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Prioritizing and Remembering the Sacrifices

Before all others, I remember Christ. In the war for my soul, He is my victorious benefactor. This should be my first thought each day when I rise up and each night when I lay my head on my pillow. For without the freedom from judgement He affords me, all other freedoms are nothing but the hopeless respites of a dead woman walking toward an eternity in hell. I am without so much as a coin to give the axeman, let alone possessing the righteousness required to square me with the house.

Spurgeon said:

"Excuse making is the commonest trade under heaven. The slenderest materials are put to the greatest account. A man who has no valid argmuent in arrest of judgement, no feasible reason why he should not be condemned, will go about and bring a thousand excuses and ten thousand circumstances of extenuation, the whole of them weak and attenuated as a spiders web."

I am grateful that the bonds of my salvation have the unmatched tensile strength of His righteousness and mercy. No hand, no scheme, no act of my own or another can snatch me away from Him. Being prone to wander, I find great comfort in that thought. I find great comfort in the history that has come before me.

I come from a long line of people who have served this country. If I cared to join, I am qualified to be a Daughter of the American Revolution. On my mother's side I can trace the family back to the early 1700s. We have family that served in the Revolutionary War; General Nathaniel Taylor who served in the War of 1812,-his home is preserved in Happy Valley, TN. I plan on going to see it-. I am related to those who have served as United States Senators and Governors when our country was very young. It's fascinating to learn about them but the folks I knew move me more. My maternal grandfather served in the US Navy during WWII. He was in the Pacific Theater. My father was an infantry man in the US Army and served in Europe. His uncle Nick came to this country from Italy and served in WWI. My cousin, Stanley, served and died in the Korean war. My brother Nic served in the US Air Force. Patriotic, hale and hearty stock- the lot of them- and I am grateful for them all. I am grateful for those who served and have no tie to me at all.

My sister recently visited Washington DC and picked up a book at one of the gift centers she happened by. It's a compilation of stories about the women of WWII. I had talked about all the men and women whose stories were going to be lost as the "Greatest Generation" nears their passing. I have interviewed several people to hear their stories, including one woman who had the honor of blowing the whistle at the shipyard in Atlanta when news that the war had ended came to them. It seems the real life Rosie the Riveter, Rose Will Monroe,came from Science Hill, KY which is not far from me. The historian in me would have loved to interview her. You don't have to be related to someone who served to be grateful. You may never know what treasure lies in a person's history unless you take the time to find out. So I am asking you all, what gems are a part of your heritage, do you know?


It's my prayer that you will give your gratitude to God first and then to others. Psalm 50:23


"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul." - Henry Ward Beecher






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