Scatter the flowers

"No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks." ~ James Allen, British writer & philosopher   S acrifice, honor, dignity, heroism, courage- all words to describe the meaning of today's recognition.  Men and women who fought for our country's freedom so that you and I could freely worship, freely speak, freely work and live.  We wake up every morning and have endless choices, with no one determining our paths. I can freely write this blog because of them.  You can freely read this blog because of them.  There isn't enough gratitude. Most of us have not lived in a time or place where we have experienced war firsthand, so this kind of heroism honored today is something we know little about.  But we may know someone who did, or who served in some capacity to fight and maintain that freedom, and we talk about them today to keep their stories fresh and honor their memories.. Memories - they keep us connected to the ones we love and give their lives me...

  "A puppy is the ultimate distraction" ~ Philip Rosenthal, TV writer Ever sit down to check your grocery list on your phone, then start downloading digital coupons, then go to Pinterest to check the recipe and start pinning for a half hour, but start looking up whether an ingredient is high in sugar or carbs, remember to log everything you've eaten for the day in your app and get depressed because you're already at your limit and it's only 10a.m., so think that maybe you'll go exercise to burn some cals and carbs so you can eat the rest of the day, realize you don't have any workout clothes clean so start a load of laundry, notice how dusty the wood floors are on the way to the laundry room so give that a quick dry mop, then figure why stop there so dust the furniture as well, catch a glance at the clock and realize you have 15 minutes before you have to leave, so frantically fix your hair and makeup, rushing out the door wondering what happened to the mo...

google image "Do all the good you can,    by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. ~ John Wesley, theologian 💛 A pastor standing in line at a convenience store noticed a man with his wife and son in line in front of him that were unable to pay for their items.  The pastor quietly said to the man, "You don't need to turn around but please accept this money."  The man did, without ever knowing the giver.   💛 Nine years later this pastor was invited to speak as a guest at a church, where afterwards a man came up to him and shared that several years ago he, his wife and son were destitute and were living in their car after losing everything.  They made a suicide pact, to include their child, but first wanted to buy him some food at a convenience store.  When a stranger offered to pay for their food and not be looked at, he had also told...