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Posts tagged ‘courage’

Trump’s State of the Union

Do we have the courage

to seize this opportunity

to win for our country?

Is there power in

American pride today?

What were you thinking

as you listened tonight

to the State of the Union?

You can’t go wrong

by honoring and saluting

American war and space heroes.

Space travel promises and

Promises of quality of life

For all our citizens are

Words – Ideals we all embrace.

Common good – yes!

Political stalemates – no!

Greatness or Gridlock?

Duh, uh, I’m not sure.

Which do you choose?

”We are just getting started!”

I can believe that.

Can you?

So, what’s next?

Economic growth

and greater employment…

Opportunities for the disabled…

Show me!

Pompous claims – divisive smirks-

Divided applause – UNITY?

An ocean of white –

Chants of USA, but not by all.

Ridiculous partisan investigations?

Partisan wars?

Nominations stuck?

Bi-partisanship?

Mistreatment of veterans…

All agreed that should end.

Alice Johnson – prisoner –

Unfairness of criminal sentencing –

Tears, Joy, Accolades, Redemption

and Unity of Destiny.

Matthew Charles – released by

First Step Act – Unity!

Urgent National Crisis –

End border problems –

Solutions? 3,750 troops!

Protect lives and jobs

of our citizens, and acknowledge

contributions of legal immigrants.

Accusations of the speaker:

reduced jobs, increased crime,

very cruel attitudes of those who

advocate open southern borders.

Gang members streaming in.

Horrible heartache of Debra –

Compassion for her loss.

Oh yes, the folks who come

across our southern border

are all a threat to our safety…

Do you believe that?

Play on our fears  –

Convince us that sadistic

traffickers are all illegal aliens!

Common sense proposal

Sounds so sensible, yes?

Build a wall!

Smart and strategic.

Walls up, tunnels under,

Border cities, dangerous,

Fixed. ‘Cuz walls work. Do they?

Look at those 58% of women

Who filled new jobs last year.

They scaled the sexist borders!

Women in the work force = Unity!

Women in Congress = Right!

Congratulations!

Economic Empowerment for Women,

Chinese theft of USA – what?

Taking advantage of weak leaders!

Hmmm – trade blunders – who’s fault?

Bring back manufacturing-

4 Beautiful words =

“Made in the USA” – and rebuild

“Crumbling infrastructure” –

Unity!

Let’s protect those

with pre-existing conditions

and lower drug costs –

Unity!

Will a bill to lower costs pass!?

We see the value of

American freedom.

Will it bring politicians

to an agreement for the

benefit of all Americans?

Will it cause us to join

in a fight against

Childhood Cancer??

Grace Eli – so darling –

Brain cancer victim-

raised $40K for cancer fight –

completed her chemo.

She touched all of us.

Will her story inspire us all?

Paid family leave for parents

of a newborn child -yes!

What about the late-term abortions?

Right side stood and applauded.

Left side sat – but some clapped.

Where’s the unity for unborn,

late-term babies? Where?

Defense spending – military build-up,

INF treaty withdrawal, agreements –

outspend all others? Unity, nope!

Relationships with Korean leaders –

Divided applause.

Venezuelan connections – divided applause.

Socialism – Bernie Sanders- USA –

Complex and divided theories-

Israel and our relationships –

Divided reactions.

Wars abroad – new approaches –

End of endless wars – divided response.

Time to welcome home our troops:

Divided response. Where’s Unity?

Try for peace. Defend our people.

Kill leaders of the opponents…

Divided response.

Hero of USA – Cole – honor him!

Iran Nuclear deal withdrawal –

Divided response.

Where is our Unity!?

Confront prejudice and honor –

Officer Timothy Matson –

There’s our Unity!!

“Thank you. We are forever grateful.”

Concentration camp survivor –

Honor his 81st Birthday- UNITY!

“It’s the Americans!” UNITY!

Proof that God exists –  Herman –

Liberator – unifier – Joshua – 😘

We salute you both!

You did it for America;

You did it for us, and we are

Eternally grateful. Unity – yes!

Politicians coming from all of the USA,

We ask you to continue to work

in greater UNITY for the good

of all of us  – transcending our

differences and reigniting the

American imagination.

Choose to work for UNITY.

Go forward together.

This is my prayer.

Thank you, President Trump,

for your appeals for unity.

My prayer is for the unification

of our great nation.

No more divisiveness.

No more fear mongering.

No more partisanship.

Let us work as one

for our common good.

Yes!

 

The pundits are busy now.

Analyze what was said.

Second-guess the motives.

Question the energy.

But when all is said and done,

Can we come together as Americans?

Will we work together as one for the common good?

I’m trying…

Are you?

 

 

 

 

Category:

Love, peace, Sharing

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Change is Challenging

Change is inevitable
Change is challenging
Resist or embrace?

May as well embrace
To resist change is futile
Change is inevitable

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This is my grandson, Chris. I told you I would write more about him. He has been the center of life for Bob and our family since he arrived in the USA from Switzerland last Thanksgiving. When you first met him (if you have been following my blog), this is what he looked like:

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See the change?

And when you first met that pup he has under the blanket in his lap up there, this is what TazE looked like:

HappyTazE

Well, he is so covered up in that first picture up there, you can’t really see the gray in his face and the change in his body, can you? But, trust me… now at age 8 1/2, he has changed from that frisky guy you see there. Here’s a current one that shows you what I’m talking about:

TazE in bed

Yes, change is inevitable! And it can be scary. And it can be very exciting. But it does not do any good to resist it. Much of change is healthy and invigorating. It’ll happen whether you bid it or not. May as well plan for it!

When our grandson came last year, he knew he was in for a year of changes. He had the courage to fly into a new life here – with new opportunities – different in countless ways from his life in Sierre, Switzerland.

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Today we are driving in Montana snow (really came down yesterday… and more is expected today) from Ennis to Anaconda. It’s about a two hour drive. We will stay overnight there, hoping to find a place that will allow pets. TazE will go with us.

We are taking Chris to the Job Corps in Anaconda. He will check in at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. He has qualified (US citizen between the age of 16-24 with a clean record who is interested in training in one of 7 manual labor areas that are deemed understaffed by the Federal Government) and has been accepted into the program.

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We took a tour there in December and we were wonderfully impressed with the site, the program, the facilities, the instructors, the equipment, the ambience, and the students. About 200 young people are there. More than 75% of them are from out-of-state. Chris will be the first who was born and raised in another country. (Our daughter is his mom… and as such, Chris has dual USA-Swiss citizenship).

There are 4 dorms, 3 for men and 1 for women (that’s the ratio of the students). Not surprising since the trades they are learning include:

  • Heavy equipment Operating
  • Heavy equipment Mechanics
  • Welding
  • Painting (buildings inside and out – not oils, acrylics, watercolor, etc.)
  • Carpentry
  • Culinary Arts
  • Brick-laying

Chris will have a month to explore the various options and then he will select the one he wishes to concentrate on. Each student is self-paced. The training could take as little as three months and as much as a year, depending on prior experience, work ethic, skill, etc.

Stay tuned. I am sure our grandson is in for changes he cannot even imagine at this time.

We are excited for him.

Aren’t you glad to know our Federal Government is supporting this kind of internship/apprenticeship program for young people?

 

Category:

Animals, children, Family, Haiku, learning, life, Life's Challenges, Love, Montana, pets, work

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Sunrise Beginnings; Sunset Endings

Just as sun rises,
Each day is new beginnings.
Rise to occasions.

sunrise

Just as the sun sets
Extraordinarily,
Ends bring beginnings.

sunsetwourhouse

Allow the endings
In order to make room for
The new beginnings.

 

Our daughter’s youngest, our 23-year-old grandson, Chris, arrived from Switzerland to stay for awhile with our son in California – and to stay for a month with us here in Montana. Life here is very different for him. In the Montana month, he met our friends, went to church and shopping with us, helped us around the house a lot (like decorating for Christmas and then taking down and putting away all the decorations), received his driver’s license, toured the Job Corp campus in Anaconda, MT, filled out his application, and was accepted into the program. He has USA citizenship and is between the ages of 16 and 24; he wants to learn manual skills and may move on to find a job in a field such as carpentry, welding, or heavy equipment mechanics, and he has a “clean record”, so he qualifies for the program.

He will begin this new experience next week. Chris had to allow for a lot of endings in order to make room for these new beginnings. We are excited for him. We are impressed by his courage, spirit of adventure, and willingness to step out and learn new skills. Only the Good Lord knows what the next year will hold for him, but we know he is in God’s hands, and so we will send him off with great anticipation, faith, and confidence.

Stay tuned!!
I’m sure I will write
more about Chris
as the year progresses.
Maybe his experiences
will encourage
some 16-to-24-year-old
you know and love.

chrisatsimplers.jpg

 

Category:

Family, God, Haiku, life, Life's Challenges, Love, Montana

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Venture Out!

Doors and gates are ways

To enter and to go out –

Don’t remain inside.

Category:

Faith, Haiku, Life and Death, Travel

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Beauty in Blunders

Beauty in Blunders

What comes to mind when you think of the word “blunder”?
Mistake?
Goof-up?
Stumble?
Stupidity?

How about “Courage in Creativity”?

Yesterday our local chapter of GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) held its monthly meeting. I have the privilege of serving in the capacity of Madison Valley Woman’s Club (MVWC) Chaplain. As such, I am asked to present a message to the ladies at the start of each meeting. I try to tie it into the theme of the month’s program if I can, and make it inspirational. If one person is personally touched enough to comment about it later, I think there is a chance I have reached my goal. If I notice someone is brought to tears as the message hits home, I know! Yesterday, the MVWC theme was “The Art of Quilting.” The speaker, who only began quilting a decade ago, shared a variety of phenomenal creations. There wasn’t a noticeable blunder among them!

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My message to the ladies was for them to take Courage in their Creativity. Do not be intimidated by what appears to be perfection in others. I have a beautiful cross stitch hanging in my entryway. I brought it to the meeting yesterday for my friends to admire. Then, after I read the message on it and gave them time to admire the handiwork, I shared its blunder.

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Can you find the blunder? I shared the following quote from Leaves of Gold, An Anthology of Prayers, Memorable Phrases, Inspirational Prose and Poetry, edited by Clyde Francis Lytle:

There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it ill becomes any of us
To find fault with the rest of us.
         – Anonymous

We are often quick to point out the faults of others, but some of us put a magnifying glass on our own inadequacies and easily see our own mistakes where others might not notice them at all. It is not necessarily true, as Dryden wrote, “Everyone is eagle-eyed to see another’s faults and deformities.” Often we are eagle-eyed to see our own! I didn’t see Lucy’s blunder in her stitchery. Did you find it? She knew that the pattern called for a dozen bees. Count them. She has thirteen. Which one is “deformed”? Which one doesn’t belong? It wasn’t in the pattern. Its body is too square. Its wings are too short. It was stitched to cover up a mistake. I love that bee! It makes my stitchery unique – a one-of-a-kind – just like its creator! Just like each of us!

We may think we are too square or too short or too tall or too fat or too skinny… too something. We DO see the log in our own eye while we overlook the splinter in our neighbor’s. Don’t we?

Now that you know that bee is a blunder, can you see the beauty in it? Can you sense the courage in the creator who covered her “error” with her own original? Now that you know it’s there, can you look beyond the blunder? Or looking at it, can you see why my emphasis is on “Beauty in Blunders”?

Yes, we have our faults. We create mistakes. But, without the freedom to make them, we’d be afraid to get out of bed in the morning! In Leaves of Gold, LaRochefoucauld is quoted as saying, “We confess our little faults only to persuade others that we have no great ones.” Well, no one is fooled! Especially not us! We can’t trick ourselves into believing that our work is perfect. This side of heaven, it never will be! But, take Courage in your Creations! Bee bold and adventuresome! Embrace your faults while you strive to BEE all that God created you to BEE…

Find the Beauty in your Blunders.

God bless you!

 

Category:

Love

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Let Us Pray

In the wake of the horrendous events in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday, the Rev. Jean Johnson in Ennis, Montana sent this prayer to her friends. Thoughtful and well-written, it is worth sharing.

Let us pray…………
Loving God,
you are nearest when we need you most.
In this hour of sorrow we turn to you,
trusting in your loving mercy.
Your love cares for us in life
and watches over us in death.
We bless you for our Savior’s joy in little children
and for the assurance that of such is the kingdom of heaven.
In our sorrow,
make us strong to commit ourselves, and those we love,
to your unfailing care.
In our perplexity,
help us to trust where we cannot understand.
There are days when the burdens we carry are heavy on our shoulders and weigh us down,
when the road seems dreary and endless,
the skies gray and threatening,
when our lives have no music in them,
and our hearts are heavy with pain
and we have lost courage.
Flood the path with light,
turn our eyes to Your promises,
tune our hearts to brave music;
gives us a  sense of companionship and community;
quicken our spirits
that we may be able to encourage all who journey with us on the road of life.
Write Your blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart,
there to remain so indelibly engraven,
that no prosperity,
no adversity,
shall ever move me from Your love.
Be to me a strong tower of defense,
a comforter in tribulation,
a deliverer in distress,
a very present help in trouble
and a guide  through the many temptations and dangers of this life.
In the name of Jesus the Christ we pray………….   Amen.

Category:

Life and Death

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