About God

About God

by Rita Springer

I have thought about God and my own life’s existence,

And it’s not like I’ve not been on my knees in repentance.

Bigger than life, and out on my own.

I’ve come to these conclusions about God.

I have thought about God when searching for solutions

Disappointed and cost birthing such confusion,

Surrendered my heart to the truth not a system. And to God.

How can we walk underneath an open sky?

How can we say we have eyes and yet we can be so blind?

You have your race and religion, and I guess I have mine,

What about God?

I had thought about God when my own father was dying.

And I thought "the idea, of death and it’s timing!"

I turned the other cheek only because I was crying out to God.

How can we walk underneath an open sky?

How can we say we have eyes and yet we can be so blind?

You have your race and religion, and I guess I have mine,

What about God? What about God?

How can we walk underneath an open sky?

How can we say we have eyes and yet we can be so blind?

You have your race and religion, and I guess I have mine,

What about God? Do you think about God?

You can look through the windows of a stained glass cathedral

You can speak in tongues in a church with a steeple

Who holds the keys to your own heart’s temple?

I wonder if it’s God.

I wonder if it's God.

Do you ever think about God?

Quotes For Thought

Those who won our independence...valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty...that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussing affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government. But they knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces a stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and that the fitting for evil counsels is good ones... Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of liberty.

-- Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

Find Us Faithful

Find Us Faithful

By Steve Green

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

"Y'all Come Right In And Make Yourself At Home!"

"Y'all Come Right In And Make Yourself At Home!"

"In the South, the breeze blows softer...neighbors are friendlier, nosier, and more talkative. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting, and parting. -- Charles Kuralt

To be Southern is to be part a diverse culture with a rich and deep heritage -- a heritage that is steeped in traditions of music, stories, family, and yes, food. Southern culture is a blend of people from different places who have adapted to a similar way of living. Being Southern is not just living south of the Mason-Dixon line. It is a way of living.

Stories and memories that are passed down through the family line play an important role in keeping this heritage alive. Each successive generation receives an invaluable gift of family history to build on. I remember visiting my Papa (grandfather) and listening to the stories he would tell about his childhood, and also about my father's growing up years. The stories might be slightly altered in the telling to reflect his style, but that is part of the tradition. By the time the tale is passed down five or six generations, and "improved upon" a little bit each time, it has become almost unreal, a tall tale.

"The biggest myth about Southern women is that we are frail types -- fainting on our sofas...nobody where I grew up ever acted like that. We were about as fragile as coal trucks." -- Lee Smith

A favorite story of mine is one that my dad told me. As a boy, he spent much time with his grandparents and once, when he was about ten years old, he was visiting with the rest of his family. His grandmother was a no-nonsense lady with rather strict notions about children, so they usually steered clear of her. During this particular visit, my dad was to see a prime example of why his grandmother was a force with which to be reckoned.

My dad was standing outside playing, and looking up, he saw a scorpion on the side of the house. Now understand, the scorpions in this certain area weren't the teeny tiny creatures that can be easily crushed with a foot. The size of one of these scorpions would rival the length of a large man's index finger, and the results of getting stung by one could cause critical damage. My dad called out to anyone around that one of these creatures was on the wall of the house. His grandmother happened to be within hearing distance. The next thing my dad knew, his granny walked out the door with a double-barrel shotgun. She said, "Git outta the way, James", aimed the gun at the house, and blasted the scorpion to kingdom come. That day, my father gained a new respect for his grandmother and another reason to keep on her good side.

"The accent of one's birthplace remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech." -- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

When talking to a friend in Idaho for the first time, she exclaimed how much she liked my accent. She wasn't the first person to say that. It did cause me to reflect, however. What exactly is a Southern accent? I never considered myself as having so noticeable an accent, so I started listening to myself more and comparing my tone with others around me. I have grown up around what we call rednecks, with their ill-use of grammar and bad enunciation. So, I determined to always say my words clearly to make sure others can understand what I am saying. I don't speak with a distinct Southern (pronounced "Suh-thurn) emphasis, but I have developed the soft and gentle overtone that occasionally shows in my speech and is known as an accent.

"Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names." -- Charles Kuralt

One thing I love about the South is the insane and hilarious names of some of the towns and cities. Names like Hopeulikit, Georgia; Possom Trot, Kentucky; Ticktown, Virginia; Hooker Hole, Louisana; and Frogtown, Mississippi. Oh, and let us not forget Slapout, Alabama! The diversity of the South is remarkable, and hearing new and interesting names always delights me.

All in all, the South is an amazing place to live, and it's difficult to imagine living anywhere else. The qualities that make this place home are what keep me here. It does not matter if I ever leave; my heart will always remain in the sweet and sunny South.

"Nothing about us is quite the same as in the country to the north and west. What we carry in our memories is different too, and that may explain everything else." -- Charles Kuralt

A Late Post

I really should have put these pictures up a week ago, but I never made time to do it. We had snow!!! It actually snowed all day Sunday and we got some ground covered.

Towards the road

Towards the stream bottom

Of course we had to play around a little

Joel came over just to throw some snowballs at us.

Right outside the house