Thanksgiving wishes for all!

My thanks to Mr. Norman Rockwell for his wonderful talent in painting the essence of Thanksgiving. I want to wish all my friends and readers a most blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving. This is the day that we in the US pause to thank Papa for all the marvelous blessings He's given us. We are free to worship as we wish, to gather together in groups to share our blessings with each other, to celebrate our successes in our own way, to pray to YHWH in our own ways, to express our love for each other in our own ways, and to live in this country where we can pursue our own ideas of happiness freely. This is a day when all business usually closes (except hospitals, fire departments and police stations of course), families gather together and share love, food and fellowship.  It's a grand and wonderful holiday....although there's really nothing holy about it...except we're to be thanking Papa. But it works for us.

So as we all gather together, eat entirely too much food, watch football games or play our own family games, and enjoy making wonderful memories together, I want each of  you to know I count you among my blessings. Papa has blessed me with some of the best friends in the entire world and I am SO thankful for each and every one of you. The blessings you've given me as you share parts of yourselves and your lives with me are so precious and dear to me. Often your examples of Yeshua's love to me have brought tears to my eyes. I thank Papa for blessing me with your friendships-whether close, sharing food together type friendships or over the internet only type friendships-each one has made my life richer for you being in it. May Papa give you the best of His blessings not only this day, but each of your days here on this planet. I love you each and can hardly believe how gifted I've been by having you in my life. Mozel Tov! (Happy Celebration) and Happy Thanksgiving to you each. Shalom, Spitfire

Psalm 20

Hi friends. It's been awhile again since last I posted. It got pretty chaotic here, and while I had a couple things I thought about posting, I ran out of steam before getting to it. I even pulled my 'round to it' coin out and it didn't help. Oh, well. What? You asked what a 'round to it' is? It's a coin that says "I have so much to do today I hope I can get around to it all." It's a joke thing that Pawpaw gave us years ago....

Well, moving on. Little Critter and I were doing Torah study this week, and ran out of Torah portion before we ran out of week....so we read Psalm 20. Have you read it lately? It's an incredible Psalm. So, as this week seems to be a week of horrible news all over the place, I thought I'd share it with you, my friends. It's almost like a prayer. So this is what I wish for you this next week....

"1. For the leader. A psalm of David:
2. May YHWH answer you in times of distress, may the name of the G-d of Ya'akov (Jacob)protect you.
3. May He send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Tziyon. (Zion)
4. May He be reminded by all your grain offereings and accept the fat of your burnt offerings.
5. May He grant you your heart's desire and bring all your plans to success.

6. Then we will shout for joy at your victory and fly our flags in the name of our G-d. May YHWH fulfill all your requests.
7. Now I know that YHWH give svictory to His annointed one-
He will answer himn from his holy heaven with might victories by his right hand.

8. Some trust in chariouts and some in horses, but we praise the name of YHWH our G-d.
9. They will crumple and fall, but we will arise and stand erect.
10. Give victory YHWH!
Let the King answer us the day we call."

Isn't that wonderful?! Now if we go back to verse 4, that's spoken of in Acts 10:3 when the angel appears to Cornelius and says YHWH remembered all his prayers. So that means that the prayers we submit to Papa are remembered by Him and count as though they were burnt offerings. Pretty cool, huh. Those that are Torah observant know we still offer burnt offerings according to Leviticus 23. For instance, each Erev Shabbat (Evening of Sabboth) when we make the Challah (bread) for the evening dinner, as we braid our loaves of bread, we save a piece of dough for YHWH. We cook Papa's piece with our loaves and before we start the ceremony for lighting candles to welcome Shabbat, we take the piece we'd cooked for Papa and go outside to present it to Him. It may sound strange to some, but once you've done a couple of times, it just doesn't feel right without it. Little Critter loves this part! He breaks his piece of bread into many pieces, says the prayer with us then throws his pieces in all 6 directions. (I realize we only do that during Sukkot, but he loves to do it, and we don't stop him. I enjoy it too. It's fun to thank Papa from each direction and toss our crumbs out for all the little birdies and worms (and stray cats) to enjoy.) Now, do I burn my bread each week? Good grief NO!!!! That would be a waste of the resources Papa's given me! But I do cook the bread in my gas oven so it's like an unburnt burnt offering. (or something like that)

So as we all head into another week that no doubt will bring distressing news from all directions, remember that this is the prayer I pray for each of you this week. And as we prepare for Thanksgiving, let's not waste much time being distressed by all the lunacy surrounding us. Let's concentrate on the things we have to be thankful for and remember that the lunacy just means the sound of the shofar (trumpet) is getting closer each day. Shabbat Shalom my friends. Spitfire

Veteran's Day 2009

As we start our day today, we need to remember those who fought to give us the freedoms we have. Today, in the US, is Veteran's Day. It's a National Holiday to remember those who sacrificed so much to allow us to have the liberty to make our own choices about so many things. I realize I have readers from other countries, and I hope you will forgive my choice of postings today. But, especially after what happened last week at Ft. Hood, I feel it extremely important that we as a country remember how much we have to be thankful for.

The memorial service for Ft Hood was held Tuesday. It was a tasteful, dignified and respectful service. We chose to watch it on TV (Fox News carried it live) We flew our flag outside, (although we can't do the half mast thingy....but we flew the flag anyway. And will fly it again Wednesday.) The only downside was that as the POTUS was walking up to the podium to deliver his remarks,some yahoos decided it was appropriate to yell and hollar. Now, I don't care if you are for OR against the POTUS....but hooping and hollaring during a funeral memorial service is just poor etiquette! It's inappropriate, disrespectful and down right rude!!!!! That put my hackles up pretty high. The rest of the service was tasteful and respectful....oh, and the poor little bag piper....bless his/her heart. I don't now if it was the cameras not able to pick up the sound well, or the piper being so nervous he/she couldn't play or what, but we couldn't even figure out what song he/she was trying to play. OK, NOW the rest of it was fine. Even the POTUS did an appropriate job in his remarks. I still don't like him, but he did do a good job on this. I'll give him that. And perhaps now some healing can begin for all those involved. It'll take time, but now our goodbyes are said, and healing can begin....sort of.

We found out last week our former Dr was one of the victims. That made it more important that we watch. Little Critter was a bit put out saying "MMOOOMMM!!! Why do I have to watch this? More people died in other wars!" And while I was proud that he understood this was an act of war, I told him "This is history happening. One day you'll be able to tell your children you saw it all unfold. Besides, it's the right and respectful thing to do. These folks protect your freedoms. You can spare 30 minutes to watch and pray for their families!" (I am SO mean!) I also told him to be prepared for a test afterwards.....of course I didn't give him one. But I did make him tell Dodi about it when Dodi got home from work. (More than one way to skin a cat!!! LOL!)

As we consider the great sacrifices of those that fight for our freedoms, we need to go out of our way to do something FOR these great men and women. If you're money is as tight as ours, there are still things you can do. My little Cub Scouts all signed a couple cards that I will deliver today to the VFW, American Legion and VA. Last year, Little Critter made cards and gave them to some of the vets that live nearby. You could also place flowers on graves of  deceased veterans in a local cemetery, take time to pray for our soldiers both active and retired and their families, fly your American flags, thank any vets you know personally. Especially our older vets. They seldom get thanks. When Little Critter made the cards and delivered them to two WWII vets we know, both men sat there, read the cards, then cried. At first, I was deeply concerned we'd done something wrong. But both men told me that in over 50 years, no one had EVER told them thank you for fighting for our freedoms and safety!!! I was shocked!!!! Can you imagine how you'd feel if you did something really tough for someone to help them out and they NEVER said thank you!?!??! My goodness. Our manners as a nation are in sore need of spiffing up! So where ever you live, try to thank a Vet for his/her service. These folks endure mind boggling hardships and horrors  that haunt them for life, so that we remain a free and safe country. And they do it with grace, with a firm sense of duty to country and a burning desire to share the greatest parts of this country with others. They are heroes in the truest sense of the word.

I realize there's always a few goof balls in every deck, and so it is with our military. But for the most part, these men and women are some of the most upstanding, bravest and lest complaining folks you'd ever meet. I know, we live close to the largest military base in the country. We meet soldiers all the time. And they are awesome! (And I'm NOT saying that because two of our boys are in the military. Of course I think our boys are wonderful.....but I also know they can be goof balls....at times.) And while you're saying your prayers today, remember to ask Papa to protect, guard and guide our military folks, to comfort and strengthen their families, and to reunite those that are separated by miles due to duty to country.

Have a blessed day my friends, be sure to teach your children what this day is all about, remember how blessed we are and look for the Love Letters Papa will send you this day. Thank you to all the Vets out there...especially Pops-one of my favorite vets (next to Pawpaw that is!) Your sacrifices are appreciated more than you know, and I don't want you to ever say that no one thanked you for what you've done for us. You've given so much, the least I can do is thank you. Shalom my friends. Spitfire

My heart is breaking....

Hello dear friends. Please parden the moroseness of this posting...after what happened today, I'm just so distressed. For those that didn't hear, there was a mass killing just down the road at Ft Hood Military Base. This is the base eldest son was stationed at until this past May. (Thank you Papa for sending him to Colorado last May!!!!) When he was transferred out, I was quite dissappointed....I wanted to keep him nearby. But now I'm so thankful he was transferred out!!!! And my little heart is just breaking all over the place for the families of those that were shot today. My heart is even braking for the family of the shooter. Can you imagine turning on the news and finding out your son/brother/cousin had opened fire on a building full of folks he worked with and killed 12 of them?!?! Bless their hearts. I realize they are Islamic, but I feel certain their shock is just about the same as the families of those who got calls saying their child/brother/sister/wife/husband had just been shot while on base. This is just SUCH a mess.

Torah tells us that in the last days the world will be upside down and backwards...well, OK. It says people will say right is wrong and wrong is right. That appears to be what we're seeing today. Apparently this shooter felt it was right to plan to go down to the most crowded building on the base and just start shooting because he didn't want to be deployed overseas later this year... I can understand his not wanting to have to go overseas to where the fighting actually is. No parent wants their child to place themselves in harms way. But when you join the military, you have to know there's always the chance that you'll have to fight! So I'm angry with him for inflicting so much pain to SO many people. But at the same time, I also feel a bit sorry for him. Being Islamic, he doesn't know the wonderful peace and joy of our YHWH. And because of what he's done today, he's shamed his family, himself and shed a poor light on his fellow Islamics. Even those that are not radical, but are simply the folks next door. I have friends that are Islamic....they are wonderfully kind, sweet folks who accept us as we are just as we accept them the way they are. Now all Islamics look like folks you need to beware of. That's not right....he didn't have the right to do that!!!! Now he's killed his military career, and most likely any civilian career also. In fact, I think it's fairly safe to say he's now a 'dead man walking'. If he's not sent to prison for the rest of his life for the deaths of those 12 soldiers, he's a walking target for someone angry enough to kill him for what he's done. Here in Texas, we take the 2nd amendment seriously and most everyone has a gun in the house, plus you don't forget your manners when you're visiting from out of state...we'll happily send you home! So he's not only forgotten his manners, he done messed with our military! That's not wise when you're in a state that still remembers the wild west....if you get my drift.

On a brighter side, (I always have to find that brighter side you know!Grin) immediately after the shootings, as soon as the area was no longer on lockdown, there must have been 47 churches that opened their doors for any and all to come for counseling, prayer or just to be with someone else. Schools stayed opened and kept kids until parents could come get them (many parents were caught in the lockdown on base), civilian counselors began offering their services for any that needed them, the whole town and even the surrounding areas all joined hands, closed ranks and began working together to ease the shock, horror and fear of what was going on on the base. It was incredible to see. Even the hospital that Dodi used to have to go to for his bloodwork, took in 10 of the injured and then closed the hospital to the public so the famlies of the injured could have some privacy. Now for a major hospital to close themselves to the public (they had a couple check in doors you could enter after screening if you had someone already in the hospital) and deny the press access to the hospital is pretty awesome. They shut their doors to extra money and respected the families of those injured. Judging from what I saw on my facebook page, there were almost immediately prayers going up from all over the country for all involved as soon as the news broke. So I am thankful that so many folks from so many places who had no involvment or really even interest in what was going on here in Texas took the time to pray for all involved. I'm  so thankful to YHWH that neither of our boys were there.....and that I was safely here at home with my darling Little Critter, that so far as we can tell none of our friends were on base at the time so weren't involved, and that instead of shrugging shoulders and saying "It doesn't involve me, why should I care?!" all the surrounding towns jumped up to help in whatever ways they could. It was almost like 9-11. For a few hours, everyone forgot about religions, politics, race...we were all just Americans and we'd been attacked. We joined together to help each other, to pray for each other, to listen to each other. So while my little heart is breaking, it's also rejoicing. HaSatan may think he rules this world, but for a few hours, I got a glimpse of what heaven would be like. Everyone working together to help each other.

Well, my friends, be sure you take the time today to tell those you love how you feel, hug those close to you, share your heart with those not nearby and don't forget to thank Papa for all the blessings He's given you. Life is short....the times are hard....and the night is on us. But we also know that joy comes in the morning! Shalom, Spitfire