Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Merry Christmas to One and All!  

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Here is a short thought that I shared with my church in our Christmas Eve service last night:



For the Sake of Real Christmas
(Christmas 2013)

We’ve been hustling & bustling from store to store
Calling and carding from shore to shore
Eating and greeting with friends galore
But Christmas is so much more.

Expecting white Christmas daily
While watching our yearly George Bailey
And stacks of cards come in the mail (e)
Can’t the true Christmas Spirit prevail?

‘Midst feasting and family and festive lights,
Presents and parcels and perfect delights,
From tinsel to trimmings to tree-neath sights,
There’s more, so much more to this holy night.

Scrooge got it right when he held Tiny Tim
The Grinch lost his grinchness at his story’s end
But us, what will we do with this Season’s Friend?
Let’s stop now and worship the Christ of the inn.

May God overwhelm us
With love so tremendous
And hearts that are gen’rous
For the sake of the real Christmas Night.

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For This I Am Most Thoroughly Thankful  

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With Thanksgiving just a few days away for the country--I thought I'd share my Thanksgiving Day with you all. Here is a starry-eyed young couple that turned Thanksgiving into a day (November 25) rather than a Thursday. I love my Blushing Bride:


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Love Your Freedom?  

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Then hug a Veteran


Happy Veteran's Day!

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Hurry! It's not too Late!  

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To celebrate National Taco Day!

So rush right out and enjoy yourself a taco!  National chains like Taco Bell will want your business, but don't let them be the only ones. I recall that Jack in the Box used to sell tacos by the three-some, and my sister loved Dairy Queen's tacos (though, I think they only happened in the Texas version of the franchise). But there are also some regional favorites like Taco Tico, and Taco Bueno that would like your business too.

Crunchy shell or soft taco, enjoy the Mexican sandwich today! After all, it is "National Taco Day"!

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Have Yourself a Good One Today!  

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The Reason We Celebrate  

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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

[For more info on this important document and its various drafts click here.]

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Annual Reminder . . .  

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Remember . . .


 . . . And Be Grateful

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Hallelujah!  

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Good Friday, Everyone!  

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He paid a debt He did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed Someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song, "Amazing Grace."
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.

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Happy President's Day!  

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Since we have decided to combine all the President's into one day and shove it between Lincoln and Washington, I wish you happy day today, and I'll do it with a song. [Please note that I know it is "President's Day" and not "King's Day" but the sentiment is well-played.]


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Happy Valentine's Day to All - those who love old music, those who love Sherlock, those who love Love  

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This one's for you:

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Thanksvember: Day 22 - Tryptophan  

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Oh no! You say--here comes another eating post. Okay, guilty. But today, Thanksgiving Day, has become for Americans a day of excess and gluttony. We say we are thankful and then we eat ourselves into oblivion. We eat big and then we snack the rest of the day.

In the midst of our eating we become drowsy and begin to nod in front of the big football game. (To nod but not to snore.) Who is the culprit for this uninvited sleepiness? We have come to place all the guilt at the feet of the Thanksgiving Turkey and his modicum of tryptophan. Truth be told, no more of this ingredient (which our bodies need in small amounts) that is in this holiday delicacy, we would have to eat more than one whole turkey (by ourselves) in one sitting in order for it to cause the sleepiness that overcomes us. I imagine that the culprit lies in the decision not to stop with just three helpings of everything plus a sampling of all five kinds of desert.

Even so, I like me some Turkey on Thanksgiving Day. And I'll eat me some Turkey on Thanksgiving Day. And I'll be thankful for Turkey (Tryptophan and all) on Thanksgiving Day. And in the mean time I'll force myself to moderate so that I can spend less time eating and more time being Thankful on Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Have a Safe Evening Everyone  

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Parents, Here's a photo of your kid tonight:


"Candy!"

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Happy Labor Day, One and All!  

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Happy 4th!  

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Holiday Month!  

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May is a month chock-full of holidays (real or perceived), so I thought I'd just wish 'em all at once and get it over with:

Happy May Day! If you enjoy this Spring festival then dance and sing.

Happy Prayer Day! This Thursday people will gather all over the United States for the National Day of Prayer (find a moment to add your prayers for our nation if you desire)

Happy Mother's Day! This year it falls on May 13--so you still have time to do something special for your Mom (or in memory of her).

Happy Memorial Day! On the 28th remember all those who have made it possible to live in the freedom that we have in the USA by giving their lives for our freedom.

Since we're getting a jump start, for all my friends of Mexican extract: Happy Uno de Mayo! (daily you can add a number until we get to Cinco).

Have a happy holiday on whatever holiday you celebrate.

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It's Patty Day, So Go Green!  

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Top o' the marnin' to ye!

That's right. But just any ole patty won't do--not a rice paddy, a hamburger patty, patty-cake or even a cow patty. No, this day belongs to St. Patty, so get a little Irish on. Kick up yer heals, grab yer shillelagh, and, faith and begorah, have yerself a blest day!


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Happy . . .  

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Leap


Day

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Pick Your Prez  

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I know all the arguments about how we used to celebrate Washington on his birthday and Lincoln on his, and then we decided to move their birthdays to Mondays only for the sake of the banks and the politicians. Then we decided why don't we celebrate say Herbert Hoover or James K. Polk? and we moved the birthdays to a Monday splitting the difference between Lincoln and Washington and re-dubbed it "President's Day" to celebrate all the presidents.

There is beauty in this little scheme, though. You get to pick the president you want to celebrate. Perhaps this year it will be Calvin Coolidge day, or John Q. Adams day. Whatever you decide, pick your prez and celebrate our nation. After all, regardless of their politics or perceived success/failure, we've had a pretty good run with our presidents. Have a great one!

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For You (Day 2)  

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March, 2000. It was the second day of my training at the International Mission Board's training center for overseas workers (they keep changing the name, so I don't know what they call it now). We looked across the crowded room. Our eyes met. (Shall I continue or just get sappier by the minute?)

Actually I did meet my Blushing Bride on the second day of that training. I was headed for a career in Ukraine, and she a two-year term in Egypt. Our friendship blossomed over the next five weeks, and then we went our various ways. Apparently, there was a plan that meant more than overseas service. I had written a love song a few years before--not for anyone in particular, but back in the day when I was a melancholy romantic and wrote love songs (not very good ones, but they suited me). Then I met HER. Then my heart went bump (day-do-ron-ron?).

Anyway, after we decided to get married, I realized that I'd already written a song for this precious woman--a song that was written even before we met. So, Happy Birthday, my Love. Here's your song:


Love at a Second Glance
Benjamin Potter (1982)

I don’t believe in love at first sight
But I know that your smile caught my eye.
It’s not just the way that it glows upon your face
But the way you let it linger in your eyes.

Lady, pretty lady
You make me happy when you smile.
Tell me if I hurt you
And I’ll stay with you the while
That you are crying
I don’t want to make you sad,
Then I’ll feel bad.

I thought I’d make the promise
That I would give you everything.
There’s nothing that I’d like better
Than giving you the moon.
I’d like to see it sparkle
And glimmer in your eyes
But just as soon as I gave it to you,
You know, the sun would rise.

And Lady, pretty lady
You make me happy when you smile.
Tell me if I hurt you
And I’ll stay with you the while
That you are crying
I just want to be the friend
Of such a pretty lady.

I can’t make no more promises
I won’t make no more demands.
I realize that you can do
Only what you can
And I made all of my promises
So very long ago
That right now pretty Lady
I just want you to know

That I still don’t believe in love at first sight
But I know that your smile caught my eye.
So just give me a chance on love at a second glance
And I know, pretty Lady, that I’ll try.

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