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A little late, but I saw your subsequent post which led me to this one, and I just had to say ‘something’ - didn’t mean to write a novel, but once I got started, it just kept coming .... sorry if it sounds like a lecture, it’s not. This has been building for a long time and it seems your post was the straw that broke the camel’s back & opened the floodgate!

Like many other FReepers reading your post, I cried as well .... not only for you that you feel this way, but because I have my own fears and concerns for the country. My dad is a WWII vet - will be 90 in December. It pains me that he, who once fought for this country, has “given up”. He thinks the country is too far over the cliff to ever recover. A lot of it is his age, some depression from the drugs he’s on (congestive heart failure), and he’s so tired he just can’t fight any more, even mentally.

First and foremost, your faith in God is the most important thing and I believe you realize that. No matter what happens, your true home is in heaven with God. If those of us who believe in God are indeed martyred (and it may come to that), we will be in heaven with Him. For two years, I took care of an elderly lady friend who was in a nursing home (a bad one - I had to be there every day). She was suffering from respiratory failure and was a person of very strong faith. One day, the true reality of her situation hit her and she looked me in the eye and said “I’m going to die, aren’t I?” What do you say to that? I took a deep breath and told her “we’re all going to die one day, it’s just that you are going to die sooner rather than later, but you are going home to God and I envy you that.” She gave me the most beautiful smile, filled with peace and happiness and said “I can’t imagine how wonderful it will be to forever be in the presence of God’s love.” How simple, yet how profound. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better definition of Heaven .... to forever be in the presence of God’s love. So when I get fearful, I know the end of whatever is coming, bad or good, will be to forever be with God and in the presence of his love. It is the ultimate comfort & if you have a true personal relationship with God, no one can ever take it away from you. Death is no longer to be feared because death will send you home and reunite you with God. If you are given a ‘choice’ of facing death or renouncing God ..... there is no choice and you can calmly face whatever comes.

Next, I read a book a couple of years ago called ‘George Washinton’s Sacred Fire’ by Peter Lilback. It is 900 pages and it changed my life. After reading that book, I believe God’s gift to humanity was George Washington and he had God’s guidance and help in founding this country. He made mistakes, he was human, but he was also a giant among men. I understand now why the country was founded the way it was: “one Nation, under God”. God has blessed this country so many times and so richly. What has happened? Gradually, the country has turned it’s face from God and turned to evil and wickedness. There is no other way to describe the killing of babies through abortion. There is no other way to describe the acceptance, even the celebration of the perversion of homosexuality. There is no other way to describe the promiscuousness that abounds and the destruction of the family. I could go on, but I know you know what I am talking about. My BIGGEST FEAR, aside from everything else which is plenty, is that God will turn his face away from our country. While living forever in the presence of God’s love is Heaven, living without the presence of God must surely be Hell. I believe we are teetering on the edge of God turning his face away. If we ask him not to, I don’t think he would deny us, which brings me to my next point.

I have seen and felt the power of prayer. Literally. I had a cousin who had a large tumor growing off a salivary gland and extending to the back of his skull. The surgery was going to be exceedingly tricky. A top cancer doctor, who was skilled in removing head/neck tumors accepted his case & was to remove the tumor. The Saturday before the surgery, my aunt & I (we drove for 2 days to be with him during the surgery) accompanied him to a gathering of a ‘small group’ from his church. Most were choir members, etc. We shared food and talked a while, then my cousin was asked to explain what would happen during the surgery. After that, one of the ladies, that I can only describe as a Prayer Warrior, prayed for my cousin. At the end of our little get-together, we all gathered around my cousin & put our hand(s) on him while various folks in the group prayed. As this happened, I suddenly felt something ...... it is indescribable, but I will do my best. It was definitely ‘warm’ and the power was incredible. It surged up my arm like an electric current, but without the tingling. I was immediately enveloped with peace and calm (I’d been crying quietly) and felt like someone had walked up behind me and wrapped me in their very strong arms and a warm blanket. I know it was the power of prayer and the presence of God I felt that night. On Monday, my cousin had his surgery. The OR was scheduled for 6 hours. After 3 hours, the surgeon came to talk to us with a big smile - all over, the tumor “popped out” when he finished his incision. No facial paralysis, no trach required, no stroke .... when my cousin’s wife mentioned that people from all over the world had been praying for my cousin, the doc turned and gave the most wonderful, ‘knowing’ smile and said “I could tell.”. Full recovery, benign tumor .... God is good and he was with us all and saw my cousin safely through.

The power of prayer .... Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Surely you have family or friends that think/feel/believe as you do. Start a prayer group ..... if you can’t physically meet, then pray at the same time together. Maybe share your prayers with each other over e-mail. You could start a daily/weekly/monthly prayer thread here on FR. I have done that during times when I needed to talk to God and ask him for his help. I also NEEDED the fellowship of other believers and FReepers. The community of like-minded, good, decent, conservative folks here at FR have saved my sanity more than once and I believe with your post you are finding out just how good the FR community really is. It is a blessing (thank you Jim R.!). Pray ..... if we all who believe would do this, we WILL see results. Sometimes the answer God gives isn’t the one we want to hear, but he is listening. Ask him not to turn away from the country, to continue to bless us. When I was dealing with the horrible situation my friend was in at the nursing home, there were times I literally screamed out loud and realizing yet again I could not do it ‘alone’ and I was not alone, I would pray to God for help. I found that if I asked for the ‘strength, wisdom, and calm’ to deal with the situation, my prayer was answered almost immediately and often, something specific would happen (ex. someone called 15 minutes later out of the blue to offer desperately needed help). God heard me, he helped me, he answered my prayers.

The power of ‘action’. My mom (also elderly) suffered a mysterious leg problem and initially could not walk, then only with difficulty. She was sitting at home, depressed, wishing she could be in the yard working on her flower gardens, etc. Her doctor was encouraging PT, but mom wasn’t going to do it. I encouraged her to do it, even made the phone calls to set it up because instead of sitting and thinking about it, she could DO something about it. She went to PT, worked hard, DID something and saw improvement within days (her mental state improved immediately). As I write this, she’s out working on her flowers again. Starting a prayer group where you get interraction and support is DOING something. You may also do MORE. Join a local Tea Party group or any other group that shares your beliefs & is willing to go to work to save the country - you don’t have to ‘march’, you can help out in other ways. Get friends to join you if you can. Get involved in the process. It is up to us to take back the country. The government is to be ‘by the people, for the people’. It has become ‘by politicians, for politicians’. We seem to have forgotten that WE elect those folks. We elect crooks, liars, cheats, then turn them loose with the fate of the country in their hands and do not hold them accountable. We (the people as a whole) voted in the congresscritters & Obama - we need to fix the mess we allowed. If enough people with values, faith and conviction get involved, we can stop this. We can turn it around and with the help of God, we can get our country back.

I think it is easy to say ‘what can I do, I am only one person’. You do what you can do ...... as ‘freedommom’s’ dad (on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor) said: “everyone did whatever they were big enough to do......” You and I and many others may feel ‘small’ and ‘scared’ - I’m sure he did too at that moment, but if we all DO what we are “big enough to do”, we will defeat the powerful enemies who have gained a toe-hold in our country. My dad has given up and considering his condition, I can’t blame him for that - I’m just sickened that in his old age and after the service he gave to his country that he should feel this way & not have the peace of knowing the country is flourishing ‘under God’, the shining city on the hill for all the world to see. I am RESOLVED to take my ‘little’ self and DO something.

You are in my thoughts and prayers as is the country and the rest of the patriots that I know still have the fire of Liberty burning deep inside. We WILL prevail - GOD is still on OUR side ..... Onward Christian Soldiers (one of my favorite hymns)! God bless us all and may God continue to ‘let his face shine upon us’ and bless America.