It's Not all Cookouts

Born out of the practice of gathering to honor the fallen dead of the Civil war in communities across the nation and above and below the Mason Dixon Line, the predecessor of Memorial Day, Decoration Day, was first officially proclaimed by General John Logan,  “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died...”

By the turn of the century it was becoming referred to as Memorial Day by many.  In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

“We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.”

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war.

After WWI the day was expanded to include Americans who had fallen in all conflicts.  1967, it was made an official federal holiday. Memorial Day remained on May 30 until 1971, when it was moved to the last Monday in May as part of the Federal Uniform Holidays Act.

Beginning in 1987 Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date. Inouye continued introducing the resolution every Congress until his death in 2012. In his introductory remarks to the bill he introduced in 1999 he stated:

“Mr. President, in our effort to accommodate many Americans by making the last Monday in May, Memorial Day, we have lost sight of the significance of this day to our nation. Instead of using Memorial Day as a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans in combat, many Americans use the day as a celebration of the beginning of summer. My bill would restore Memorial Day to May 30 and authorize our flag to fly at half mast on that day. In addition, this legislation would authorize the President to issue a proclamation designating Memorial Day and Veterans Day as days for prayer and ceremonies honoring American veterans. This legislation would help restore the recognition our veterans deserve for the sacrifices they have made on behalf of our nation.” 

The “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

Let us remember to honor those who fell while serving their nation and protecting our freedoms.  Place flags or flowers on graves,  wear a poppy pin or pause, reflect and pray at 3:00pm tomorrow. 

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”- John 15:13, KJV

We Don't Need No Stinking New Bathroom Laws

For crying out loud!!  Has this whole collective country lost all of it's common sense?!?!  Seriously!

All of this transgender bathroom crap is ridiculous!  All we need is all we have ever needed, which is a little common sense, as anyone who has ever been the mother of a boy can tell you.  If you have a toddler to preschool age boy and your husband is not with you and the boy needs to use the restroom, you escort him into the ladies room with you.  Why?  Because he is too young to be in a place with grown men, one of whom could be a molester, nor in an environment that is usually filthy without supervision.  Once he gets up school age or so, you teach him some self protection things and let him go in the men's room, but you are right outside that door and you'll bust up right in there if he takes an exceeding long time or you hear any sign of a commotion.  Technically, the ladies bathroom was never his place and the men's room was never yours.  But for the sake of his age and protection and common sense, there are times to bend the rules and only an idiot would complain.

Likewise, the whole trans debacle.  Get real would you people!  Anyone who is dressed and carrying themselves as a woman has always been able to go into the ladies room.  Anyone who can stand and piss has been able to go into the men's room.  That's all we need!  Just keep doing that!  If Larry still walks like a man and isn't dressed in drag, go to the men's room!!!  If he's rocking a dress and heels and can simply walk in quietly, get in a stall and do his business, go in a ladies room!  If you don't make a big deal out of it, the most anyone might think is what a gawd awful ugly woman.  Or darn, I wish I had her hair.

No one needs an all inclusive restroom!!  We'd never find a clean public restroom anywhere any more, let alone having to pee in the same room as the guy who just leered at you on isle 5.

Thank you for listening!  I feel better now.

Barbara

Posting to Save My Soul

I was online, looking around.  Checking out my reading list.  Looking to see if a few new blogs I had followed had made any posts I had missed.  Then, I scrolled back up to the top of my Blogger Dashboard screen and I saw the number of posts I have made here at Life and Faith:  666!!!

Well, I don't want my blog associated with the number of the beast!  So, I had to, of course, make a quick entry so that the number would roll and I'd be at a nice, safe, decent and Holy 667.

In case you've had your head buried in sand somewhere all of your days, the beast I refer to is in John the Revelator's book in the Bible and the number 666 is an important clue to his identity:

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. - Revelation 13:18, JKV

Now I can push post, finish Perry Mason, go to bed and sleep soundly.

I Saw it on Facebook

Okay, yes, I do talk to myself.  Not all the time all day.  But at different times throughout the day.  I talk to myself when:

I'm trying to figure something out.
I'm doing something and it doesn't go right.
I'm trying to make up my mind about something.
When I see something incredibly moving, stupid or mean and I am by myself...there's no one to comment to.

I don't always answer myself, but sometimes I do.  I'm not ashamed of it.  Sometimes a girl just needs to talk to someone who will listen intently, understand completely, get her warped humor and come up with an answer that truly suits her.  ;)

Reflections on the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, 2016 Edition

I'm going to try to keep this post short and sweet, as I myself am exhausted from a beautiful, wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  

I like to end on a positive note, so I'll begin on the negative.  I had less interaction this year, than last year.  But I expected that going in.  My Tender Years theme about childhood memories was simple and plain.  Also, I was a minion last year and was everywhere.  This year I was not a minion and was lucky to visit my 6 list blogs a day, answer my comments and drop in on a few of the many blogs I wanted to follow through the Challenge.  All together, I had about 1200 less visits than last year.

On the plus side, in many ways, this year rocked!!!  I had a core of people who really got into my Tender Years theme and visited almost every post!  I found many new blogs to follow, who seem to be the type that I love the most:  just real people blogging about life.  To me, that is what blogging is. As the year progresses, and I see just what unfolds on these "new" to me blogs, I'll be spotlighting and sharing.  Statistics wise, even though this year did not out do last year. it did surpass any of the other three years I was in the Challenge.

So, I'm chalking this year up as a win, win.  I gained some new, looks to be faithful, followers and found some new blogs I think I can really love.  Some of you will be seeing me coming back on slow Saturdays reading A to Z posts I missed.  Some of you won't; not because I don't care, but because there just aren't enough hours in a day.  

For those not familiar yet with Caneyhead as usual, I do my own thing called "I Saw it on Facebook", where I take an image I saw on Facebook and expound upon it.  Sometimes thoughtful, sometimes humorous or tongue in cheek.  You'll also see faith posts, as I am a professing, Bible believing, born again Christian.  There are also personal posts about life in Caneyhead, post about things that matter to me, posts regarding issues I care about.  Occasionally my warped sense of humor and random train of thought take a bow here as well.  I do not have certain days for certain things.  Life doesn't work that way.  You'll likely see one to three posts a week from me.   

Thanks to our Challenge hosts, minions and helpers!  And I certainly hope I"ll see every one of you back here next year for 2017!  If you want to see some more reflections, just click the image above. 

A Joke and a Lesson

I was going around, visiting the blogs I follow when I happened upon Shawn's blog, Laughing at Life 2 and his Dam Joke.  Okay, I had a good laugh, and then I started to think about it.  Then I began to want to share what I thought.  So, I asked Shawn, and good sport that he is, he said I could share his joke here with my post.  So thanks to Shawn, and here's the joke:

"A boy is selling fish on a corner. To get his customers' attention, he is yelling, "Dam fish for sale! Get your dam fish here!" A pastor hears this and asks, "Why are you calling them 'dam fish.'" The boy responds, "Because I caught these fish at the local dam." The pastor buys a couple fish, takes them home to his wife, and asks her to cook the dam fish. The wife responds surprised, "I didn't know it was acceptable for a preacher to speak that way." He explains to her why they are dam fish. Later at the dinner table, he asks his son to pass the dam fish. He responds, "That's the spirit, Dad! Now pass the f*cking potatoes!""

It should be easy to see why I laughed.  The preacher was having fun with the play on words.  Then his son heard him and instead of being shocked and then laughing with relief when he realized Dad didn't mean what he thought, the son believed his Dad was actually condoning foul language and curse words.  It's a funny premise.

Until you begin to think about it.  How many times in our day to day life, in our Christian walk, do we "flirt" with the edges of sin?  Go right up to the point of sinning and then stop short?  Or perhaps we even stick our toe in and test the water!  Don't you know, even if we are sure in our  hearts WE have not sinned, if we cause someone to believe we have fallen short of the mark, we have failed?!  It is true!  We are not responsible for only our own actions and whether they are right or not in God's sight, we are responsible for how those around us perceive those actions.  If, like the son in the joke, they perceive that we are somehow condoning their improper, impure actions and motives, then we stand guilty.

If on the other hand, we have carried ourselves uprightly in ever way we possibly can and they still mis-perceive and somehow feel justified in their wrong doing, then it is not our fault, but lies with them.  The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in regard to the practice of buying and eating meat that had been offered as a sacrifice to idols.  Idol worship is wrong.  Those who worshiped the idols believed that eating the meat that had been sacrificed to the idol actually brought part of that "god" into the eater.  Christians knew there was no power in the idols or the meat.  But new converts and those still practicing idol worship did not.  In Romans 14, Paul addressed this!  He summed it up well in this:  14 As for myself, I am perfectly sure on the authority of the Lord Jesus that there is nothing really wrong with eating meat that has been offered to idols. But if someone believes it is wrong, then he shouldn’t do it because for him it is wrong. 15 And if your brother is bothered by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you go ahead and eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16 Don’t do anything that will cause criticism against yourself even though you know that what you do is right.  Therefore, let us not think like the world, "I know I'm right and if you don't understand who cares."  but think like Christ and care about our weaker brothers and sisters.  Care about the unsaved around you everywhere!  In Luke 17:2&3 Christ Jesus himself says, "If he were thrown into the sea with a huge rock tied to his neck, he would be far better off than facing the punishment in store for those who harm these little children’s souls. I am warning you!"  

What about it?  Do you know you are flirting with sin?  Is there some weaker person you are causing to feel justified in their weakness?  Will you stand up for Christ and then extend a hand to them?

A to Z Champions!!

I've made my posts
Time after time.

I wrote every sentence

Though they didn't rhyme.

And bad days -

I've had a few.

I've had my share of broken links to chase
But I've come through.

(And I it just goes on and on, and on, and on)

We are the champions, my friends,
And we kept on writing 'til the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for snoozers cause we are the champions of the Challenge.

I've made my visits
I've left my comments

You've brought me followers and shares and all that goes with it

I thank you all!

But my social life's a mess

No housework's been done
I consider it a challenge before the whole blogging world

That we got 'er done!

(And it just goes on and on, and on, and on)

We are the champions, my friends,
Cause we kept on blogging 'til the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for snoozers
'Cause we are the champions of the Challenge!

We are the champions, my friends,
Cause we kept on blogging 'til the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for snoozers
'Cause we are the champions of the Challenge!

This is my gift to all who survived the A to Z Challenge.

Sing to the tune of "We Are the Champions".

Barbara