John 15:13 KJV Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

This is an older post but it still stands true today:

Word Records recording artist Mark Schultz and his hit single "Letters From War" (from the album Stories & Songs) are the centerpiece of a public awareness campaign entitled "Be Safe - Make It Home" recently launched by The U.S. Army. The Army has experienced an unusually high rate of accidental fatalities this year. This video will be used in conjunction with other educational materials to raise awareness of this problem, reverse the trend, and keep more soldiers safe in the days ahead.

 The Army is asking everyone in the U.S. to leave their front porch lights on throughout the night on  Sunday July 4, as a reminder to all soldiers to "Be Safe - Make it Home".

You can see the video and hear the song here: http://downloads.wordrecords.com/

She walked to the mailbox
On that bright summers day
Found a letter from her son
In a war far away

He spoke of the weather
And good friends that he'd made
Said I'd been thinking 'bout dad
And the life that he had
Thats why I'm here today
And that the end he said
You are what I'm fighting for
It was the first of the letters from war

She started writing
You're good and you're brave
What a father that you'll be someday
make it home
make it safe

She wrote every night as she prayed

Late in December
A day she'll not forget
Oh her tears stained the paper
With every word that she read

It said "I was up on a hill
I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out
And bombs were exploding
And thats when I saw him
He came back for me
And though he was captured
A man set me free
And that man was your son
He asked me to write to you
I told him i would, oh I swore"
It was the last of the letters from war

And she prayed he was living
Kept on believing
And wrote every night just to say

You are good
And you're brave
what a father that you'll be someday
Make it home
Make it safe
Still she kept writing each day

Then two years later
Autumn leaves all around
A car pulled in the driveway
And she fell to the ground
And out stepped a captain
Where her boy used to stand

He said "mom I'm following orders
From all of your letters
And I've come home again",
He ran into hold her
And dropped all his bags on the floor
Holding all of her letters from war

Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home

My Dad won the "Best Transportation Employee of the Year" at the School District he works for. He is the main Guy that keeps the buses in tip top condition. I am proud of you Pop!

He is the handsome gentlemen to the far left in the picture.

I guess Bears do Poop in the woods

Mom is coming to Visit! I am excited to see her and have her around the house for a couple of days !

One of her Mother's Day Gifts:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740715283

Have you ever walked down the street and seen spray painted marks on the ground? I have and I know they had something to do with utilities but I never knew what the colors meant until today. In with my gas bill the monthly news letter that comes with it had this information:

Utility employees will mark the ground over their underground utility with colored paint, stakes, or flags. The marks show the location and the path of the utility. The marks for your site will depend on which utilities are in  your neighborhood.

Red = Electric

Yellow = Gas, Oil, Fuel

Orange = Cable, TV, Phone

Blue = Drinking Water

Green = Sewer (phew)

Purple = Non-drinking water

Pink = Survey Marks

White = Excavator Marks

Wow - I never looked at this scriptue this way before:

From: Max Lucado Calendar - Grace for the Moment

Matthew 28:1 At Dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named mary went to look at the tomb.

It isn't hope that leads the Mary's up the mountain to the tomb. It is duty. Naked Devotion. They expect nothing in return. What could Jesus give? What could a dead man offer? The two women are not climbing the mountain to receive, they are going to the tomb to give Period. There is not motivation more noble... Service prompted by duty.

This is called disciple ship.

Again - WOW

Have a great week all and here is to the day we meet face to face with our maker and he calls our name for the first time!

Larry

Just when you think it was safe to go back in the water. You reconnect with old friends and they send yah something like this:

My friend Rod who I workd with at the Disc Jokey Record store sent this along to me today. Man I was a young'n

To our Troops in IRAQ. Thank you and God Bless. My thoughts and prayers are wtih you and your families during this time of conflict.

Here is an article regarding the death toll in Iraq:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88939595

At the top of the article there is an 8 minute audio segement regarding the death of Major Alan Greag Rogers. It hit me pretty hard this morning. Give it a listen.

A man stumbles up to the only other patron in a bar and asks if he could buy him a drink.

"Why of course," comes the reply.

The first man then asks: "Where are you from?" 

"I'm from Ireland," replies the second man. 

The first man responds: "You don't say, I'm from Ireland too! Let's have another round to Ireland." 
"Of Course," replies the second man. 

Curious, the first man then asks: "Where in Ireland are you from?" 
"Dublin," comes the reply. 
"I can't believe it," says the first man. 
"I'm from Dublin too! Let's have another drink to Dublin."
"Of course," replies the second man. 

Curiosity again strikes and the first man asks: 
"What school did you go to?" 
"Saint Mary's," replies the second man. 
"I graduated in '62." 

"This is unbelievable!" the first man says. 
"I went to Saint Mary's and I graduated in '62, too!"

About that time in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar. 
"What's been going on?" he asks the bartender. 
"Nothing much," replies the bartender. "The O'Malley twins are drunk again."

/Checks Pulse...Yep I am still alive

So what has been going on for me? Work. We opened a new branch last week which seemed to go really well. It was a pretty big event, hot dogs, Babershop quarter, item give aways, pretty much the whole 10 yards. So the dust is settling now but there are still little fires here and there.

We have another new building we will be occupying in March so now everyone is gearing up for that. I don't think it will be quite as big a production as the former branch opening but you never know.

Been spending some time on facebook which is a networking site on the internet. I have been using it to re-connect with friends from College, highschool, etc. I am also the admin for my Highschools class re-union group on the site. We have 33 people so far from a class of 310 (give or take a couple). Word of mouth is traveling, slowly, but traveling none the less. Our 20 years is coming up in Augus. Man time fly's by to dang quick.

Music wise I am still playing with the Church worship group. Our current Director announced that he is leaving in March so we are in a state of flux. A couple of girls from the congregation have stepped up to fill in so the horns will work as needed. We are also working on special music pieces for services as we are needed. Jazz arrangments of hymns and popular christain songs. It is on the Muzak side but fun none the less.

That is it for now. Check yah later all.