This morning, we’ve had a spot of rain. Trees are dark and motionless, waiting for more. So am I. And, the weather forecast is for cooler weather. This is quite a nice summer. All the lawns are still green, not by virtue of homeowners watering but from the rain.
Today, I am very grateful for work to do and for the good health to do that work. Just getting up each morning and moving around is a wonderful blessing. I realize it more since three years ago, I broke my hip and was not able to move freely for a long time.
I wonder why we don’t appreciate freedom until, like being able to walk, it is taken away? And why don’t we learn from history? This morning, I read from the Book of Judges about the many times Israel turned away from the Lord, were punished by foreign nations, repented, God sent a leader, and they followed God for a while. But only for a while, then they forgot again.
I wonder why the Marine is still in jail in Mexico.
Today, many blessings fall on me, rather like the July rain, only more so. Peg and I plan to have lunch together after I go to my exercise group. She is going to tell me what she found in the first chapters of Moonlight Can Be Murder. I appreciate her keen eye and her ideas on what will work and what won’t work, in a story.
Have you ever noticed how encouraging people bring out the best in you? Encouragement costs nothing but it is invaluable. And it produces much better results than nagging or constant, harsh criticism. As I look back at the years, I realize that any accomplishments were due to people who thought I could, not to those who told me I couldn’t. My parents believed the best of me, and I worked hard to try to live up to their confidence.
A nation is like that and a nation is made up of people. If we believe in our Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, the foresight of our Founding Fathers, and the courage of our Armed Forces, our thoughts and actions will reflect pride in being an American. We are a nation of courageous citizens, of generous people, and we are still a Christian nation.
And, in my Monday morning meanderings, I wonder why my thoughts have turned to patriotic issues. Maybe it’s because I love this country, and I think we are in grave peril of more and more of our freedoms slipping away.
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