Happy Memorial Day!

Hello everyone! Our family is wishing you a safe and Happy Memorial Day! Do you know why Memorial Day was originally established? I did not until I received an email that was from the morning prayer meeting at Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, MN. The meeting was held on Friday, May 23rd. Here is what the email had to say:

"On so very many occasions since September 11, 2001, America has been called by our president to prayer. We prayed immediately following that day; we prayed on its anniversary, we prayed as our troops went off to war. And now, again, our president is calling our nation to prayer--in observance of a long national tradition.

Congress passed a law on May 11, 1950 that instituted Memorial Day, and it was intended to be a national day of prayer for peace. These words from the White House Memorial Day Proclamation make clear the intent:

Section 169g. Memorial Day as day of prayer for permanent peace --- 'The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe each May 30, Memorial Day, by praying, each in accordance with his religious faith, for permanent peace; designating a period during such day in which all the people of the United States may unite in prayer for a permanent peace; calling upon all the people of the United States to unite in prayer at such time; and calling upon the newspapers, radio stations, and all other mediums of information to join in observing such day and period of prayer.'

Though the observance of the holiday has now been changed to accommodate a longer holiday weekend, the call for Americans to pray is just as urgent."

Will you join me in praying for this great country of ours? Pray as you are led by God to pray. A few things that I can think about praying for is as follows: our troops overseas (for their safety and protection), for the upcoming elections, and for the division in our country between different denominations, between different political parties, between different races. You name it, and I think that we are divided.

I still remember the day of or after September 11th when Congress was holding hands and singing "My Country Tis of Thee." I think that was the name of the song as well as the date. Even if it wasn't, the thing that stands out in my memory was how united we were as a country. What happened to that?

Be blessed this Memorial Day and know that we love you all and miss you!

Happy Easter!

Look at the lines the artist used to draw this picture of Christ. There are scenes from Christ's life. Have you ever seen anything like this?

Hope you are having a wonderful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Happy Mother's Day (Early!)

I knew that if I didn't post this now that I would most likely forget and then be wishing I would have taken the two minutes on Friday night to have gotten it posted.

The best thing that has ever happened to me next to making Jesus my Lord and Savior and meeting and marrying my best friend, Ed, is that I am a mom. I love being a mom to David, and I love learning alongside him. I count it a privilege and an honor that God picked me to be David's mama (as he so affectionately calls me these days).

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers and mothers-to-be. I am thankful to say that I have a step-mom in my life that I am privileged to call mom. While she will never replace the mom that I lost so many years ago, God has sent her to me to fill many voids that happened after my mom's death in 1985. I am honored that my step-mom, Mary, calls me her daughter and that I can call her mom. When I introduce her to people, I introduce her as my mom. When I introduce my step-brother and step-sister to people, the step-portion is nowhere to be heard. Even though we are not biologically related, they are my brother and sister. I am proud to say that we have gelled as a family unit and that we care for one another deeply.

While reading an e-zine that I receive on a weekly basis, it had this acronym for mother:

M: Mentor, Manager, Mediator, Messenger, Mender

O: Organizer, Opinion-maker, Organist, Overseer, Ombudsman

T: Taxi Driver, Target, Teacher, Teammate, Truth-teller

H: Helpmate, Historian, Heroine, Housewife, Healer

E: Encourager, Entrepreneur, Enabler, Enforcer, Edifier

R: Rescuer, Remodeler, Rewarder, Referee, Restorer

Be blessed and have a wonderful weekend celebrating your moms and being moms!

Picture-Perfect Holiday

While David was enjoying an episode of Tom & Jerry this morning on the WB, I was reading the December 2006 issue of the Focus on the Family magazine we receive. If you want to receive one, visit www.family.org. There were four articles that really resonated with me. One of them talked about whether or not our joy during the holidays was dependent on a picture-perfect holiday. I don't know about you, but I grew up as a perfectionist. Over the years, God has given me freedom in this area of my life. While the ugly perfectionist tries to rear its ugly head at times, I have learned how to let go and simply enjoy my everyday life (to quote Joyce Meyer).

Our focus this Christmas season should be on the reason for the season which is Jesus. You may not have the finances to purchase everyone the gifts you would like to or you have been very busy with work, so you claim you do not have much Christmas spirit. However, what we need to do is focus on Jesus. Jesus came to give us peace, joy, and eternal life. Jesus has many names. Some of them come from Isaiah 9:6 Amplified Bible, "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace."

The role that Jesus plays in our lives is something to be thankful about. Christmas is not about how many gifts you receive or give, how beautiful your house is decorated, how many Christmas cards you sent out, or making all the wonderful Christmas cookies. Christmas is about the birth of our Savior. We need to slow down and appreciate the season and what God has done for us.

I don't know about you, but without God I would be miserable. The last week Ed, David, and I realized how much the Lord has blessed us. We may not live in the biggest house on the block, but we have a roof over our heads. We may not be eating steak and seafood every night for dinner, but we have more than enough food that we can eat until we are full and even have friends over. We may not have the most expensive car on the lot, but we have a car we love and one that gets us where we need to go. We have family and friends whom we love very much and get to see quite often. God has abundantly provided for us in our lives on a daily basis!!!

This year I encourage you to get your eyes off the materialistic aspect that has taken over Christmas in the United States and focus on the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, either email me at gulland@wh-link.net for more information or visit www.freshmanna.org.