Pray for Those Who Serve

Memorial Day is the observance of those who died defending our country, but during this holiday Weekend, think about and pray for our men and women who serve in the armed forces and are deployed or returning home for a bit and will be returning soon to complete their deployment or facing another deployment. Pray for their wives, husbands and children.

Pray for those in military service, because those who we see on TV surprising their children on leave could be the last time for them with their families. They could lose their lives  after they return to their deployments. That happen to a young man last year in the Philadelphia area. Local TV news reported the soldier on leave returning to Philly.  I watched him on TV meet his mother at the airport. About a month and a half later after he returned to Afghanistan, he was killed in action. Let us pray for the Lord’s protection over those serving in combat to return home physically and mentally unharmed.

The outer images below are of soldiers returning to their families. In one image, a father is seeing his baby daughter for the first time. The middle image is one of a deploying soldier.

A Personal Note on a Family Member

For those who celebrated, I hope you had a blessed Christmas. After going to church, I spent most of Christmas day with my 85 years old mother who is in the hospital. Praise the Lord, she was moved from ICU to a regular room on Christmas Eve. For those who consented to my request to pray for her in Jesus’ name, I deeply thank you. My mother who loves all kinds of foods, has been on a liquid diet since last Wednesday. She entered the hospital a week ago. Before last Wednesday, she was only allowed to suck on a few  Ice cubes and suck on a lemon flavored swab. So even though she did not get to eat a real Christmas day dinner, Mother was thankful and even became full from her Christmas day dinner of chicken broth, hot tea, ginger ale and jello.

Mother was told in the hospital to have rehabilitation for her mobility in a nursing home. She would not hear of such. She requested the hospital’s physical therapy. Today she called me in the morning to tell me of her excitement about being able to walk up 4 stairs and walk down the hall with a walker during a physical therapy session. It is not uncommon for those in their elder years to lose their ability to walk (even with a walker) after being bed ridden for several days. The use of steps only applies to being able  to use steps to get into the house, because our home is a ranch style type.

When I visited my mother later in the afternoon. She was in good spirits and was encouraged by a visit from our Pastor who also prayed with her. She is in prep for a procedure which she is scheduled to undergo tomorrow. After that she most likely will be able to go back to eating real food again.

My mother is loved in our church where she is called Mother by many in our church family. She grew up going to church, but did not have a personal relationship with Lord. My mother asked Jesus Christ through prayer to be her Savior when I was in high school. Jesus Christ became Savior and Lord to the rest of us in the family within a few years. She continues to grow stronger in the Lord everyday. Please continue to pray for her.

UPDATE 12-30-11: My mother came home last night thanking the Lord all the way home in the car. 

Christmas Thoughts in 2011

Let me start with telling you that some of this post incorporates some parts of my “Random Thoughts on Christmas” post of last year.

The Christmas wars resumed this year, but I did not hear hardly anything from the Winter Solstice crowd. Last year, the solstice crowd had a strong presence on TV’s morning news programs making their case for Winter Solstice being the true celebration in December, not Christmas or Hanukkah. The Manger displays anger atheists every year, but this year, they are going off the deep end over them. And that holiday tree thing, well that is ridiculous! How is the term Christmas tree offensive to non Christians when they do not have a tree in any holiday celebration in the same month as Christmas?

I am a ‘Merry Christmas’ person and avoid saying ‘Happy Holidays’ at all cost. I do say Happy Hanukkah, because it is a celebration of God’s people (Israel) getting  freedom from the oppressive Syrian-Greeks before the birth of Christ. I do not recognize Kwanzaa, because it is a celebration against the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people see it as just a historical cultural celebration of a set of principles. When Kwanzaa celebrations first came on the scene in this country, some taught that those principles were originally gods. The originator of the American Kwanzaa celebration, Ron Karenga despises the God of the bible. Please do not make the mistake of stereotyping black people in general  as Kwanzaa celebrators.

Christmas to me is not  Santa Claus, all though there is a Christian connection through the German moniker,Kriss Kringle which derives from Christ Child. The Santa Claus image that was given to me for a short time as a child had nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. What I was given was a myth and a lie. My mother ended the Santa Claus thing with me early, because she did not like me believing that an imaginary character was responsible for the gifts under the Christmas tree. She made it clear that the gift came from my father and her, because they loved me. And let me add that my two younger siblings never got the Santa Claus myth and they were still excited as any child about what they would see under the Christmas tree on Christmas day while knowing the truth about who gave them their gifts.

In my household today, everyone believes Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Some say Christmas is pagan, but that is not so. Go here to read more. It is all about the birth of the Savior, who is God’s gift of eternal life to us.

Note: This Christmas will be different for my family, because my 85 years old mother is in a hospital’s ICU. Please keep her in your prayers in Jesus Christ’s name.  Thank  you.

The Recovering Gabrielle Giffords

My heart went out to Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot point-blank in her head. I prayed for her recovery. I have read disturbing comments coming from folks on the right from time to time on Facebook when something tragic happens to someone on the liberal/left Democratic side. I remember a FB comment saying that it was good that there was one less lefty Democrat in the world, when Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic Senator and vice presidential candidate passed on. Now you know that was beyond despicable. I saw a few comments of that nature about Rep. Giffords. I cannot fathom how anyone could not care or feel (perverse) joy over what happened to her.

Praise the Lord that Rep. Giffords is making a remarkable recovery. I continue to pray for her and her family. God bless her husband, Mark Kelly. And how wonderful that something beautiful came out of the tragic shooting! Rep. Giffords gain 2 step daughters when she married Mark Kelly in 2007. They were not crazy about her, but now they are there for her. This is what one of the daughters wrote:

“You are the strongest, most incredible woman I have ever met. I love you so much. I am thankful to have you in my life,” she wrote. “I know we have not been extremely close in the past couple years and I am really sorry. That is going to change immediately.“

Read more here.

Yes, Honor Killings are for Real

I do come across folks who do not believe that there is such a thing as honor killing. Some see honor killing as a form of domestic violence. Listen to a Muslim, Dr. Amin Muhammad from Pakistan now living in Canada who says it is no myth, honor killing is for real and it not a form of domestic violence.

Saying Goodbye…God Bless You

Soldier, Amber Simpkins is having her farewell moment with her daughter Elezia Simpkins, before she goes off to protect and serve our country. She is one of 140 Mississippi Army National Guard soldiers in the 1108th mobilized for one year to Kuwait in support of military action in Afghanistan. Some will detach to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Horn of Africa. My prayers are with this mother, her family and all those (and their families) who serve and protect us through military service.

God Keep You Safe and Bless You and Your Families Abundantly