USO Canteen FReeper Style Pray for the Troops and President Bush .... October 27,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style ~Coteblanche ~Grantswank~Snow Bunny~

[Snow Bunny]

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Although we are always aware
that the Canteen is operating
in Cyberspace, we want the troops
and anyone who is on the receiving end
of prayers at the Canteen,
to know that these prayers are very real.

I hope the troops and Canteeners
alike, will view this Canteen Chapel,
as a place where you might go in times of
trouble or times of joy to be with your God.

"Come unto me all ye who are weary and
burdened,and I shall give you rest." (Matt: 11:28).

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George W. Bush: A President of Faith

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A Man of Prayer

A reporter on CNN was asked

"What did George W. Bush do
on his first morning as president-elect?"

This was Tony Clark's answer:

"He attended a prayer service with family,
friends and staff members."

George W Bush's priorities were established
on the first day of his Presidency.

The President Takes His Faith to Work

President George W. Bush looks over to Thomas Martello, 6,
during the signing ceremony of the Victims of Terrorism
Tax Relief Act in the East Room Jan. 23.
"We're joined today by families who have lost loved ones
in the great acts of evil," said the President.
"As you draw on faith and personal strength to cope with your grief,
I hope you'll also find comfort in the knowledge that
your nation stands with you and prays for you.
We mourn those whom we've lost, and we face the future together."

The President Lives his Faith

President Bush says he prays every day
in all kinds of situations,
and has been seen to quietly bow his head and pray
before news conferences and important meetings.
"I pray for guidance. I do not pray for earthly things
but for heavenly things, for wisdom
and patience and understanding."

"For strength and support, Bush turns to
the same things that have sustained
him for two decades: his faith and his family . . .
Bush prays and reads the Bible every day.
These days, aides say, they often spot
a Bible on his desk in the Oval Office.
In conversation or meetings, he often refers to
passages of Scripture that he has just read."

"There are prayers that help us last
through the day, or endure the night.
There are prayers of friends and strangers
that give us strength for the journey.
And there are prayers that yield
our will to a will greater than our own."

George W. Bush September 14, 2001
National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

Listen to President George W Bush
in an Inspiring Song by Russ Lee

Don't miss this.

I'm Going To Live What I Believe

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Music for a Sunday

How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley) ......A Mighty Fortress

Amazing Grace (Statler Brothers).....Praise Adonai (Steve Israel)

The Lord's Prayer.....Ave Maria

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Hymns of the Military

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Army Hymn: "God of Our Fathers"

Navy Hymn: "Eternal Father Strong to Save"

Air Force Hymn: "Lord Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly"

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We, at the Canteen, offer these prayers 
to those serving their country 
today. God Bless you all.

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Psalm 59:1,16&17
(Patti Vaillant)

"Deliver me from mine enemies,O my God:
Defend me from them that rise up against me.
But I will sing of thy power;yes I will sing
aloud of thy mercy in the morning; for thou
hast been my defence and refuge in the day
of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength will
I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of 
my mercy."

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Our Prayer
(Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli)

I pray you'll be our eyes, 
And watch us where we go.
And help us to be wise 
In times when we don't know.

Let this be our prayer, 
When we lose our way.
Lead us to a place, 
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe. 

I pray we'll find your light,
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
Remind us where you are.. 

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace 
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above.
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love.

Let this be our prayer,
Just like every child,
Needs to find a place, 
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

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The Chaplain's Corner

J. Grant Swank, Jr.,
Pastor, New Hope Church

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KEEP YOUR HEAD HELD HIGH

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Frog and I peered eye to eye. Riveted. Don’t tell me those instinct-driven creatures don’t know what’s going on. They’re just like my three kids when they were little. They’d stare me right in the eye as if I were invisible—and they too were nowhere to be seen. Oh well, since I don’t grab hold of evolution, I leave other brains to figure out the connection on that one.

Anyhow, Frog spied me out and vice versa. Then as I leaned over to throw a small stick into the water, Frog hopped into oblivion. Splash. I yelled to the others, "I just saw a frog!" Dumb. As if we had never come upon a frog before. Why do we adults do that?

Autumn had come upon us. So it was time to praise the good Lord for His turn in season. With that, some of us Lakes Region believers took to the trail—Cascade Falls Trail to be specific.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon for browsing the bushes and taking in those exceptionally spiked trees. Their heads reached far, far, faaarrr up there. A well-worn path spoke of fellow travelers who had enjoyed those same enticing environs.

Anna looked back at us, then put her hands into the air as if to conduct the choir. We got the message. It was time to sing a chorus or two. So we enthusiastically began: "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing. I will sing. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, of the mercies of the Lord."

Now some may call that a ditty. We called it "singing for fun in thanks to God for a day off from work—and hearts in tune with heaven."

Before long we came upon the falls and picnic area. Then there was the Cascade Brook with its mossy rocks and impressive descending waterway.

"Look at all this slate," someone pointed as we took in the gray bits and pieces strewn about our feet. "Reminds me of Monson," another responded, recalling the slate slabs characteristic of those north-of-us parts.

"Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid For the Lord my God is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation."

The singing continued—gladly so.

"There used to be a lion’s cage here," a seasoned pathfinder pointed out. "Many years ago walkers came upon a lion in that iron frame."

"I remember when they used to put bears in cages alongside the road," another reminisced. "As children we used to linger about them, mesmerized especially by the pandas."

"That could never happen today. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would shut down those tiny confines."

Of course, all that was true. Yet on our trail the remains of a metal housing broken into pieces due to the ravages of time stared back at us from beneath the trees.

"God is so good to us," I thought. "Here we are with true friends, outdoors’ splendor and a few bare logs for relaxing alongside the falls. We are truly wealthy folk."

It doesn’t take much to make a soul happy when you’re head is looking up and your heart is in the right place.

Servicewoman and serviceman: remember: keep your head held high and your heart in the heart of God. Also, know that all of us love you and are praying for you.

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Click on the banner above to listen to this beautiful song.

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Our Canteen Chaplain,Grant Swank,is pastor 
of the New Hope Church. He has pastored for 
40+ years, ministering in Calgary, Alberta;
Indianapolis; Kansas City; Manchester CT; 
Akron OH; Fishkill NY; Walpole MA and presently 
in Maine. 

Grant also finds ministry in writing for various 
Protestant and Catholic publications, including 
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, DECISION and THE PRIEST. 

Presently, Grant is providing columns for 
websites such as CHALCEDON, INTELLECTUAL.
CONSERVATIVE, 
MENSNEWSDAILY, MICHNEWS and WOUNDEDSHEPHERDS. 

He also writes a weekly column, "Lakes 
Religion," for the PORTLAND PRESS HERALD 
newspaper, Portland ME. 

He and his wife, Priscilla, have traveled 
extensively, including the Middle East, Europe 
and South America. The Swanks have three adult 
children: Crystal, Jay and 
Heidi Jo.

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[Snow Bunny]

The Canteen has a Chaplain, his name is Grantswank and we call him Chap Grant.
It is so special , he has a little opening each Sunday.

Jen does a trivia that is tons of fun and keep trying to get all the answers right. hahha

Kathy got all of them right one time.

MOJO does a Useless News Tidbits that is a lot of fun too.

OH and Linda jumped out of a perfectly good plane yesterday. hahaahahaha

Welcome Home Buppy.

[RadioAstronomer]

Whooohooo. I had forgotton completely about the test! You all reminded me. :-)))

har har har! Said the pirate astronomer!

LOL, I am off to bed, Wonderful thread all! :-)) See you all tomorrow.

[Kathy in Alaska]

I was sure that nice, sweet AntiJen would never even consider throwing rocks at anything. A gentile southern lady such as yourself would never hurt a skwerl, even if it did get in her bird feeder.

[radu]

Oh yes, Jen. Perfectly attired, you are. We're still riding along at a liesurely pace.

[RadioAstronomer]

Hey, don't forget the science posts now and then!

hehehehehe

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

You look maaaaahhhvelous, Jen! Hop in! Buppy, do you have long dress, or do we need to stop by Nordstrom? (We should be able to slip a credit card out of somebody's wallet.)

[Snow Bunny]

You look beautiful Jen, I love your dress.It is never too late for a ride.giggle

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"DING DING, DING DING, DING DING!!"

I hate curfew!
BUT I need my sleep, busy 3 days of work left
AND Coast Guard "Fri" nite and Coast Guard "Sat."
See you All on Mail Call Monday!
God Bless the USO Canteen.

[radu]

Good night Radix. Sleep well. :-))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Only Sam is doing a test. The rest of us know not of that word: T-E-S-T. Sleep well Starman, and God bless you for your service to our country.

[Jen]

Does Mo sing along?

He likes music and he really liked "His Eye is on the Sparrow" so I played it several times for him this morning. He really doesn't 'sing' but he whistled a lot to it.

You may not believe this, but it's true, no kidding. I've been trying to teach him to say "Oh! A wise guy. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck." And this week he said "wise guy" and "nyuck, nyuck, nyuck" but not all together. But he's starting to talk more and more. He says "hello" very well and can do a wolf whistle!

You should see the 'playground' I made for him from some tree branches I stuck in a tall flower pot. I make bridges with rope and hung toys from some of the branches. So now he has a 'playground' in my sunroom where I have my computer. Only problem is - the cats like it too! So, I have to be alert and ready to squirt them with the spray bottle when they get near it! hahahaha

[radu]

OOOOOH NOOOOOO! What were you doing awake at this time of night, starman? You weren't supposed to hear all this talk of tests . Dang!!!

Good night and sweet dreams, my friend. :-))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good night and sleep well my friend. God bless you good for your continued service to this great country. See you at Mail Call. Have a good Wednesday. *HUG*

[radu]

Believe me, Kathy, when it comes to skwerls getting into the birdfeeders, southern ladies forget the meaning of 'gentile'. Durn the little varmints! LOL!

[radu]

Good night, Tonk. Sleep well. I hope tomorrow isn't so hectic for you.

HUG

[Jen]

...how about we tickle Starman big time then he can't think seriously enough to write test questions.

OK, I'm ready for tickling duty! If that plan doesn't work, maybe I can bribe him with cleaning his house if he won't give us a test!

[Jen]

Jen, did your flag fall to PC?

Oh yeah!

[Kathy in Alaska]

That is so cool. Does he say things that you DIDN'T teach him? Does he speak on cue, or just when he feels like it? You must really have to be on your toes if the cats are interested. Wait! Cats, more than one? And one of these days we need a picture of his "playground". Do you sing, and he whistles, along to songs? That sounds like fun!

[radu]

Ooooh how I wish I could fix up a playground for Radu, my little bird. I don't have a room to do it in and with all these kitties, I don't dare let my baby stay out of the cage. I do, at least, have a large cage.

You have a lucky bird. And I love that you're teaching it 'Curly talk'. nyuck nyuck nyuck!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Great song, God is Awesome! Thanks Mr_Magoo. We sure are getting to hear and sing along to some wonderful hymns today. I could listen to hymns all day and night!