Posted on 09/21/2002 1:32:30 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
Beautiful sentiments.
Just got back from ushering the 7:30 Mass. You have a votive candle, and blessings written down in the book for the Mass of special intentions. (Included are the thoughts of all of you, as well as your health, Mull... Get well my friend.)
Deej... God has blessed me with a faith that has been on-going my whole life. I have never known what its like to not have faith. (I know you and I have talked of this before...)Often our family was confronted with tragedy in the loss of siblings, and friends. We have relyed on that faith to get us through. But more than using our faith for help, I believe we're given daily miracles each day to inspire us on our way. Whether it be your son or daughter's laugh, a sunset, a flower, or a stormy sky, we can draw the strength that God has given us to press on into the next day. The most important thing is to realize, I think, that we have no control over our destinys. We grow, and learn from each new experience God sends our way. To become more Christ like is our ultimate goal. People often say we must love ourselves before we can love others. I think that's backwards. I think we must need to first learn how to love others. Isn't that after all what Jesus did? He cared nothing for himself, and sacrificed himself for the rest of us. That is the key to truly understanding what our lives should be all about; The service and devotion to others.
Don't mean to pontificate too much, but Deej, I see the spirit of God working through you!
Bless you, my friend!
And to you all!
I will try and keep you posted as this delicious season shows herself, in all her beauty!
Good Morning!
Morning Guennie,
I told a lot of people at school about your trip to P.E.I. Many are envious, and are ready to join St. Anne's so they can partake of their picnic.
Prayers to the boys, and you!
We landed in Buffalo on Thursday night around 11 or so. One of our bags was missing, and of course it had to be mine; it had all the girly stuff in it: curling iron, blowdryer, 3 types of hairspray, 15 different shades of brown eyeshadow, 4 brushes, 3 butterfly clips; 4 pairs of shoes and a partridge in a pear tree....for whatever reason, WE went to Buffalo, but my bag decided it wanted to go to Flint, MI. AirTran said the next flight coming from MI to Buffalo would be at 1pm Friday or so, and we could pick it up the next day. Mr. DJ said, "NOT!!" because the wedding rehearsal was at 6pm. So AirTran said that they would have to put it on another airline that flew into Toronto, and have a courier deliver it to our hotel. So, Friday morning we got up and started driving towards the border of the US/CANADA. I think I had like 40 pieces of identification for all of us, since my m-i-l managed to scare the heck outta me with her dire warnings of doom and gloom that I would NEVER get back to Orlando if I didn't have ENOUGH ID to prove I was a US Citizen. We got to the border patrol booths, and the Canadian Customs officer at our booth was huge! He was wearing sunglasses (it was raining, too) and a bulletproof vest...I swear he looked like "Rambo". Anyway...he said, "Where are you going and why?" Hubby told him that we were going to a family wedding. Oh wait....first let me tell you THIS: before we even got to the border, Mr. DJ addressed ALL of us, but he looked directly at me as he said: "Just keep your mouths shut and don't say BOO unless he tells you too. They are looking for terrorists and I don't want our underwear all over the road because we even SEEM suspicious."
ROFLOL!!!!! Okay. So after he asked us the first "set" of questions, he looked at ME and asked (although I didn't know who he was looking at when he asked this question) "How long are you staying?" I said, "Who? ME? or all of us?" He said, "I'm looking at you, arent' I?" and I said (quite innocently I might add because it was the truth), "Well..um...I didn't know, because I can't see your eyes through the sunglasses." Well, the boys were nearly hysterical anyway, and the answer I gave the customs guy upset them I guess, and they yelled: "MOM!! SHUT-UP!! DADDY TOLD US TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT IN CASE WE WERE TERRORISTS!!!!" At which point I started giggling hysterically and Mr. DJ didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he just figured that either way he was gonna be driving up to the inspection station anyway, ROFLOL....howEVER.....it appears that this guy had a sense of humor, too...because even he started laughing....he said, "JUST GO!"
Once we got into Canada, we stopped for lunch. Now, let me just say this: I would never wish to offend any Muslims that might post here. However, after stopping for lunch, then stopping for gas, then stopping at THE BEER STORE, it became increasingly apparant to me that maybe 80% of the population in and around Toronto consisted of Middle Eastern people. Even our hotel was being run by Middle Easterners and they were also having a HUGE convention for some Muslim group there. Finally I said to Mr. DJ, "Um..honey? Are you sure that the sign at the border said "Welcome to Canada" and not "Welcome to Afghanistan?" He said, "I was just gonna ask you the same question."
And that was only the first twelve hours of our trip north. *grins*
In the White House!
Great story Deej.
Good to see you were able to face down Rambo. (And without a grenade launcher, no less!)
I am in total agreement with every one of your points. I think you understand perfectly what is going on and express it very well. Thanks for posting your views. They are excellant food for though and explain much that needs explaining.
Since 1987, the US congress has annually been approving a foreign aid bill totaling an average of $3 billion to Israel, $1.2 billion in economical aid, and $1.8 billion in military aid.
After the gulf war in 1991, the US has additionally been offering Israel $2 billion annually in federal loan guarantees, which brings the total US foreign aid to Israel to about $5 billion, or $13.7 million per day. This amount excludes the approximate $1.5 billion in total tax-deductible private donations from numerous Jewish charities and individual donors. All in all, this is the largest amount of foreign aid given to any country by the United States.
Total aid from the US to Israel both public and private, is about 6.5 Billion dollars a year. Israel is a small nation in size. Our federal government spends more on Israel than it does on 10 of our 50 states.
We pay the Israeli piper and we pay him better than we pay the pipers for some of our own states.
Mr. DJ thinks that the CIA or FBI and maybe even the SS has a satellite that makes a pass at least once a day, if not more, over our house to see what I am doing. I told him that they must get bored very easily, LOL...all I do is play Yahtzee. He also thinks I am on some "lists" of somekind...because I write the White House. Hel-LO? Since when was writing the President a crime? Especially if you respect him???? ;-) He's a goof. (Mr. DJ, not the President. Hm. Maybe Mr. DJ does have a point....)
Mr. Marple thinks that I control policy, here at my little keyboard.
I choose not to disabuse him of that idea. HAR!
Oh, that TooGood lady is on TV. What a horrrible mess that is. I do not think we need to hear a lot of this.
I hope I can get on those lists. Might make my life a little more interesting...
Do your Bucs play today? Hope they fare well. Been tough as of late to be a Packer fan. Maybe they'll turn things around in Detroit.
My prayers are with sweet Martha...I could give two hoots about TooGood. She and her attorney make my skin crawl.
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.