The Weathers Family

Snow Days

2010-02-14T17:24:00.002-05:00

Columbus History Tour

2010-01-08T23:31:00.001-05:00

Last month we went on a history tour of Columbus, GA with the Potters. Mr. Potter led the tour of about 80 homeschoolers from AL & GA. As usual we all had a great time!

Shooting at the Johnson’s

2009-12-31T20:12:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday we went shooting at Christie’s family’s house. We all had a great time!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T16:02:00.001-05:00

Catching up…..

2009-12-25T21:54:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures of what we have been doing lately. Enjoy!

We enjoyed having the Hope family stay with us as they traveled to and from the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference in Cincinnati.
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We had the kids over to help us decorate the Christmas tree.

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We also enjoyed having the Renfro family stay with us
as they were passing through on their way home.
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We enjoyed going to the Potter’s fantastic Christmas party with a festive hayride and caroling.
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Esther’s Birthday

2009-12-25T21:28:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving Pictures

2009-11-29T23:05:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving this year.

Seth & Esther’s Wedding

2009-11-28T11:53:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we got the newest addition to the Weathers family! We are so excited for Seth and Esther and we hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Anna Verity Weathers

2009-11-27T12:41:00.001-05:00

We are behind on the our blog posts but we wanted to give everyone an update on our newest editions to the family! Anna Verity Weathers was born on November 13th. She weighs 7lbs 3oz, and she is 20 inches long. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. For more pictures you can go to: Christie’s Blog or her sister’s blog

Founding Legacy

2009-07-03T20:45:00.007-04:00

233 years ago, 56 men pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of liberty and freedom. I wonder how many Americans today would be willing to do that? Most Americans don’t even realize the significance of the phrase lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. We’re so familiar with those words that we never think about what they really mean. It wasn’t just a superfluous way of signing a document. They were truly pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. And indeed, many of the signers lost their fortunes, some lost their lives or the lives of family members, but not one lost their most prized possession, their sacred honor.

Take for example the story of Abraham Clark, as told in a speech titled "The Americans Who Risked Everything", given by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr. (father of the political talk-show host Rush Limbaugh):

“Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact. And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark.

He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

Then there is Francis Lewis, signer of the Declaration from New York. His home was plundered and destroyed by British troops, his wife was taken captive and kept prisoner under horrible conditions. She was exchanged just a few months later, but her health had been so severely damaged during her imprisonment that she died shortly afterward.

One thing that stands out in the phrase lives, fortunes, and sacred honor is the fact that they listed their lives and their fortunes, but it was only their honor that they held to be sacred. Honor was a thing prized above fortune and life. Life and fortune are things that can be taken from you, but no one can take your honor.

In today's culture we have lost the concept of honor. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines honor as "Reputation; good name... True nobleness of mind; dignified respect for character..." I think this succinctly sums up what true honor really is. As Thomas Jefferson said,

"Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong."

To us, the founding generation, living in a society and culture that hardly resembles our own, may seem irrelevant to us. But many lessons can still be learned from their generation; from their successes and their failures, from their strengths and their shortcomings.

Not only can we hope to avoid their mistakes, we can also build upon great and noble things that they accomplished, both in their public and private lives. Sadly, most Americans have little or no knowledge of men like Patrick Henry, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. These are the men who used to be our heroes and role models, but instead, we look to Hollywood to find our heroes.

We are forgetting and forsaking the incredible legacy left to us by our Founding Fathers. It has been lied about, cast aside, and declared irrelevant. But we need to return to that legacy that that has given us the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy today. We cannot just stand by and watch as our country descends into the ash heap of history. I think what George Washington said to the Continental Army after the signing of the Declaration is just as applicable to us today as it was then:

"The fate of millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions -- The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from tyranny mediated against them."

Last week, while America discussed the death of Michael Jackson, Congress passed the biggest tax increase in American history. If we want our politicians to be responsible and stop this insanity of massive federal spending; if we want to see an end to the ever-increasing rate of government expansion; if we want to preserve for ourselves and our children and grandchildren the right to live our own lives without the ever-present nanny state 'protecting' us from ourselves, then we better get up off the couch and starting doing something about it.

Write your Senators and Representatives and tell them that you won't put up with any more big-government Republicans who are spending our country into bankruptcy, allow the continued killings of tens of thousands of babies every year, refuse to protect our borders, and are incessantly infringing our right to keep and bear arms. Those politicians, at the very least, stretch the Constitution far beyond the intent of the Founders. And when you start stretching the Constitution, it's bound to tear, then rip, and soon it's left in shreds.

Volunteer at a campaign for a true conservative, who will fight to defend the Constitution and will actually work to diminish the size of government, not slow it's expansion.

Whatever we get in our government we deserve, because we put them there and we fail to hold them responsible. We must begin to reclaim America by standing firm for truth, for as Edmund Burke so eloquently put it,

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Ronald Reagan declared in 1964 in his A Time for Choosing speech,

“We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."

If our generation does nothing to stop the erosion and destruction of our liberties and freedoms, we will plunge future generations into "a thousand years of darkness." We must not allow our liberties to be taken from us, for liberties once lost are not easily regained.

I’ll leave you with the ending stanza from the poem The Rising of 1776 by T.B. Read.

"Who dares?" -- This was the patriot preacher's cry,
As striding from the pulpit he came, --
"Come out with me, in Freedom's name,
For her to live, for her to die?"
A hundred hands flung up reply,
A hundred voices answered, "I!"

Recommended links:
A Time for Choosing (1964), by Ronald Reagan
The Americans Who Risked Everything, by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr.
1776 , by David McCullough

The Longest Day

2009-06-06T02:40:00.013-04:00

On June 5, 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote this brief note, which he then put in his pocket, where it remained for the next two days:

“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Le Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to this attempt it is mine alone."

By God's Providence, this message was never sent. The sending of such a message would have signaled the defeat of the largest one-day invasionary force the world had ever seen, and the prolongation of a war that ultimately claimed the lives of over 400,000 American men and boys. The consequences of a defeat at Normandy are unthinkable. Nevertheless, the possibility of failure was apparently somewhat substantial, as evidenced by the fact that Eisenhower wrote such a note.

An Amazing Story

The events of D-Day, and the days and weeks leading up to it, are truly an amazing story. The Allies had selected Normandy as the location of the invasion in a series of conferences held throughout the year of 1943. The Germans expected the invasion to take place at Pas de Calais; had the Allies chosen that point for the invasion instead of Normandy, the results would have likely been disastrous. In the fall of 1943, as a result of the German high command's belief that Calais would be the location of the Allied landing, Hitler assigned to Gen. Erwin Rommel the task of strengthening the Atlantic Wall along the coast of France.

Operation Fortitude

The Germans believing that the attack would occur at Calais was greatly due to a highly successful deception campaign dubbed Operation Fortitude. The primary purpose of this campaign was to keep the Germans from strengthening their defenses at Normandy, by leading them to believe that the Allied invasion of France would occur at Pas de Calais. This was accomplished by a number of means. One was the leaking of false information about the location of the planned invasion. Double agents were used to send back the false information to the Nazi intelligence agency. Another tactic used was the construction of 'dummy' tanks (at left), trucks, artillery pieces, landing craft, etc. Fictitious divisions were fabricated in order to create the illusion of a larger force than actually existed. The transportation infrastructure in and around Calais was also bombed heavily during the weeks preceding the Normandy invasion.

A Fatal Mistake

Due to a dispute between Gen. Erwin Rommel and his superior, Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt, about where to locate the German armored divisions, Hitler placed almost all of the armored and Panzer divisions under his own personal command, and located them just above the Seine River, not far from where the Allies were expected to land at Calais. Rommel's stratagem was to
position the armored divisions as close to the invasion beaches as he could, while von Rundstedt wanted to hold them in reserve away from the beaches until after the invasion was underway, when they could then be used as a tremendous counter-attack. Had Rommel had his way, the results of D-Day could have been very different.

When the invasion started on the morning of the 6th, Hitler was asleep, and his staff refused to wake him. He slept until after noon, and as a result the armored divisions were not deployed until 4 o'clock that afternoon; much to late to turn the tide of the Allied forces moving inland from the beaches.

The Desert Fox

An essential component of the D-Day invasion was the unfavorable weather. Because of that, Gen. Rommel felt secure in taking a few days leave to Berlin to visit his wife for her 50th birthday. He was confident that the Allies wouldn't possibly land an invasionary force under such adverse weather conditions. Had Rommel not been away at the time of the invasion, it's possible that he would have been able to repel the Allies, or at least the invasion long enough for the Panzer divisions to arrive.

The Largest Invasion

One cannot imagine what went through the minds of the Nazi soldiers on Normandy when they saw the Allied fleet approaching. It was the largest one-day invasionary force that the world has ever seen; over 7,000 ships and landing craft, manned by over 195,000 crew; with over 132,000 troops landing on the beaches of Normandy just on that first day. By the 30th, three weeks later, over 850,000 Allied troops had landed at Normandy. The invasion of Normandy was truly an amazing feat of complex planning and preparation.

The Landing

The invasion was divided into 5 different beaches; Juno was to be taken by Canadian forces, Gold and Sword by British forces, and Utah and Omaha by U.S. forces. The landing began at 6:30 AM. The stories of courage and valor on the beaches of Normandy are truly remarkable. One such story is that of Walter D. Ehlers, whose extraordinary story can be read here, as told in the the book: Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty.

The Longest Day

Produced by Darryl Zanuck, The Longest Day (1962) is an outstanding film that brings to life the events of D-Day. Featuring an all star cast including John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Sean Connery and Curt Jurgens, it's truely one of the best WWII films ever made. It really helps you envision what it was like at the beaches of Normandy on "The Longest Day".

Here's the trailer for the film:

Oliver North's book War Stories III provides an excellent synopsis of the war in the European theatre. It also comes with a DVD containing an episode from Oliver North's TV show War Stories.

Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty, tells the stories of 138 living or recently deceased men who were awarded the Medal of Honor for courage and valor beyond the call of duty. Each Medal of Honor recipient's story is told in a two-page format with wartime photos as well as recent photos taken for this book.

Little Tait's Preemie Fund

2009-04-01T21:22:00.001-04:00

We have a friend in Alaska that had a baby born in November, 13 weeks premature. The baby is home now and doing good but the family has to raise over $50,000 by June 3^rd to pay the doctor’s bill. I know they would appreciate your prayers & support. You can visit their website for more information about their need: www.LittleTait.com .

Misc. Pictures of The Kids

2009-03-20T17:37:00.001-04:00

Christians at the Crossroads Conference

2009-02-19T12:45:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we were blessed to be able to attend the Christians at the Crossroads conference hosted by the Botkin family in Columbus, GA. We really enjoyed hearing the different topics covered, and also getting to visit with old friends and meet new ones as well.

Thomas Jefferson Quote

2009-01-16T16:08:00.001-05:00

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free.... it expects what never was and never will be."

~ Thomas Jefferson

Happy 16th Birthday Joseph!

2009-01-02T20:55:00.001-05:00

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T17:49:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas from the Weathers family!

Christmas Decorating

2008-12-04T20:18:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving Pictures

2008-12-03T12:00:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from our long Thanksgiving week, which started on Thursday at Isaac and Christie’s house with Christie’s family, and ended Sunday night with dinner at our house with the family. Enjoy!

Christie and her sisters really did a great job preparing a Thanksgiving feast for over 25 people!

Brother Slattery enjoyed playing cards with the kids :)

Rosie with Heather and her baby Mercy

William enjoyed playing with baby Mercy!

Sunday Dinner

Not even 2 years old and already using a smart phone!

We also celebrated Granddaddy’s birthday Sunday night.

He had plenty of helping hands to open his presents with :)

Staying with the Potters

2008-11-24T20:34:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago a movie production company called us and wanted to know if we would be willing to rent our house to a movie star who was going to be in town for about 5 weeks while they were shooting a movie. She came to look at the house and it ended up being Demi Moore! (For everyone who doesn't keep up with movie stars, we had to look her up to see who she was, too!) :) The providential timing of it led us to say yes.

The Potter's graciously opened up their home to us, so we had the privilege of staying with them for about 4 of the 5 weeks that we were out of our house. We all had a blast! :) I can't end this post without sharing this song that Mrs. Potter wrote lamenting our departure. :)

(Sung to the tune of One Vacant Chair)

Four Vacant Chairs

We will eat, but we shall miss them,
There will be 4 vacant chairs,
We shall long to hear their laughter
Wafting from the rooms upstairs.

When a day ago we gathered,
Joy was in their bright green eyes.
But the Potter girls are coming;
All the Weathers were surprised.

At our fireside, bored and lonely,
Deal the cards, 4 chairs, not 8.
Our remembrance of Steve's stories,
Comments from Joe, Luke and Kay.

How he slowly took the math test,
All throughout the long school day.
Even through his long lunch hour,
He endured what Kay might say.

True they tell such funny stories,
And the jokes come from all four.
If you want to get to know them,
Rent their house to Demi Moore.

Sleep tonight, the house is quiet;
Weathers gone to a hotel bed.
Sounds no more from late-night snacking,
mingle with the tears we shed.

We will eat, but we shall miss them.
There will be 4 vacant chairs.
We shall long to hear their laughter
Wafting from the rooms upstairs.

Leslie Potter

Demi Moore was very warm and gracious to us during her stay. She invited us to come to the set and watch them film the last scene, so we got a real behind-the-scenes look at filming a movie.

She took us on the set for a few minutes, and then we watched them film the last scene of the movie from the monitor room with the producers.

GA Civil War History Tour

2008-11-22T22:20:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we went on a GA Civil War history tour with around 90 others led by Bill Potter. We visited the Chickamauga battlefield, the Kennesaw battlefield, the Cyclorama in Atlanta, & Oakland Cemetery.

Nanny's Birthday

2008-11-22T21:03:00.001-05:00

Christians at the Crossroads - Conference

2008-11-18T22:59:00.001-05:00

Two Remarkable Days with America's Visionary Family

www.Crossroads09.com

"This two-day event will give Christians a vision to turn tumultuous times into opportunities for advancing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The economy is failing. The Obama Administration will attempt to move the nation irreversibly into international socialism. The Church has lost its moral compass, and has surrendered its influence on society and culture. However, the Christian family can stand, grow, prosper, and lead during such historic times of social instability. But is the Christian family in America strong enough to rise to the challenge of the next four years? How about the darker challenges that lie beyond? What will become of the family, the church and the civil government in the 21st century?

For two enlightening and life-changing days, Geoffrey Botkin will be joined in Columbus by his remarkable family to talk about the timeless issues of family faithfulness, family strength and family leadership..." Read More

Help Misha Video

2008-10-29T16:40:00.002-04:00

The video I posted below is about Christie's family fostering a Russian boy while he is in the US for 6 months for leg amputation surgery. They've decided that they would like to adopt him, but they need $27,000 to do it. They only have a few months to raise the money because after his 16th birthday in May they won't be able to adopt him because of legal reasons. Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated. You can view updates about Misha here.

Misha

2008-10-29T16:39:00.001-04:00

Misha

The Grandchildren Visiting

2008-10-12T21:58:00.001-04:00

We got a call Thursday night from Christie saying that she cut her finger pretty badly on the food processor blade, so Steve and I went and got the children while Isaac took her to get stitches. Here are some pictures from their stay with us the last few days.

Government Solutions

2008-10-07T19:11:00.001-04:00

Buy here.

This week’s pictures

2008-10-04T20:27:00.001-04:00

Here’s some pictures from this week when the kids stayed with us for a few days while Isaac and Christie went to Dillard.

Happy 3rd Birthday Rosie!

2008-09-29T22:41:00.002-04:00

"Winston Churchill: The Pillars of Leadership"

2008-09-14T00:01:00.001-04:00

"Come on now all you young men, all over the world. You have not an hour to lose. You must take your places in Life's fighting line. Don't be content with things as they are. Enter upon your inheritance, accept your responsibilities. Raise the glorious flags again, advance them upon the new enemies, who constantly gather upon the front of the human army, and have only to be assaulted to be overthrown. Don't take No for an answer. Never submit to failure. Do not be fobbed off with mere personal success or acceptance. You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her."

~Never Give In; The Extraordinary Character of
Winston Churchill, by Stephen Mansfield

Excerpt From: The Valley of Vision

2008-09-05T23:02:00.002-04:00

"If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord when he is most near;
If I receive the Word I receive my Lord wherein he is nigh.
O thou who hast the hearts of all men in thine hand,
form my heart according to the Word,
according to the image of thy Son,
So shall Christ the Word, and his Word, be my strength
and comfort."

~ The Valley of Vision

"Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love; when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to himself."

~ The Valley of Vision

The Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences NEW DVD SERIES -- Father to Son: Manly Conversations That Can Change Culture

2008-09-01T13:38:00.001-04:00

Click on this link to view the trailer

Playing in the Sprinklers

2008-09-01T02:22:00.001-04:00

July/August Photos

2008-08-24T00:10:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe it’s been over 6 weeks since we’ve posted! We’ve been really busy lately; getting the house ready to put on the market, etc. So I’ll put all the pictures from the past few weeks into one post.

A few weeks ago we we went up to Isaac and Christie’s and took care of the kids while they went to Canada for a few days. We really had a great time! Christie has pictures from their trip here and here.

Rosie really missed her Mommy after a few days:)

A couple of weeks ago we went up to the Truelove’s to watch their children while they were at the hospital having their 4th child, Ava Faith.

Now that we’re caught up hopefully we can start posting regularly again:)

Founding Legacy

2008-07-04T20:30:00.002-04:00

232 years ago, 56 men pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of liberty and freedom. I wonder how many Americans today would be willing to do that? Most people don’t even realize the significance of that phrase. We’re so familiar with the words lives, fortunes, and sacred honor that we never think about what they really mean. It wasn’t just a superfluous way of signing a document. They were truly pledging their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. And indeed, many of the signers sacrificed their fortunes, and some even their lives or the lives of family members.

Take for example Francis Lewis, signer of the Declaration from New York. His home was plundered and destroyed by British troops, his wife was taken captive and kept prisoner under horrible conditions. She was exchanged just a few months later, but her health had been so severely damaged during her imprisonment that she died shortly afterward.

Here is an excerpt from a speech written by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr. (father of the political talk-show host Rush Limbaugh) telling about the sacrifices the signers made for their country:

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact. And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark.

He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

One thing that stands out in the phrase lives, fortunes, and sacred honor is the fact that they listed their lives and their fortunes, but it was only their honor that they held to be sacred. Honor was a thing to be prized above fortune and life. Life and fortune were things that could be taken from you, but no one could take your honor from you. As journalist and educator William Lyon Phelps said,

"You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor."

Today in our society we have lost the concept of what true honor is. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines honor as "Reputation; good name... True nobleness of mind; dignified respect for character..." I think this succinctly sums up what true honor really is. As Thomas Jefferson said,

"Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong."

To us, the founding generation, living in a society and culture that hardly resembles our own, may seem irrelevant to us. But there are many lessons still to be learned from their generation; from their successes and their failures, from their strengths and their shortcomings. Philosopher and poet George Santayana (1863-1952) summarizes it well,

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

But not only can we hope to avoid their mistakes, we can also build upon and imitate the good and noble things that they did, in their public and private lives. Sadly, most Americans have no knowledge of men like Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, John Witherspoon, and Nathaniel Greene. These are the men who should be our heroes and role models, but instead, we look to Hollywood for the heroes of today.

We are forgetting and forsaking the incredible legacy left to us by our Founding Fathers. It has been cast aside and disdained by this generation. But we must honor and remember that legacy that has been given to us as Americans. America is facing hugely important issues today: abortion on demand is growing more and more acceptable (see this article by Dr. Albert Mohler), traditional marriage is being destroyed, our borders remain unprotected while thousands of illegal immigrants pour into our country, and it is very possible that Barrack Hussein Obama will be the next president of the United States.

We cannot just stand by and watch as our country crumbles into the ash heap of history. I think what George Washington told the Continental Army after the signing of the Declaration applies to us today:

"The fate of millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions -- The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from tyranny mediated against them."

And with the passing in recent years of such great men as Bill Buckley, Jerry Falwell, and D. James Kennedy, we have huge shoes we must fill. We must begin to reclaim America by standing firm for the truth, for as Edmund Burke so eloquently put it,

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

"We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness." (Ronald Reagan, A Time for Choosing speech, 1964). If our generation does nothing to stop the decay and destruction of our liberties and freedoms, we will plunge future generations into "a thousand years of darkness." We must not allow our liberties to be taken from us, for liberties once lost are not easily regained.

So I will leave you with the following stanza from the poem The Rising of 1776 by T.B. Read.

"Who dares?" -- This was the patriot preacher's cry,
As striding from the pulpit he came, --
"Come out with me, in Freedom's name,
For her to live, for her to die?"
A hundred hands flung up reply,
A hundred voices answered, "I!"

Christie and William’s Birthday

2008-06-24T23:33:00.001-04:00

Fathers Day

2008-06-17T14:49:00.001-04:00

Happy Father’s Day Dad!!!

Only A Dad
Edgar Guest

Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game;
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men.

Davina’s 4th Birthday

2008-06-16T23:24:00.001-04:00

The Invasion of Normandy -- June 6, 1944

2008-06-16T01:41:00.001-04:00

On June 5, 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote this brief note, and then put it in his pocket, where it remained for the next few days:

“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Le Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to this attempt it is mine alone."

By God's Providence, this message was never sent. If such a message had been sent, it would have signaled the defeat of the largest one-day invasionary force the world had ever seen, and the prolongation of a war that ultimately claimed the lives of over 400,000 American men and boys. The consequences of a defeat at Normandy are unthinkable. The possibility of failure was evidentially somewhat substantial, as evidenced by the very fact that Eisenhower wrote such a note.

A Story of Providence

The victory at Normandy is a story of God's Providential Hand in guiding and directing the events of that day, and the days and weeks leading up to it. The Allies had selected Normandy as the location of the invasion in a series of conferences held throughout the year of 1943. If the Allies had chosen Pas de Calais, as the point of invasion instead of Normandy, as the Germans had expected, the results would have likely been disastrous. Because of the German high command's belief that Calais would be the location of an Allied landing, in the fall of 1943, Hitler assigned to Gen. Erwin Rommel the task of strengthening the Atlantic Wall along the coast of France.

Operation Fortitude

The reason the Germans believed the attack would occur at Calais was greatly due to a highly successful deception campaign dubbed Operation Fortitude. The purpose of this was to lead the Germans to believe that the main invasion of France would occur at Pas de Calais, thus keeping them from strengthening their defenses at Normandy. This was accomplished by a number of different means. One was the construction of 'dummy' trucks, tanks, artillery pieces, landing craft, etc. Another means used in Operation Fortitude was information leaks giving false information about the location of the planned invasion. Double agents were also used to send back false information to the Nazi intelligence agency. The transportation infrastructure in and around Calais was also bombed heavily during the weeks preceding the Normandy invasion.

A Fatal Mistake

Due to a dispute between Gen. Rommel and Gen. von Rundstedt, Hitler placed almost all of the Panzer tank divisions under his direct command, and located them just north of the Seine River, not far from where the Allies were expected to land at Calais. If Rommel had been allowed to have his way, the events of D-Day could have turned out much different than they did. On the morning of the 6th, Hitler didn't get up until after noon, and because the Panzers were under Hitler's direct control, the Panzer's weren't deployed to the site of the invasion until 4 o'clock that afternoon, which was much to late to turn the tide of the Allied forces moving inland from the beaches.

The Desert Fox

Another Providential event that occurred concerning the D-Day invasion was the unfavorable weather. Because of that, Gen. Rommel felt entirely secure in taking a few days leave to Germany for his wife's birthday. Although he was known as 'The Desert Fox', he let his guard down by believing that the Allies wouldn't possibly land an invasionary force under such adverse weather conditions. Had Rommel not been away at the time of the invasion, he might have been able to repel the invasion, or at least hold it back until the Panzer divisions could arrive.

The largest invasion

One can only imagine what went through the minds of the Nazi soldiers on Normandy when they saw the Allied fleet approaching. It was the largest one-day invasionary force that the world has ever seen; over 7,000 ships and landing craft, manned by over 195,000 crew; with over 132,000 troops landing on the beaches of Normandy just on the first day. By the 30th, 3 weeks later, over 850,000 Allied troops had landed at Normandy. The invasion of Normandy was truly an amazing feat of complex planning and preparation.

The Landing

The invasion was divided into 5 different beaches; Juno was to be taken by Canadian forces, Gold and Sword by British troops, and Utah and Omaha were to be taken by U.S. forces. The landing began at 6:30 AM. I won't go into the details of what took place at each location, but the stories of courage and valor from the beaches of Normandy are truly remarkable. One such story is the story of Walter D. Ehlers, whose story can be read here, taken from the book Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty.

The Longest Day

Last Saturday we watched the 1962 movie about D-Day, The Longest Day. Produced by Darryl Zanuck, The Longest Day features an all star cast including John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Eddie Albert, Red Buttons, Curt Jurgens, and 36 other international stars. It's one of those rare movies that for the most part stays true to the historical record.

There is one exception I take with the movie, and that's when it portrays the climbing of Point-du-Hoc as fruitless because when they got to the top they discovered that the guns they were sent to destroy were not there. But if they hadn't climbed the cliffs, they wouldn't have been able to find where the guns had been moved and destroy them. If the guns had remained intact, they would have been able to reek incredible havoc on the beaches with a rain of artillery, which would have been devastating to the efforts of the main forces to get off the beaches and move inland. So the climbing of the cliffs by the boys of Point-du-Hoc was definitely not fruitless.

If you've never seen the movie, I highly recommend that you get it, because it really helps you to envision what it looked like on D-Day. Here's the trailer for the film:

War Stories III: The Heroes Who Defeated Hitler

Oliver North's book War Stories III provides an excellent synopsis on the war in the European theatre. And it also comes with a DVD containing an episode from Oliver North's TV show War Stories.

I also recommend the book Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. It tells the stories of 138 living or recently deceased men who were awarded the Medal of Honor for courage and valor beyond the call of duty. Each Medal of Honor recipient's story is told in a two-page format with wartime photos as well as recent photos taken for this book.

One last thing I recommend to read is President Ronald Reagan's Boys of Pointe-du-Hoc speech given on June 6, 1984 commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day. The text of the speech can be read here.

Quote by John Adams

2008-06-06T23:32:00.001-04:00

"Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only lawbook, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited!... What a Utopia; what a Paradise would this region be!" ~ President John Adams

The Truth Project

2008-06-05T23:53:00.001-04:00

This week our church started doing Focus on the Family's Truth Project on Wednesday nights at 7pm. It's a 12-part DVD series hosted by Dr. Del Tackett, about the concept of truth, what it is, where it comes from, and why it's important. Throughout the lessons, video clips are shown from leading pastors, theologians, and authors such as R.C. Sproul, Sr., Ravi Zacharias, and Os Guinness. The primary focus of the study is to answer the fundamental question, "What is Truth?". From what I've seen so far, Focus on the Family has done an excellent job of answering that question, as well as teaching a comprehensive and systematic Biblical worldview. Dr. Tackett really hits the nail on the head when he says, "There is no direction you can travel, in which God has not spoken."

The first lesson, titled, Veritology: What is Truth?, laid the foundation for the rest of the study by defining the concept of Truth. Here's the basic outline for this lesson, taken from the TTP study guide:

1. Introduction - A Worldview Tour

2. Why was Jesus born? Why did he come into the World?

3. The Cosmic Battle - Spirit of Truth vs. Spirit of Falsehood

4. What is Truth?

5. Conclusion - "Do you really believe, that what you believe is really real?"

Shooting At The Range

2008-05-27T13:47:00.001-04:00

Quotes From Spurgeon

2008-05-27T13:45:00.001-04:00

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark."
~ Charles Spurgeon

"Unless you can tell why you are happy you
will not long be happy." ~ Charles Spurgeon

Piano Recital

2008-05-21T00:23:00.001-04:00

Tonight we went to Luke & Joseph's spring piano recital. They did a great job!! A special thanks to their teacher, Pam Moody, for her fantastic teaching.

Luke played Pour le Piano by Debussy.

Joseph played Mozart's Sonata, Allegro K. 330
and Bach's Invention No. 14

Girls Visiting

2008-05-20T23:04:00.001-04:00

Grandmommy reading bedtime stories.

Alliance Defense Fund

2008-05-19T14:40:00.001-04:00

Alan Sears, President, CEO, and General Counsel of ADF

We really enjoyed having the Potters go with us to a dinner for the Alliance Defense Fund Saturday night. Alan Sears talked about some of their recent legal victories as well as some of their current legal battles. We appreciate all that our friend Ken Fletcher does defending our 1st amendment rights through his work at ADF. You can visit their website for more information on ADF. www.alliancedefensefund.org

What the Bible Says about Scorn and Mockery by Dr. S.M. Davis

2008-05-16T11:47:00.001-04:00

We just finished listening to this sermon by Dr. S. M. Davis. I encourage everyone to get a copy and listen. Here is the description from Vision Forum:

What the Bible Says about Scorn and Mockery
"Mockery, like anger, is a powerful emotional force. In the Bible, it was almost always used by a proud person who was trying to stop or hinder the work of God or the truth of God. Mockery of truth was an attempt to get people to lay aside their minds and follow their emotions. Jesus faced much mockery while here on earth. It is questionable whether Christians should ever use mockery. Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed is the man that ... sitteth not in the seat of the scornful.”

Mothers Day

2008-05-15T21:55:00.001-04:00

Peter Lillback at the Circa History Guild

2008-05-13T20:48:00.001-04:00

On Friday evening and Saturday morning, Dr. Peter Lillback spoke at the Circa History Guild about his two books Washington's Sacred Fire and Wall of Misconception. For those of you who aren't up to reading a 700 page biography of Washington yet, he says they are working on putting out a 200-300 page abridged edition of Sacred Fire.

Dr. Lillback is the president of Westminster Theological Seminary, Senior Pastor at Proclamation Presbyterian Church, and the Founder/President of The Providence Forum.

Here's a quote from the introduction to Sacred Fire:

"George Washington's Sacred Fire intends to convince you that when all the available evidence is considered, the only viable conclusion is that George Washington was a Christian and not a Deist. What enflamed Washington's passion and stirred his heart was that which was sacred to his soul---his utter dependence on the hand of Divine Providence."

A Day at Six Flags

2008-05-13T13:04:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, Isaac surprised Christie for her birthday by taking her to Six Flags. Surprisingly, we all kept it a secret for almost 2 weeks, even when she and Isaac dropped off the kids Friday morning:) Luke & I met them there, along with the rest of Christie's family.

Christie has more pictures on her blog here.

The Stick-Together Families by Edgar Guest

2008-05-12T20:10:00.004-04:00

The stick-together families are happier by far
Than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make
A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun,
Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.

There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,
And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way,
Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.

There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they must roam,
That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home.
That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel far astray
And they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away,
But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,
Are the brothers and the sisters who together share their fun.

It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,
That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;
It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give;
There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest spot to live.
And, O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would win,
Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin.

Brian Sims Missionary Story

2008-05-07T22:01:00.001-04:00

This is an incredible story about a missionary family serving in a remote part of Indonesia during the 1980's & 90's. It's somewhat lengthy, but well worth your time.

Foundation For Moral Law TV Ad

2008-05-07T14:03:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-05-05T22:26:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Dad's 53rd birthday last night with a cook-out and homemade ice cream and cake. We are so thankful to have a Dad that loves us so much and teaches us by his example to love the Lord with all our hearts. We love you, Dad!!

"The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him." ~ Exodus 15:2

Davina enjoying homemade ice cream

Patrick Henry, Forgotten Founding Father

2008-05-01T12:40:00.001-04:00

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me; give me liberty or give me death!" -- Patrick Henry

After hearing Bill Potter's lecture, 'Patrick Henry, Forgotten Founding Father', last weekend at Circa, I started reading David Vaughn's biography of Henry: Give Me Liberty. I am especially enjoying Part II of the book, The Character of Patrick Henry.

Picnic in the Yard

2008-04-24T19:37:00.001-04:00

9 Reasons I'm a Photographer -- by Bill Walsh

2008-04-18T00:54:00.001-04:00

I found this article on the Desiring God Ministries blog.

(Zion National Park, Utah)

Here are the truths I am pursuing a deeper understanding of in order to establish a firm foundation for why and how I engage in the art of photography for the glory of God. I think they can also serve as a defense for any Christian’s artistic endeavors.

1. Creation is a gift from God (and by creation, I mean all that God has made, not just mountains, birds, and trees). It is meant to display and communicate his glory.

2. God hides himself in creation. Unbelievers seldom see him in it, but believers are given eyes to see, so they can glorify God through it.

3. In order to glimpse of the glory of God in creation, we actually have to engage with it.

4. All art has one source: God’s universe. We create nothing, but only imitate the creator.

5. Cultural and artistic expressions are gifts from God which we should not neglect.

6. Culture that glorifies God is a foretaste of what we will experience in the new heavens and new earth.

7. Christians should avoid quickly judging cultural expression as sacred or secular. God also reveals himself through his common grace.

8. Christian cultural expression should not solely focus on the beautiful and the romantic, but should include the flawed.

9. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of fusing heaven and earth, and serves as the ultimate source of inspiration for those engaged in artistic pursuits.

9 Reasons I'm a Photographer :: Desiring God Blog

Favorite Podcasts

2008-04-17T00:13:00.000-04:00

In the past few months I've really enjoyed listening to these Podcasts on my iPod while I'm working around the house.

Desiring God -- John Piper

"Desiring God Radio is an online-only radio program that airs Monday - Thursday. The programs consist of John Piper's sermon bracketed by in-studio discussion between John Piper and the co-host, Bob Allen."

Renewing You Mind -- R.C. Sproul

"In addition to solid, expositional Bible teaching, Renewing Your Mind sets itself apart from other programs through Dr. Sproul’s willingness to examine systematic theology, philosophy, apologetics, ethics, church history, and many other subjects too often neglected today. The program continues to bridge the gap between Sunday school and seminary, equipping the laity with the tools they need to defend their faith and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Chalcedon Presbyterian Church -- Joe Morecraft III

The sermons of Joe Morecraft of Chalcedon Presbyterian Church in Cumming, GA.

He also has an excellent series on the History of the Reformation, that can be downloaded here: "In 49 messages, Joe Morecraft covers the most important people and events of the Reformation. Beginning with the Westminster Confession and ending with the lives of many of the Westminster Divines, he covers the Scottish Covenanters, John Calvin, John Knox, Oliver Cromwell as well as some of the Reformation's darkest villains like Bloody Mary and King James I."

The Albert Mohler Program

"The Albert Mohler Program is a one-hour talk show hosted every weekday by Dr. R. Albert Mohler. The show is devoted to engaging contemporary culture with the biblical truth."

The Gary DeMar Show

"Where you will hear current events, pop culture, politics, religion, and bunches of other stuff examined thru the lense of a biblical worldview."

The Dave Ramsey Show

"Dave Ramsey offers life-changing financial advice as host of the nationally syndicated radio program, “The Dave Ramsey Show”. The three-hour live radio talk show focuses on life, love, and relationships, and how they happen to revolve around money. Dave says, 'It's where life happens...caller after caller.' "

Generations Radio -- Kevin Swanson

"Generations Radio brings a fast and fresh perspective to issues touching Christian families. From cultural commentary and movie reviews to education and homeschooling, Generations Radio has it every day - all from a distinctively biblical worldview."

Grace to You -- John MacArthur

“Grace to You radio… John MacArthur’s in-depth Bible teaching brings the life-transforming truth of God’s Word to millions of people every day."

Judge Roy Moore Event

2008-04-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

Sunday evening we went to hear Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore speak at Macland Baptist Church in Powder Springs. As always, his message was very timely and inspiring. If you have never heard his story, you can read this article written by Ann Coulter in 2003, Man of the Year: Roy Moore.

We enjoyed eating dinner with some of the folks from American Vision, and we really appreciate all their hard work and effort in what they do. They have some really good resources on their website, AmericanVision.com. And I also highly recommend their email newsletter (which they post as a blog, here)

Judge Moore serves as Chairman for the Foundation for Moral Law, has written the book So Help Me God, and writes a weekly column for WorldNetDaily.com, Our Moral Foundation.

The following is a poem written by Judge Moore:

America the Beautiful,
or so you used to be.
Land of the Pilgrims' pride;
I'm glad they'll never see.

Babies piled in dumpsters,
Abortion on demand,
Oh, sweet land of liberty;
your house is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly
poisoned by cocaine,
Choosing to indulge their lusts,
when God has said abstain.

From sea to shining sea,
our Nation turns away
From the teaching of God's love
and a need to always pray.

We've kept God in our temples,
how callous we have grown.
When earth is but His footstool,
and Heaven is His throne.

We've voted in a government
that's rotting at the core,
Appointing Godless Judges
who throw reason out the door,

Too soft to place a killer
in a well deserved tomb,
But brave enough to kill a baby
before he leaves the womb.

You think that God's not angry,
that our land's a moral slum?
How much longer will He wait
before His judgment comes?

How are we to face our God,
from Whom we cannot hide?
What then is left for us to do,
but stem this evil tide?

If we who are His children,
will humbly turn and pray;
Seek His holy face
and mend our evil way:

Then God will hear from Heaven
and forgive us of our sins,
He'll heal our sickly land
and those who live within.

But, America the Beautiful,
if you don't - then you will see,
A sad but Holy God
withdraw His hand from Thee.

The god of Sports and its Faithful Worshippers: Men - by Isaac Weathers

2008-04-12T23:47:00.001-04:00

"Over the past few days I’ve had some interesting thoughts, that a lot of others have already come to. But before getting to the crux of this post, let me elaborate on a few experiences that have lead up to my thoughts..." Read the entire article here.

Scalia Is Wrong About Abortion

2008-04-11T11:44:00.000-04:00

This is an excellent article written by Joseph Farrah on the subject of abortion and the Constitution:

"I seldom have found myself in disagreement with Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. He has a brilliant mind, and he knows and reveres the Constitution and the American form of government. But he's wrong about abortion. Recently, he told students at the University of Central Missouri that the subject of abortion is not found in the Constitution:

'The reality is the Constitution doesn't address the subject at all,' he said. 'It is one of the many subjects not in the Constitution which is therefore left to democracy. If you want the right to an abortion, persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea, and pass a law. If you feel the other way, repeal the law.'

I disagree. In fact, I believe the Constitution outlaws abortion, and I think I can prove it to you. To understand why abortion is still illegal, despite Roe v. Wade, you must begin by doing something few Americans bother with anymore: reading the preamble to the U.S. Constitution".

Read the rest of the article here.

Turkish Proverb

2008-04-10T21:48:00.001-04:00

I found this quote from a real estate article...

"No matter how long you are traveling down the wrong road, when you figure it out, turn around." - Turkish proverb

Happy Anniversary Isaac & Christie!

2008-04-06T21:12:00.000-04:00

Today is Isaac & Christie's 6th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long!

"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband..."

"Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land."

Circa History Guild Soft Opening

2008-04-06T16:08:00.011-04:00

We really enjoyed the soft opening for the Circa History Guild last night! Bill Potter and J.T Adams spoke about their vision for the future of Circa, events they are planning, etc. They are planning on adding the itinerary to the website soon.

Mr. Potter showing some historical artifacts Circa has for sale.

In the John Adams room they have many of the production pieces from the new HBO John Adams series.

The vault where they keep valuable artifacts.

Praising God In The Midst Of Trouble

2008-04-03T20:12:00.012-04:00

Wow! This article really teaches us to be thankful in all things. I scanned in this article from the Homeschool Update (CHEC) magazine entitled: Praising God In The Midst Of Trouble - by Chris Klicka.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13

The 200 Year Plan: A Practicum on Multi-Generational Faithfulness

2008-04-03T02:37:00.003-04:00

Our family was greatly blessed to attend Vision Forum's "The 200 Year Plan : A Practicum on Multigenerational Faithfulness". Doug Phillips and Geoff Botkin showed us, through the Scriptures, as well as through many personal experiences from their families, the importance of seeking the Lord for a vision in leading our families forward as we, by God's grace, are able to build on each successive generation.

Mom skillfully balancing mayo, egg salad, plates, and a loaf of bread while making lunch on the second day out:)

Geoff Botkin in his talk on "Family Dynasties Through the Ages" reminded us that, "All that is necessary for multigenerational continuity to be compromised is outside disciplemaking influences that are contrary to the overall family objective. These influences tend to encourage families to serve their own interest, rather that those of Christ." May we be ever diligent to serve Christ and not our own selfish interests and desires. He also reminded us of the worthy Recabites in Jeremiah 35 who "obeyed everything their forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded them."

In Geoff Botkin's session "Helping our Children Become Multigenerational Allies", he quoted Rev. William R. Inge, "The proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he is born." May we be faithful today as we consider the ramifications on the future generations yet to be born.

The event was held at the historic Empire Theater (built in 1913) in downtown San Antonio.

As Doug Phillips said: "The mission of the hour is the mission of the generations": "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called repairer of broken walls..." Isaiah 58:12

During the course of the event, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Botkin answered questions on a variety of subjects, including fathers and sons working together, how single mothers can implement the vision of the conference in their family, courtship, how specific a 200-year plan should be, and many other questions about developing a multigenerational vision.

Andrew & Lourdes Torres shared about the blessing of brothers and sisters becoming best friends.

The Botkin family had a wonderful and moving "Investiture" for their youngest son Noah, who will turn 13 this year, affirming that he is now leaving boyhood and entering manhood. Mr. Botkin describes an investiture as "the presentation of one's duties, rank, and responsibilities."

The Phillips' family displayed tremendous hospitality by inviting the out-of-town guests over to their house after church Sunday afternoon. We really enjoyed the fellowship.

Christie knitting on the trip home.

The end of a wonderful trip.

For more pictures go to our Picasa Web Album. Isaac & Christie also posted about the trip here and here.

Spring is Here!

2008-03-25T14:25:00.002-04:00

A Beautiful Wedding...

2008-03-25T00:23:00.001-04:00

It was such a blessing to attend the wedding of Justin Turley and Melissa Keen this past weekend. The day was truly filled with joy and celebration.

He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the LORD.

Pressing Into the Kingdom of God

2008-03-16T21:50:00.002-04:00

by Jonathan Edwards
"The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." Luke 16:16

The kingdom of heaven should be sought, first, because of the extreme necessity we are in of getting into the kingdom of heaven. We are in a perishing necessity of it; without it we are utterly and eternally lost. Out of the kingdom of God there is no safety; there is no other hiding place. This is the only city of refuge in which we can be secure. It should be sought, second, because of the shortness and uncertainty of the opportunity for getting into the kingdom. Our day is limited. God has set our bounds, and we know not where. While persons are out of the kingdom, they are in danger every hour of being overtaken with wrath. We know not how soon we shall get past that line. There is much difficulty getting into the kingdom of God. Innumerable difficulties are in the way such as few conquer. Most of them who try do not have resolution, courage, earnestness, and constancy enough; but they fail, give up, and perish. They are turned aside or turn back.
Though it is attended with so much difficulty, yet it is not an impossible thing. God is able to accomplish it, and has sufficient mercy for it; and there is sufficient provision made through Christ that God may do it consistent with the honor of His majesty, justice, and truth. It is fitting that the kingdom should be thus sought because of the great excellency of it. We are willing to seek earthly things of trifling value; it therefore certainly becomes us to seek that with great earnestness which is of infinitely greater worth and excellence.

From Jonathan Edward's sermon entitled "Pressing Into the Kingdom"

Scots Who Have

2008-03-14T22:10:00.000-04:00

By Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Scots, who have with Wallace bled,
Scots, whom Bruce has often led,
Welcome to your gory bed,
Or to victorie!

Now’s the day, and now’s the hour:
See the front o’ battle lour,
See approach proud Edward’s power –
Chaines and slaverie!

Who will be a traitor knave?
Who can fill a coward’s grave?
Who so base as be a slave! –
Let him turn, and flee!

Who for Scotland’s King and Law
Freedom’s sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand or freeman fa’.
Let him follow me!

By Oppression’s woes and pain,
By your sons in servile chains,
We will drain our dearest veins
But they shall be free!

Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty’s in every foe!
Let us do, or die!

Ian Paisley on Standing For God

2008-03-13T22:22:00.000-04:00

Young people, if you're going to really stand for God, the fires of slander, the fires of libel, and the fires of opposition will always burn against you. But I'd rather be in the fire with Jesus then be in the throne with a man of sin.

~ Dr. Ian R.K. Paisley
Sermon: Scottish Reformer John Knox

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-03-01T21:54:00.010-05:00

Painting The Fence

2008-03-01T21:32:00.009-05:00

Last Week's Lunar Eclipse

2008-03-01T00:29:00.007-05:00

Charles Spurgeon on Serving Christ

2008-02-29T11:24:00.003-05:00

"My soul, see to it that thou be at peace with this mighty King, yea, more , be sure to enlist under His banner, for to war against Him is madness, and to serve Him is glory." ~ Charles Spurgeon

Chattanooga, TN

2008-02-24T22:40:00.016-05:00

We went to Chattanooga, TN again a couple of weeks ago to hear Ronnie Stevens preach. We got to hear him Sunday morning and again Sunday evening and enjoyed eating dinner with them afterwards. You can listen to his sermons online from his church, Danube International Church in Budapest, Hungary.

Also, here are the sermons that he preached in Chattanooga. Enjoy!

"The Glory of the Gospel" -- Sunday Morning, February 17, 2008 (you can watch the video here)

"What the Flesh Can Do" - Sunday Evening, February 17, 2008

A Prayer of Augustine

2008-02-23T16:22:00.010-05:00

"You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You."

~ Augustine

Davina, Jeanna & William Spending The Night

2008-02-18T20:06:00.012-05:00

Davina & Jeanna helped uncle Joe do some baking :)

Theodore Roosevelt On Senators

2008-02-14T21:38:00.003-05:00

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.' "

~ Theodore Roosevelt

The More I learn About Ron Paul

2008-02-03T02:29:00.001-05:00

The more I learn about Ron Paul, the more I am convinced that God-fearing Christians who desire to see God’s will done here on earth cannot support this man for President of the United States. Less government interference would be wonderful, but not at the expense of the wholesale abandonment of truth and morality … and a total repudiation of the Christian principles that this country was founded upon!

In the morally-challenged mind of Ron Paul, why not “legalize” lying and stealing, or any other crime that we don’t want to have to deal with at the federal level? We certainly wouldn’t want to impose such staid moral codes on others, would we? Especially since, in Ron Paul’s mind, we can’t “legislate virtue”.

Certainly we cannot make someone virtuous by edict, but we CAN legislate righteousness. This should be the intent of all legislation, in order to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” (Preamble of the U.S. Constitution). And we can require those who violate the moral and criminal codes of righteous laws to pay a price for their sins against God and humanity (which is what abortion, prostitution, thievery, fraud, etc. etc. is) through monetary restitution, as well as through the forfeiture of other liberties enjoyed by free men, with the punishment being commensurate for the crime.

And, yes, Mr. Paul … that includes the forfeiture of one’s life for heinous crimes, such as the recent brutal killing in Georgia of Meredith Emerson by a reprobate named Gary Hilton. You say that the death penalty is wrong for him, but God’s Word says that YOU are wrong (Numbers 35: 30-31). It is in God and His Word that we -- and our forefathers -- put our trust, so that we do not find ourselves guilty of setting ourselves up against the knowledge of God.

In the world of Ron Paul, this country loses the social disciplines of what used to be known as “common decency”. In this election cycle, Ron Paul should lose your support. He refuses to do the very things that God sends “Governors” -- and Presidents -- to do, which is “to punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right” (1 Peter 2: 14)! He is, therefore, not morally or spiritually fit to be President of the United States of America.

When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do (Psalm 11:3)? Live and speak the TRUTH, and by doing so, tear down the strongholds of evil being built up by the ignorant talk of foolish men.

--Steve Weathers

2 Corinthians 10: 1-6:
By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

1 Peter 2: 11-16:
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

Live and Let Live, Says One Candidate
By John Stossel -- Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul opposes things like prostitution and drug use, but he says the federal government has no business trying to stop adults from engaging in them. Freedom of choice, he says, shouldn't just be restricted to choices he approves of. It's the job of the federal government, says the congressman, to protect us from external threats, but it should not try to protect us from ourselves.

Here's the final edited installment of my interview with him.

John Stossel: Would you legalize marijuana, cocaine and heroin?

Ron Paul: I would get the government out of regulating all those substances and would allow the states to deal with the problems, such as whether children can buy cigarettes and alcohol or hard drugs or marijuana. Different states would probably do different things. The first federal law against marijuana was in 1938 -- the government (controlled marijuana) through high taxation because it knew it didn't have authority to say that you're not allowed to smoke marijuana. Today it's gone berserk. The federal government overrules a state (California) that has legalized marijuana for very sick people with AIDS and cancer. That's how absurd the war on drugs has become.

Could a state legalize heroin?

Under our federal system of government, that would be the case. If you ask the people who are against (legalization of heroin) if they would use it, they say, "Oh, no, I wouldn't use it! It's always those other people that might use it, so I have to take care of them and prevent them from doing harm to themselves."

Is that a proper role for government?

No, I don't believe so. The government should not be involved in personal habits. I have no problem with state laws that protect children from the use of these drugs. But under the Constitution, the president and the federal government wouldn't have a say in it.

Should gays be allowed to marry?

Sure. They can do whatever they want, and they can call it whatever they want, just so they don't expect to impose their relationship on somebody else. They can't make me, personally, accept what they do, but gay couples can do what they want. I'd like to see all governments out of the marriage question. I don't think it's a state function; it's a religious function. There was a time when only churches dealt with marriage. But a hundred years or so ago, for health reasons, the state claimed that to protect us, you had to get a license to get married. I don't agree with that.

Prostitution?

I think when you defend freedom, you defend freedom of choice. You can't be picking and choosing how people use those freedoms. I don't believe government can legislate virtue. I can reject (vice) personally and preach against it, whether it's drugs or prostitution, but my solution comes from my personal behavior and how I raise my children. Whether it's personal behavior or economic behavior, I want people to have freedom of choice.

You seem to be saying that adults own their own bodies. If a woman wants to rent hers out or someone wants to smoke crack, that's their business.

Yeah. People make bad choices in religion and philosophy, but we don't regulate their thinking or their religious beliefs if they're not harming other people. That's why I defend this position that government can't protect individuals from themselves. It's just impossible. (And when it tries) it becomes a tyrannical state.

Which brings us to abortion. What do you think of Roe vs. Wade?

It was a federal encroachment over state laws, so I wouldn't have that.

So some states might outlaw abortion, and other states would allow it. That'd be OK with you?

That is right. Under our system, unless you change the Constitution, that's the way it should be taken care of.

You consider it murder, but it should be allowed if a state so chooses?

I don't use that term. I (say it is) a tragic set of circumstances, and life should be protected.

©Creators Syndicate Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

John Stossel's complete interview with Rep. Ron Paul can be found online at http://tinyurl.com/237a5z.

Why Christians Shouldn’t Vote for Ron Paul

2008-02-02T22:38:00.001-05:00

Why Christians Shouldn’t Vote for Ron Paul
by Joseph Weathers

In an election year when it is not easy for Christians to find candidates worthy of our votes, I think the case can easily be made that Ron Paul is definitely not the candidate Christians should be supporting for President. Before I begin, let me say that I do agree with Ron Paul on many issues concerning big government; more specifically, on eliminating unnecessary and unconstitutional federal bureaucracies, such as the Department of Education, the IRS, Social Security, welfare, etc. But when it comes to abortion, marriage, foreign policy and the death penalty, his positions are unbiblical and unconstitutional, and are not supported by reason or logic. All of these issues are vitally important things to consider when choosing a president.

My father and brother (Isaac) have written excellent articles on Ron Paul, dealing with a variety of Ron Paul’s positions; but in this article I would like to focus on Ron Paul’s position on the issue of life. Life is the most basic and fundamental of all the rights that we possess as citizens of this country. Shouldn’t we select a man for President who will defend this right for every citizen, born and unborn? After all, one of the reasons stated by the founders for writing the Constitution was “to secure the blessings of liberty, to ourselves and our posterity.” How can a man fulfill his oath “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” if he is unwilling to defend life and liberty for our posterity?

I think that some of the conservative Christians who support Ron Paul don’t fully understand his position on the issue of abortion. Ron Paul’s position is that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned, and then the issue should be left for the states to decide. He claims that “abortion simply is not a Constitutional issue”[1]. Isn’t it? Is murder a Constitutional issue? Because abortion is simply one form of murder, and as such, it should be a crime in every state. Our founding fathers thought it to be self-evident that life is an unalienable right. The 5th Amendment states that “no person shall… be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Aren’t unborn babies included in this provision?

Dr. Paul also refuses to call abortion what it is – murder. He says, “I don’t use that term. I say it is a tragic set of circumstances.”[2] Sound familiar? That’s very similar to what Jimmy Carter said in his book, Our Endangered Values: “I am convinced that every abortion is an unplanned tragedy, brought on by a combination of human errors.”[3]

In an article written by Dr. Paul in January 2006, he states that while Roe vs. Wade was invalid, “a federal law banning abortion across all 50 states would be equally invalid.”[4] If he is going to be consistent, he would have to say that federal laws against murder are also unconstitutional. Abortion is murder, so why prohibit some forms of murder on a federal level, while allowing another form (abortion) to be decided on by the states?

In the same article, he states, “Our nation once again finds itself bitterly divided over the issue of abortion. It’s a sad spectacle, especially considering that our founders never intended for social policy to be decided at the federal level.”[5] Social policy? Since when was murder considered “social policy”, not to be decided at the federal level? This twisted view of federalism, if followed consistently, ultimately leads to the view that all forms of murder are “social issues”, and are to be decided at the local or state level. The point here is that he can’t be consistent, and if his policies were followed consistently, they would lead to anarchy and chaos.

Now, getting to the issue of the death penalty… in addition to being against a federal ban on abortion, he also rejects God’s law concerning the penalty for murderers. Here’s what Dr. Paul says in an article from April, 2005: “The Pope’s commitment to human dignity, grounded in the teachings of Christ, led him to become an eloquent and consistent advocate for an ethic of life, exemplified by his struggles against abortion, war, euthanasia, and the death penalty.”[6] So, Dr. Paul is, in effect, saying that the teachings of Christ are in contradiction to God’s command in Numbers 35:30-31, which says, “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses…” In selecting a President, we should be looking for the type of men described in Exodus 18:21: “men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe”. Would someone who truly fears God reject this commandment, given by God as evidence of the supreme importance that He places on justice and the sanctity of human life?

Obviously we can’t find a perfect candidate to vote for, but we must select a man who will defend our most basic, and most important, right – our right to life. The issue of abortion is not merely a disagreement over whether the Fair Tax or the Flat Tax is a better system of taxation, or something of that sort. It is an issue that is at the heart of all of our freedoms and liberties.

Scott Brown does an excellent job of summarizing the whole issue of abortion: “Abortion is an attack on the entire Bible. In the Law, the Prophets, the Poetic books, the Pauline Epistles and the Gospels, we find evidence of the sacredness of life in the womb and the sovereignty of God at work in conception. There should be equal protection under the law for life in the womb.”[7]

In light of Ron Paul’s positions on abortion and the death penalty, should Christians support a man who is unwilling to defend the unalienable right of life, at the federal level … and is unwilling to obey God’s just law concerning the penalty for murderers?

The endorsements and “Acclaim for Ron Paul” that Dr. Paul promotes on his website are also worth noting. Included in the list of endorsements are professional poker player Derick Tex Barch, pop/rock singer Aimee Allen, actress Emma Caulfield from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, actress Donna E’rrico, …. On “Acclaim for Ron Paul”, he lists TV/Radio personality Howard Stern and singer John Lydon, the “Lead Singer ‘Johnny Rotten’ of the Sex Pistols”. What kind of man would take pride in not only accepting, but promoting on his website, endorsements from such sleazy people, even linking to some of their websites. This should be a big red flag to Christians concerning Dr. Paul’s personal character. While Dr. Paul can’t control who supports him, he can control the character and content on his campaign website. “Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves” (Romans 14:22).

It should be asked why these dregs of society are supporting Ron Paul for President. I believe the answer is self evident. As President, Ron Paul would refuse to make legal distinctions between the holy and the profane, as God declares that His people must.

In 1 Kings 3:9, King Solomon prayed for wisdom: “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

I believe that the 21st century answer to this question is … not Ron Paul.

______________________________________

Malachi 3:18
And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Hebrews 5:14
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

______________________________________

[1] Federalizing Social Policy, by Ron Paul -- January 30, 2006
[2] Live and Let Live, an interview with Ron Paul, by John Stossel – January 9, 2008
[3] Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter – Page 72
[4] Federalizing Social Policy, by Ron Paul – January 30, 2006
[5] Federalizing Social Policy, by Ron Paul – January 30, 2006
[6] Theology, Not Politics, by Ron Paul – April 11, 2005
[7] How to Defend the Sanctity of Life From Scripture, by Scott Brown – January 25, 2008

2008-01-27T21:39:00.001-05:00

The girls spent a few days with us last week:

We had a week of fun, filled with hair bows, dolls, Little House on the Prairie books, paper dolls, snuggle times, candlelight dinners and endless readings of Baby Moses and the Story of the Birth of Jesus. Truly children are a blessing from the Lord and grandchildren the crown to the aged.

It's Snowing!

2008-01-16T21:04:00.000-05:00

Picasa Web Album

Self Defense

2008-01-15T23:43:00.000-05:00

The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever … the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.

St. George Tucker
Fmr. Virginia Supreme Court Justice

Sunday Evening

2008-01-15T21:50:00.001-05:00

Davina sang for us after dinner :)

A Warm Day In January...

2008-01-08T23:40:00.000-05:00

You can view our Picasa Web Album for more pictures

Churchill On Politics

2008-01-08T22:32:00.001-05:00

"Politics are almost as exciting as war and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times."

~ Winston Churchill

New Years

2008-01-04T14:55:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago we had the unexpected pleasure of finding out that the Potters were moving to Atlanta to help start a history museum. We had a great time helping them move into their new house on New Years Eve.

We still found time amidst all the moving for a New Years Eve game of Hit or Miss. :)

Trip To Chattanooga

2008-01-03T23:42:00.001-05:00

We went to Chattanooga, TN this past Sunday to hear Ronnie Stevens preach, an old Norcross friend of Mom and Dad's. He now lives in Budapest, Hungary where he is the pastor of Danube International Church. You can download his sermons from his church's site.

After lunch we went to Chickamauga, GA to see our aunt and uncle at their farm.

Christmas Guests

2008-01-02T21:43:00.000-05:00

Saturday night our good friends the Torres family came over for dinner. We had a great time of eating, singing, and fellowship!

Naomi, Abraham, & Evelyn singing.

Evelyn, Abraham & Tony

See our Picasa Web Album for more photos.

Christmas Guests / Joseph's Birthday

2008-01-02T21:41:00.001-05:00

Our good friend Joe, and his son Joseph, came over for Christmas this past Saturday afternoon. We also went shooting for Joseph's 15th birthday.

See our Picasa Web Album for more photos.

Goodbye Lingo Clan

2008-01-02T21:28:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday night we had the pleasure of having the Lingo family over. We really enjoyed our time with them. We were planning on getting a picture, but forgot about it until after they had left. They have been in and out of town these past few weeks due to preparations for moving to C'ville, so it was great that we were able to do it Thursday. We'll miss seeing them, but we look forward to visiting them at their new home in TN.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-02T16:55:00.000-05:00

Here's a few pictures from Christmas, the rest of them are in our Picasa Web Album.

Davina trying on her new boots :)

The men playing with their toys.

Playing Taboo

Fox 5 Studios

2008-01-02T15:54:00.000-05:00

Dad got the opportunity to advertise with Fox 5's new promotion MLS Experts a couple of weeks ago.

Joseph behind the scenes. :)

What do I think about Ron Paul?

2008-01-02T15:15:00.001-05:00

Here's a good article that Isaac wrote concerning Ron Paul:

"That’s a question I have gotten a few times over the past several months and up until now I have given a general answer that I didn’t support him because he was “too libertarian”. My view on that may not have changed, but I have taken a more serious look at his beliefs and principles and may have softened my view of him a little. However, there are still several major issues that I disagree with him on and below I would like to outline those areas and why or how they may limit my ability to support him."

Click here to read the rest.

Uniting Church & Home in Wake Forest, NC

2007-12-28T23:13:00.000-05:00

We really enjoyed the Uniting Church & Home conference in Wake Forest a few weeks ago. The speakers were excellent: Scott Brown, Voddie Baucham, Paul Renfro, Andy Davis, Jason Dohm, Dan Horn, Steve Breagy, and a panel of 6 elders from various family integrated churches.

Scott Brown, Director of the NCFIC

There were over 500 people at the conference

Voddie Baucham, Elder at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX

Fellowship after church on Sunday.

Luke & I with Josh and Daniel Renfro at the Golden Corral on the way back to our house Sunday night.

Here's more pictures from our trip on our Picasa Web Alblum:

Uniting Church & Home - Wake Forest, NC

We're really behind in sorting through all of our pictures, but hopefully after the 1st we can stay on top of it.

For a full report on the conference, see this post on Scott Brown's blog.

Winston Churchill On Democracy

2007-12-25T00:42:00.001-05:00

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
-- Winston Churchill

Christmas Decorating

2007-12-15T20:24:00.000-05:00

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:8-12

Washingon's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

2007-12-12T23:33:00.001-05:00

"Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me 'to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness;

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the People of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be;

That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks...for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government...particularly the national one now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed...to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue."

Thanksgiving

2007-12-12T23:30:00.000-05:00

Rosie's excited because we're about to do her favorite activity - eating!

Playing U.S.I.Q... We definitely have some more reading to do:)

William turned 5 months on Thanksgiving

Playing Scattergories while the kids took naps

Davina joined us at the end