Posted on 12/20/2004 4:43:02 AM PST by The Mayor
|
|
|
|
 |
 1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar. |
|
Read: Psalm 66:1-12
You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. —Psalm 66:10
Bible In One Year: Micah 1-3; Revelation 11
The main end of life is not to do but to become," F. B. Meyer said. And for this we are being prepared every day. As silver is refined by fire, the heart is often refined in the furnace of sadness. The psalmist said in his sorrow, "We went through fire" (Psalm 66:12).
The refining process may be very painful, but it will not destroy us, for the Refiner sits by the furnace tending the flame. He will not allow us to be tried beyond our endurance; it is for our good.
We may not understand why we have to endure such misery year after year. The ordeal seems endless and pointless. Our days are wasted, or so it appears. We feel as if we are doing nothing of lasting significance.
But God is doing what matters—we are being refined. He is placing us into a crucible in which we acquire patience, meekness, humility, compassion, and the other "quiet" virtues our souls naturally lack.
So don't be afraid and don't fret. Your present trial, as painful as it may be, has been screened through God's wisdom and love. The Refiner sits beside the crucible tempering the flames, monitoring the process, waiting patiently until His face is mirrored in the surface. —David Roper
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2004 - The Stars and Stripes military
newspaper is offering a "unique new software product" for free
holiday gift giving.
The Stars and Stripes 2005 PC Desktop Calendar and Daily Planner
is a free software giveaway that lets users customize their
computer desktop calendar using their own family snapshots.
"Just upload 12 photos and enter an e-mail address. A few
minutes later, a link will be sent which allows users to
download their personalized and customized version of the 2005
Calendar and Daily Planner," said a Stars and Stripes news
release. "The link can then be sent to family and friends around
the world as a cool and very personalized Christmas gift."
Each calendar comes with a built-in link to Stars and Stripes
online versions, so readers are just a click away from the
latest military news updates. The daily planner lets users keep
track of all appointments on a personal computer with a calendar
that displays personal pictures of family, friends, pets -- the
user's choice.
Related Sites:
Stars and
Stripes 2005 PC Desktop Calendar and Daily Planner [http://www.stripesclub.com/home/Calendar.htm]
Stars and Stripes [http://www.stripes.com/]
By Cpl. Mike Escobar, USMC
Special to American Forces Press Service
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Dec. 16, 2004 -- In a mountain range in
the barren, poverty-stricken country of Afghanistan, automatic-weapons fire and
grenade explosions fill the air with soot and rock debris. The high altitude and
polluted air choke the Marines and local military forces as enemy tracer rounds
whiz past, forcing them to hunker behind whatever cover they may find.
Amid all the chaos and destruction, one man returns fire, adrenaline pumping
through his veins. Maintaining his composure and exhibiting poise under fire, he
shouts out orders, directing his men to continue firing.
After almost 45 minutes of what seemed to him as a firefight that would never
end, Marine Gunnery Sgt. William E. Bodette scans the terrain and sees that his
troops have routed the hostile ambush.
He pats himself down and looks all over his chest for signs of entry wounds, but
feels none. Bodette reaches down into his cargo pocket and pulls out a worn-out
laminated photograph of his wife and three children, thanking the Almighty that
he is still alive.
This is the third time this deployment the enemy has ambushed his troops, and
the third time he's walked away, miraculously unscathed.
"I could hear (the rounds) snapping off all around me, and I even felt the heat
of a rocket-propelled grenade as it flew right over my head," stated the Company
K, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment company gunnery sergeant. "All around me I
saw the green and red lights of the tracers. I don't know how I didn't get hit.
I thought I was going to die for sure many times."
Boldly leading his troops and remaining stalwart under fire, the 36-year-old
Clearwater, Fla., native's command presented him with the Bronze Star Medal with
combat "V" device Dec. 13 during a ceremony here.
The award was created in 1944 to recognize individuals distinguishing themselves
by heroic or meritorious achievement, both of which Bodette displayed.
"His decisiveness and combat leadership enabled three different patrols to
quickly overpower enemy forces, and he was also directly responsible for
establishing landing zone security for evacuating wounded U.S. and Afghan
Forces," the award citation states. Still, Bodette remains humble.
"I owe my life to a lot of people, to all the Marines who were with me and did
what they were trained to do," Bodette said. "I did what I've been trained to do
all the years that I've worn this uniform, and I didn't do anything special.
Somebody just saw me and thought I had."
Bodette has much to be proud of, military awards aside. As a 16-year veteran of
the Marine Corps and former Marine Corps Recruit Depot drill instructor, he has
touched many lives. It is this that gives him the greatest sense of personal
satisfaction and accomplishment, he said.
"Not too long ago, I went to the (National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda,
Md.) to award one of my former recruits (Cpl. Mark O'Brien, an infantryman with
2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment) his Purple Heart," Bodette said. "He was
injured during a firefight in Ramadi, (Iraq,) and now he's missing his right arm
and leg. He specifically asked for his senior drill instructor to pin on his
medal.
"It was the greatest honor of my life," Bodette added. "No Bronze Star could
ever take the place of what I did for that Marine, a Marine that I made. That's
what's so special about the Marine Corps. It's not about the individual wars
going on right now, or being able to say 'I did this, I did that,' but about the
service you're doing for your country and your fellow Marine."
(Marine Cpl. Mike Escobar is a combat correspondent with 2nd Marine Division
Public Affairs.)
Good Morning,
In going through all my pings from last night, it seems that so many freepers are experiencing the death of loved ones so close to Christmas. I couldn't get to this thread with a dry eye.
Thanks for the words and coffee. I'm sitting in a warm sunny winter porch with Christmas decorations and a beautiful tree overlooking a dusting of snow outside and pondering all my family members who have passed and how they now seem to have been "refined".
Morning Dubya and Thank you!
It's been a rough year for some people here at the Finest.
But we know one thing for sure.
To be absent from the body is to be in the prescence of The Lord!
It is bitter cold here 0 degrees windchill 15 below..
Going shopping and I am going to start up all 3 cars and let them warm up....
Good Morning Billie!
I am going to run out and go shopping with Mrs Mayor..
She says I haven't been shopping with her in 17 years.
Maybe she's right, I don't know, but she is very Happy about it!
Good Morning Billie!
Excellent Devotional, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for posting them daily for us.
THE BROWN BAG CHRISTMAS
When I asked our newlywed Sunday School class to share a favorite Christmas story, Carrie Fuller said, "Our family has one we call the 'brown bag Christmas.'" When she finished, I had to hear more. Two days later, I called a member of her family for more details.
It was the early 1930s during the Dust Bowl days of Kansas, in the heart of the Depression. The Canaday family---Mom, Dad, 7 children---were having a tough time existing, so there would be no luxuries at Christmas that year. Mom told the children to go outside and find a Christmas tree and decorate it. After a lengthy search, they returned with a dead branch, the only thing they had been able to find. They stood it up in a bucket of sand and decorated it with pieces of paper tied with string. Little Judy, almost four, did not know how a Christmas tree was supposed to look, but somehow she knew it was not like that!
As Christmas approached, the Canaday children, like children everywhere, pestered Mom and Dad about what presents they might get under their "tree." Dad pointed out that the pantry was bare, that they did not have enough to live on, and there certainly would be no money for gifts. But Mom was a woman of faith and told her children, "Say your prayers. Ask God to send us what He wants us to have." Dad said, "Now, Mother, don't be getting the children's hopes up. You're just setting them up for a disappointment." Mom said, "Pray, children. Tell Jesus." And pray they did.
On Christmas Eve, the children watched out the window for visitors, but no one came. "Blow out the lamp and go to bed", Dad said. "Nobody is going to come. No one even knows we're out here."
The children turned out the lamp and got in bed, but they were too excited to sleep. Was this not Christmas? Had they not asked God to send them the presents He wanted them to have? Did Mom not say God answers prayer?
Late that night, when one of the children spotted headlights coming down the dirt road, everyone jumped out of bed and ran to the window. The commotion woke up Mom and Dad. "Don't get excited, children," Dad said. "They're probably not coming here. It's just someone who got lost." The children kept hoping and the car kept coming. Then, Dad lit a lamp. They all wanted to rush to the door at the same time, but Mr. Canaday said, "Stay back. I'll go." Someone got out of the car and called, "I was wondering if someone here can help me unload these bags." The children dashed out the door to lend a hand. Mom said to her youngest, "Stay here, Judy, and help Mom open the bags and put up the gifts."
A deacon from the church in town had gone to bed that Christmas Eve, and lay there tossing and turning, unable to get the Canaday family off his mind. Later, he said, "I didn't know what kind of shape you folks were in, but I knew you had all those kids." He had gotten up and dressed and went around town, rousing people from their sleep to ask for a contribution for the Canaday family. He filled his car with bags of groceries, canned goods, toys, and clothing. Little Judy got a rag doll which remained her favorite for years.
With so much food, Dad wanted to have a Christmas feast, to spread it all out and eat as they had never eaten before. Mom, ever the caretaker, said, "No, we need to make this last." And it did last, for weeks.
The next Sunday, Mrs. Canaday stood in church and told what the members---and one deacon in particular---had done for her family. There was not a dry eye in the house.
Years later, the oldest sister Eva wrote up this story about her family for a school project. Eva said, "We were so thrilled by all the wonderful things in the bags, for a while ;we lost sight of the most special gift. The best gift that Christmas was not in brown bags at all.
It was Mom's faith, as she taught her children to bring their needs to Jesus and trust Him to meet them. And a Dad's love that wanted only to protect his children from hurt and disappointment."
When Carrie finished telling her story, she added, "Little Judy is my wonderful grandmother." Today, Judy Canaday Dryden lives in Sanger, Texas. As she relived this event from seventy years ago over the phone, one could hear the tear in her voice and feel her pride in being the recipient of such a precious heritage from her mother and father.
At Christmas, we celebrate praying mothers and caring fathers and believing children. We give thanks for sensitive deacons and generous friends and sleepless nights. And we praise God for the hard times that teach unforgettable lessons, stories of faithfulness that get told and retold through the years inspiring each new generation to place their faith in a loving Savior.
Turn on your sound.
Dec. 20, 2004
Ga. Town Proud of WWII Christmas Legacy
RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
BRUNSWICK, Ga. - With the Battle of the Bulge raging in western Europe during World War II, workers at a Brunswick shipyard were determined to deliver one more ship by year's end. To get the job done, laborers were needed around the clock on Christmas Day. About 1,500 volunteered - and they worked for free.
Newspapers across the United States carried the story in their afternoon editions Dec. 25, and 60 years later, their hard work and generosity remains a point of pride in the coastal city.
"We were Santa Claus," recalled 81-year-old Nanelle Surrency Bacon.
The shipyard built freighters to carry troops and supplies to the front lines of World War II.
It made its December quota before the holiday, launching its sixth ship Dec. 23, 1944. But Bacon and her co-workers at the J.A. Jones Construction Co. shipyard were determined to do more.
Bacon and John Clyde Smith, who supervised 100 electricians at the shipyard, could not remember whose idea it was to build seven ships in December and donate their Christmas overtime pay to the sailors taking those vessels overseas.
But Bacon remembers reporting for a 16-hour workday and seeing a Christmas tree, which her supervisor had cut from the woods, posted by the front gate. During breaks over crackers and Coca-Cola, she led co-workers in singing "Silent Night" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
In photographs from that Christmas, a man dressed as Santa Claus kneels on the docks with a blowtorch, flanked by two female welders.
"Shipyard workers here put in their eight hours today - free," read one Associated Press dispatch from Brunswick. "It was a Christmas present for the fighting forces on the front line."
After Christmas, workers received their holiday overtime checks already separated from their normal pay. They signed those checks over to the U.S. Treasury and turned them in to the shipyard's 13 union leaders.
The J.A. Jones Company then matched the workers' gift, donating an additional $16,080.
On Dec. 30, the Brunswick shipyard launched its seventh ship - the William Cox.
"You could feel the enthusiasm of the person over the intercom system," Bacon said. "It made you feel like you had almost given your heart or your life for the country. ... We just walked around and hugged each other and patted people on the back. It was a celebration."
On Jan. 2, 1945, the Brunswick workers received congratulations in a wire telegram from Vice Adm. Emory S. Land, chairman of the U.S. Maritime Commission.
"This is a performance unequaled by any of the six-way yards," Land wrote. "By exceeding the deliveries expected of it, your yard has made an extra contribution toward hastening the day of victory."
The 3,500-ton freighters, known as Liberty ships, measured 447 feet long and were relatively crude vessels - stemming from the Allies' need to build ships faster than German U-boats could sink them.
Using prefabricated parts that were welded rather than riveted, average production time was cut from 18 months to one month. The ships cost about $2 million apiece.
"She isn't much to look at, though, is she? A real ugly duckling," President Franklin D. Roosevelt said after first seeing blueprints for Liberty ships in 1941.
The fleet, however, proved vital to the war effort. Author Walter W. Jaffee, who has written four books on the ships, says simply, "We couldn't have won the war without it."
The Brunswick shipyard built 99 of the 2,710 Liberty ships launched from 1941 until the war's end in 1945. It closed soon after the war.
Bush criticizes Iraqi troops for leaving battlefield
President defends embattled Rumsfeld
By Jennifer Loven
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Bush pointedly acknowledged Monday that U.S.-trained Iraqi troops are not ready to take over their country's security, and cautioned that next month's elections there are only the beginning of a long process toward democracy.
"I certainly don't expect the process to be trouble-free," Bush said at a year-end news conference in which he signaled tough spending cuts to come and declined to offer specific solutions to Social Security's solvency.
Bush also gave a fresh vote of confidence to embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "He's doing a very fine job," the president said.
The 55-minute session, the 17th solo news conference of his presidency, was part of Bush's effort to seize the momentum from his re-election victory and push several ambitious domestic and foreign policy priorities in his second term.
On Iraq, Bush accused insurgents there of trying to "disrupt the democratic process" and urged the American people to remain patient well beyond the Jan. 30 elections as Iraqis craft a constitution and strengthen their security forces.
"The elections in January are the beginning of a process, and it is important for the American people to understand that," he said.
Critics have raised questions about whether enough U.S. troops are in Iraq to bring security for the elections. More than 1,300 American troops have died since the war began in March 2003. Also, soldiers have complained about long deployments and a lack of armored vehicles and other equipment.
Bush said "I would call the results mixed" on a U.S. effort to put Iraqi security in the hands of its own people.
"There have been some cases where, when the heat got on, they left the battlefield -- that is unacceptable," he said. "... We are under no illusion that this Iraqi force is not ready to fight."
Essential to the American strategy for withdrawing its troops from Iraq is the effort to train Iraqi forces for security and combat. But doubts have been raised from several quarters about the effectiveness of the effort and the reliability of Iraqi security forces.
On domestic issues, Bush said he will submit a federal budget that will cut the deficit in half in five years in part by asking for strict spending discipline. His fiscal 2006 budget is due to Congress in February.
"We will submit a budget that fits the times. It will provide every tool and resource to the military, will protect the homeland, and meet other priorities of the government," he said.
"It's going to be a tough budget, no doubt about it," Bush said.
On Social Security, Bush said he recognized that there would be "difficult choices" but said he won't lay out specifics until Congress has a chance to address the issue. Beyond proposing allowing younger workers to divert a portion of their payroll taxes into private accounts and saying he will not support an increase in payroll taxes, Bush has refused to offer specifics of his plan.
"The first step in this process is for members of Congress to realize we have a problem," he said.
Without any changes, Social Security would begin paying more in benefits than it takes in by 2018.
As for Rumsfeld, a growing number of lawmakers, including Republicans, have voiced no confidence in the defense secretary. But Bush defended his Pentagon chief.
"Beneath that rough and gruff no-nonsense demeanor is a good human being who cares deeply about the military and the grief that war causes," Bush said, batting away criticism that Rumsfeld had not personally signed condolence letters to the families of troops who have died.
Rumsfeld agreed to Bush's request this month to stay in the Cabinet during the president's second term and has received steadfast support from the White House since.
Bush defended his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he has had disagreements over the war on terror and, more recently, over the disputed elections in Ukraine. U.S. and Soviet officials said Monday that Bush and Putin would meet in Slovakia on Feb. 24 as part of an effort to improve U.S. relations with European nations.
"The relationship's an important relationship and I would call the relationship a good relationship," Bush said, adding that he's talked with Putin about getting Russia admitted to the World Trade Organization.
Bush also said he will work toward giving both Russia and the United States equal access to nuclear storage sites.
Earlier this month, Putin said he could not imagine how Iraqi elections could be held under "conditions of occupation by foreign forces," a pointed reference to the United States.
The president defended his failed nomination of former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik to be the Homeland Security secretary. Kerik ultimately withdrew, citing his failure to pay all the required taxes for a family nanny-housekeeper who may have been in the country illegally. The incident raised questions about the ability of the White House to fully vet its nominees.
"In retrospect he made the right decision to pull his name down," Bush said. "The lessons learned is continue to vet and ask questions."
Bush didn't tip his hand about who might be nominated to be the new national intelligence director -- a post created by the largest overhaul of U.S. intellience-gathering in a half century that Bush signed into law last week.
The new law creates a national intelligence center and a powerful new position of national intelligence direction to oversee the nation's 15 separate intelligence agencies.
"I'm going to find somebody who knows something about intelligence," Bush said, "and capable and honest and ready to do the job."
Maimed Paratrooper Makes Parachute Jump
Associated Press
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - An 82nd Airborne Division soldier who was maimed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has made his first parachute jump since his leg was amputated below the knee.
Spc. George Perez, 21, of Carteret, N.J., said earlier this year that one of his goals was to jump again so he could rejoin his unit in Afghanistan early in 2005. He was wounded in 2003.
Perez made a practice jump Saturday at Fort Bragg.
"He jumped successfully," said Sgt. Heather Allenbaugh, a division spokeswoman. "It was just a normal, routine jump."
DEA Offers $5M Reward for Drug Kingpin
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Federal authorities posted a $5 million reward Monday for information on the whereabouts of a Mexican drug lord who escaped from prison in 2001.
Joaquin Guzman Loera - known as "Chapo" - is wanted in southern California for conspiracy to import cocaine, possession with intent to distribute, money laundering, and criminal forfeiture, the Drug Enforcement Administration said. Guzman has taken full control of his organization since his escape in January 2001, according to the DEA, which is offering the reward along with the U.S. State Department.
At the time of his escape, Guzman had been serving a 20-year sentence for bribery and criminal association in a maximum-security prison in Mexico. He was arrested in 1993 in Guatemala and had been in prison since 1995.
During the 1980s Guzman worked with kingpin Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, head of the El Padrino organization. Guzman left that group to start up his own smuggling operation, which soon became a rival.
In 1993, members of the El Padrino organization attempted to assassinate Guzman but instead hit prominent Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas and six other people outside Guadalajara airport.
In the early 1990s, Guzman used a complicated tunnel system in Douglas, Ariz., to import cocaine from Mexico. Authorities intercepted 7.3 tons of cocaine - hidden in cans of chili peppers - in the border city of Tecate, Mexico, in 1993.
Anyone with information about Guzman may call the DEA's hot line at 866-294-0820.
ON THE NET
Drug Enforcement Administration: http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
