard a gravely sounding voice over in the next aisle. She thought to herself, "That voice sounds familiar." The voice said she was looking for a pair of brown shoes. Out of curiosity, Carol went over where she was, and the voice belonged to Joyce Meyer. Yes, "the" Joyce Meyer. This leads me into talking about the title of this post. Joyce Meyer has written a book by this title. As many of you know, my husband reviews books on his blog. I have also reviewed a few but do not do it all the time like he does. When he saw the publisher was offering this book for review, he asked me if I would like to review it. Since I love cookies and I am definitely a shoe person, I decided sure - why not?

The book arrived a couple of days ago, and I have just started reading it. When I finish it, I will be doing a review of the book and giving away five copies. So, be looking for that review, and if you would like to receive one of those free books, you can let me know then. Now I think I will go read a few pages.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

I didn't know so many strange, beautiful, ugly, weird, large, small, instruments existed in the world until I went to the new Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix a couple of days ago.

They advertise they have over 10,000 instruments. We spent several hours there but plan to go back soon to see the rest of them. I took a lot of pictures and just finished posting several of them on Sharing My Photos. You can click HERE to go to that blog.

The museum opened on Saturday which happened to be my mother's birthday. That fact makes it even more special to me.

If you live in the Phoenix area, you will want to visit it I'm sure. It is close to Desert Ridge at Tatum and Mayo Blvd.

NEW SCHOOL PRAYER

First I want to recommend you visit my other blog to see the tribute to my mother for Spiritual Sundays. Here's the link to that: Charloltte's Weblog

I received an interesting email this morning from my good friend, Dorothy. Instead of passing the email on I decided to post it here on my blog. It's sad but true.

New School Prayer (Someone worked hard on this.)

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.

The 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 silenced 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!

Amen!

After getting this ready to post, I decided to share it on Spiritual Sundays although I've already shared something there today. 

MORE BOUGAINVILLEA

The tall plant is an ocotillo cactus with pretty orange blooms way out on the ends. If you look closely you can see the oranges on the neighbor's tree (at the left).

Here's a closeup of the pretty lavender flowers in the neighbor's yard.

This pink bougainvillea is under a huge tree and gets way too much shade so it isn't usually this colorful.

And here is some more bougainvillea at the back of our house.

LOVE THAT PINK

I took the following pictures in the back yard yesterday. Love that pink bougainvillea.

The ice plant in the strawberry planter survived the winter but we were beginning to doubt if it was going to bloom. Now it's blooming big time. It's blooming even more today but I'm not going to go out and take another picture. This one will do.

Happy Spring!