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Posted on 01/10/2005 7:58:39 PM PST by LaDivaLoca
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A BLESSING |
Prayers going up.
Hi Diva! Beautiful blessing! Thanks and oh yeah... Hugs!
Read: Eccl. 1:1-11; 12:13-14
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. —Ecclesiastes 12:13
Bible In One Year: Genesis 33-36
What's the point? This question came to mind as I watched my grandsons' dog fetch a ball for me again and again.
What's the point? That's what the writer of Ecclesiastes asked as he thought about the monotonous cycle he observed in nature and in life—the same things happening year after year, generation after generation.
What's the point? That's what a retired businessman was asking, in effect, when he told me he would just as soon die as live any longer. He had seen and done everything he had wanted to do. Now he had reached the place where life held more pain for him than pleasure.
What's the point? Here it is. A few years before a friend of mine died, he said, "Life is a wonderful experience. It's marvelous to see that God keeps nature going in its pattern. It's wonderful to know that we're here to love God above everything and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It's comforting to believe that all our sins are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross. And it's exciting to think about the eternity God has for us. It sure is great to be alive."
Life can be depressing when God is left out. But how exciting it is when He is at the center! —Herb Vander Lugt
Diva, may God Bless you and keep you safe where you may be.
Thank You my FRiend for all you have given the Canteen and our Troops.
HUGS
Mornin', everybody ! Happy Tuesday!
67 degrees right now.
Have a cup while you Freep !
For those who prefer hot chocolate.....
What did I miss...Where is Diva going?
Second Class Petty Officer Chas Dearie, of Sulpher, La., looks toward a Navy helicopter after taking off from Banda Aceh airport in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Sunday. Relief operations are now entering their third week after a Dec. 26 earthquake triggered a tidal wave that claimed the lives of 100,000 people in Indonesia alone.
Sgt. John Farrar places his hand on the stomach of his pregnant wife, Celine, as they embrace inside the National Guard armory in Litchfield, Ill., on Saturday. The Oak Lawn, Ill., couple are expecting their first child in less than two months and were planning to marry in April. Due to his deployment, though, they married in December. Approximately 80 National Guard soldiers with Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Division, will be deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Lesley Joiner listens to her MP3 player at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., on Saturday while waiting to deploy to Iraq.
Sgt. James Polyefko naps at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., on Saturday, while waiting to deploy to Iraq.
U.S. troops secure the scene after an explosion outside the police station in Baghdad’s Zafarniyah neighborhood Monday.
Petty Officer 2nd Class John Ramirez, left, of Los Angeles, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Ross Campano, of Costa Mesa, Calif., perform routine maintenance on a Navy Seahawk helicopter aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Saturday.
Sri Lankans stand near an amphibious landing vehicle belonging to the 1st Marine Division at Koggala beach on Monday.
John Mark, right, with the 1st Marine Division, helps Sri Lankan fisherman adjust their fishing net at Koggala beach in southern Sri Lanka on Monday. Marines aboard the USS Duluth will be supporting rebuilding operations in the hard-hit coastal areas.
Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., come ashore in Koggala, on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, on Monday.
A Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), a flat-bottomed aluminum hovercraft equipped with a rubber air bladder and two aft propellers and carrying tons of food, water and a forklift for future distribution as part of humanitarian operations, makes its way to shore from the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) on Monday on Sumatra’s western coast.
U.S. sailors return with bags of rice after the aircraft they were riding in reached its maximum load of relief goods at Banda Aceh airport in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Sunday.
Hayle Burdine, right, hugs her father, Sgt.1st Class Riley Burdine at Fort Carson, Colo., Monday, Jan. 10, 2005, following a farewell ceremony for soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division as they prepare to deploy to Iraq.
US military from 1-22 battalion, 4th Infantry Division secure a street shortly after discovering an improvised explosive device in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown of Tikrit, 180 kms north of Baghdad.
Just another day at the office for our Troops.
I missed it too. What's going on around here?
Thank you Mr. Tonkin for the flowers! The pony is very special. God Bless the men in the Military and the Canteen.
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Now with a larger following and the help of Togrul and the Chin (a large civilization in northern China), Temuchin was able to defeat the Tartars and avenge his father’s death (Nicolle 18). Temuchin continued to build power by removing rivals (Nicolle 18-19). Deals were struck with most Mongol chieftains giving them leadership roles and wives (Humphrey 47). These chiefs who would not serve under other chiefs were willing to serve under the dominating Temuchin (Humphrey 47). Eventually Jamuga became Temuchin’s primary rival allying with Temuchin’s enemies in a series of campaigns which came to include even Togrul and the Kereits (Nicolle 19). Using superior political and military skill, Temuchin defeated and integrated all opposing Mongol tribes (Marshall 28-32). By 1206 Temuchin led more than two million people and ruled land stretching a 1000 miles from west to east and 600 miles from Siberia in the north to the Gobi Desert in the south (Humphrey 57, 63). Temuchin’s followers, while still nomadic, were now united behind their leader and considered themselves one nation of Mongols (Humphrey 59). Temuchin took the name Genghis which appropriately meant universal leader (USA Today 1). 
Having created a nation Genghis now looked to build an empire (Humphrey 77-78). During his lifetime Genghis conquered Hsi Hsia a southwestern border country of Mongolia, the Chin empire of north China, and (after being provoked by the massacre of a trade caravan and subsequent murder of his ambassador) the medieval Muslim kingdom of Khwarezm (Marshall 42-57). Genghis was able to consistently defeat larger forces by using ruthless military strategies which are well-known and innovative military strategies which should be well known (Marshall 37-57). Genghis’ highly disciplined troops were equally capable of slaughtering civilians whose armies refused to surrender and mastering the advanced methods required to capture fortified cities (Humphrey 82-83). Well supplied and constantly drilled in war games, the Mongolian men were always prepared for war (Humphrey 68). In the field of battle Genghis maintained close communications with commanders using swift "arrow messengers, signal flags, and fire (Humphrey 79-78). The entire army moved and attacked on horseback and there were always one or two fresh horses available for each man (Humphrey 65). Combined with other tactics, the incredible mobility of Genghis’ forces (which was probably not matched until the German blitzkrieg of WWII) always gave him the advantage of surprise (Humphrey 67-68). 
Most of the Western world views Genghis Khan as a simple savage who overwhelmed others by brute force (Marshall 64). However, Genghis was a cunning warrior, a superb motivator, an organized leader, and a wise ruler who valued loyalty, education, strict laws, and the exchange of knowledge and goods with other cultures. Genghis created Mongolia and established an empire that reached from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea and from Siberia to Tibet (USA Today 1). Genghis died in 1227 but the structure and tradition the great leader established did not (Nicolle 46-47). Descendants were well positioned to expand Genghis Khan’s Mongol Empire from the Pacific to the Danube and from Siberia to the Indian Ocean, an area in which half the population of the world then lived (Humphrey 107). It took a genius, not a savage, to accomplish this. 
