A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....01-06-04....And the Good News Is....

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine, deadhead ~

I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
One Nation Under God, Indivisible
with Liberty and Justice for All.

EXTRA!   EXTRA!

It was a dark and dreary cold rainy stormy snowy foggy night, and the sleet was falling in icy sheets on the golfball-sized hail-covered streets - made even more trecherous by the mudslide - when Freezie chose to gently tender her resignation as a half-sistah to the Finest' sistahs. It was totally out of character and unexpected for Freezie to choose an ordinary night like this, as Freezie was/is a most extraordinary half-sistah and hostess, but this is the way it was relayed to me.

FreeTheHostages Steps In ItDown As told by FTH

FreeTheHostages accepting a well-deserved
Thank You from President George W. Bush

FreeTheHostages is downsizing the regularity of her contributions from half-sister to some fractional number closer to a much more distantly related inlaw.

When the White House heard the news, rumor has it that Karl Rove encouraged the President to capitalize upon this freeing of the Finest readers from her many lime green and day-glow orange threads!

The President wisely agreed to meet with Freezie and congratulate her on stepping down from all but episodic contributions. In accepting the President's congratulations, FreeTheHostages was uncharacteristically short and sane: "This move will allow me to deal with sudden work demands, to clean my house more often, and, most importantly, to quilt more often." In response to questions from the press, Freezie denied that the stress of constantly having to behave or the limited access to Finest limousine driver, Lars, had led her to step back from her already tentative half-sistah status.

"That's ridiculous. From my first solo thread to my last, I never bothered to behave, and frankly Lars isn't all he's cracked up to be." She added: "And don't go dancing on my grave, 'cause I'll still be around, so this isn't the sappy time to say nice (and thus entirely untrue) things about me, nor is it the time for me to say nice (and entirely true) things about the sistahs, including Billie's wondrous graphics on my threads for the first half of 2003. Nor is it the time to say something bad about The Thin Man, who ---" At this point, Karl Rove wisely cut the audio at the podium and the press conference was concluded.

Needless to say, the Sistahs were devastated. After all, there would now be two - sometimes, three - more days each month to fill; someone would have to take up the slack of Freezie's contributions, but who? Each Sistah was already stressed and stretched to the max with her own commitment. How COULD Freezie do this?

Dutchess cried, "I don't think that I can take it,  'cause it took so long to bake it,  and I'll never have that recipe again."

Dansy exclaimed, "Just as long as she doesn't think she can take Lars with her!"

And Mama_Bear chimed in with, "Well, I'm ALREADY doing the weekend threads in addition to MY two - sometimes three - a month, so don't think I'M going to do it."

Stepping up to the plate, Sweet Aqua volunteered to help however she could, because: "Nothing is too much trouble for the Finest Family."

You surely don't think the story ends this way, with dissension among the Sistahs, do you? After all, the title of this thread is "The Good News Is....."

Of course, for Aquamarine, the good news is that her raise is effective immediately. :)

The Good News for the Finest
It is with great pleasure that Mama_Bear, Dansangel,
Dutchess, Aquamarine, and I make the following announcement:

The Mayor ~ aka Rus

I'm sure you've noticed the last two Mondays that our Military Monday thread has been posted much earlier than usual; our thanks go to The Mayor for agreeing to take on this responsibility. Rus is an early riser and likes to get the coffee pot on and start our day with an early morning inspirational message.

Rus has been one of our regulars since the beginning, and you will find him pictured every Monday as one of our FR Finest Vets. You can also learn more about him, if you missed it in November, by clicking on our feature: Meet The Mayor ~ 11-07-03

deadhead ~ aka Colleen

Who among you could possibly say that deadhead is not one of the nicest and friendliest FReepers on FR? :) We are excited that Colleen said yes when we asked if she would be our Sistah and help us as we continue to bring you new, interesting, and exciting features and tributes.

Colleen has forever been a favorite of ours, and we're looking forward to her first presentation next month! You can read more about her, as well as how much her family means to her here: Honor Thy Family ~ 03-25-03

My personal thank you to our readers and regular contributors and writers (thanks for your weekly Two Cents, John!); to Freezie for all the fun, quirky threads she created, as well as the FReeper Profiles she presented; and to Lori, Sandy, Ilene, and Susie (who of course didn't really make those comments above!), much love and appreciation!

And now a Great Big Round of Applause for THESE THREE FINEST!

Deadhead ~ FreeTheHostages ~ The Mayor

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 01-05-04 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

Click on the photo to view the album. To
submit your photo, please contact danbh59@yahoo.com
and include Freeper Photo Album in subject line.

[Billie]

(This one's for you, lonestar.....and weinie.)

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[Billie]

Good morning, Finest FRiends. With the beginning of this week, The Holidays are officially over, and things will soon return to some sort of normalcy for all. Our hostesses have all been busier than usual, along with everyone else, and in order to give them a breather this first month of the new year, I suggested that they might want to rerun one of their favorite threads from last year - one that perhaps they posted when many of our regulars were out of town, or any other of their choosing. It is also their choice to rerun or not to rerun!

Happy New Year 2004, and God Bless America!

[JohnHuang2]

Happy New Year backatya, my friend, and G'evening to all :-)

[Billie]

Hi, John. G'nite, John. :) I'm outta here!

[JohnHuang2]

Hiya, Mayor, deadhead :-)

FreeTheHostages -- CONGRATS!!

[JohnHuang2]

G'nite, my friend; sleep well

[Diver Dave]

Let's see now... We lose one, gain two, increase Aqua's salary, elect George Bush....

Yep! I think we've got a winner here.

Sorry to see ya cutting back, Freezie.

Welcome aboard, Yer Honor and Colleen.

[Diver Dave]

Evenin' John.
'Tis indeed a great New Year.

[JohnHuang2]

Good evening good buddy -- Happy New Year to you and yours!

[Mama_Bear]

This is soooooooo cute, Billie!! I will be back tomorrow to welcome the new Finest siblings on the block and bid adieu to Free (who I know isn't actually going anywhere, thank goodness!).

I see you have re-done the welcome graphic and added more Finest pups to the line............John is still crowding me and I still don't have eyelashes. :-( LOL.

Bedtime here. I will be back tomorrow.

[CounterCounterCulture]

With the beginning of this week, The Holidays are officially over

W-W-What?! Dagnabit, I never even got what I wanted for Christmas.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Billie.

[.45MAN]

My goodness your up late! Well good morning and good night...

[.45MAN]

How'sa person susposed to keep track of who's who here. Now who are these new people?

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', everybody ! Happy Tuesday !

[MEG33]

APPLAUSE for the new Hostess and Host,Deadhead and the Mayor.Thanks to Freezie.((((Hugs)))) for the work all of you do on the Finest!

Good Morning,Finest!

[knighthawk]

Good morning!

[The Mayor]

As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand. —Jeremiah 18:6

A change in the heart brings a change in behavior.

[The Mayor]

January 6, 2004

The Great Potter

Read: Jeremiah 18:1-6

As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand. —Jeremiah 18:6

Bible In One Year: Genesis 16-17; Matthew 5:27-48

---

One definition of the word attitude is "the angle of approach" that an aircraft takes when landing. Author Chris Spicer writes: "Attitudes are to life as the angle of approach is to flying." He adds, "Attitude is the way we choose to think about things; attitudes will cause us to react and behave in a certain way." He also says that attitudes are not inborn or accidental. They are learned and absorbed reactions; therefore they can be changed.

During my thirties, the Lord began convicting me of my wrong thinking toward myself, others, and life—negative, self-pitying, and bitter thinking. With the help of God's Word, I recognized my need for change in three main areas: my attitudes, actions, and reactions. But I feared I couldn't change. One day I read in Jeremiah 18 how the potter refashioned some marred clay (which is what I felt like) into a different vessel, as it pleased the potter. What I couldn't do, my great Potter could! I only needed to be cooperative clay.

Today this vessel is far from finished. But as I put myself in the Potter's hands, He keeps working on me and shaping my attitudes and actions. I call them Christ-attitudes, Christ-actions, and Christ-reactions.

The great Potter can do the same for you. —Joanie Yoder

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay;
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still. —Pollard
© 1935 Hope Publishing Co.

A change in the heart brings a change in behavior.