A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....03-21-05....Military Monday

March 21, 2005

A Bumpy Road

Read:
Philippians 1:27-30

To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. —Philippians 1:29

Bible In One Year: Judges 9-12

cover When people tell me life is hard, I always reply, "Of course it is." I find that answer more satisfying than anything else I can say. Writer Charles Williams said, "The world is painful in any case; but it is quite unbearable if anybody gives us the idea that we are meant to be liking it."

The path by which God takes us often seems to lead away from what we perceive as our good, causing us to believe we've missed a turn and taken the wrong road. That's because most of us have been taught to believe that if we're on the right track God's goodness will always translate into a life free of trouble.

But that's a pipe dream far removed from the biblical perspective. God's love often leads us down roads where earthly comforts fail us. Paul said, "To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29). When we come to the end of all our dark valleys, we'll understand that every circumstance has been allowed for our ultimate good.

"No other route would have been as safe and as certain as the one by which we came," Bible teacher F. B. Meyer said. "If only we could see the path as God has always seen it, we would have selected it as well." —David Roper

If some darker lot be good,
Lord, teach us to endure
The sorrow, pain, or solitude
That makes the spirit pure. —Irons

No trial would cause us to despair if we knew God's reason for allowing it.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
10 Reasons To Believe In A God Who Allows Suffering

Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Mama_Bear; Dutchess; Dansangel; Aquamarine, and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maigrey...................cousin
OhioWfan........................son
mystery-ak..........son, husband
Gogrammy................grandson
Inspectorette...................son
Blessed American..........nephew
Slip18..........................nephew
anniegetyourgun...........nephew
Diver Dave.......niece, nephew
ConspiracyGuy........2 nephews
Pippin..........niece, loved one
Pippin...nephew & his fiancee
weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw
jamaly.................brotherinlaw
Future Snake Eater..........cousin
WaterDragon.............grandson
WaterDragon...........son-in-law
BeforeISleep...................son
kimmie7......................brother
Armymarinemom............3 sons
american_ranger.............son
LadyX.........................grandson
fawn796.......................nephew
Dubya............................nephew
StarCMC......................brother
ValerieUSA..................2 sons
Lakeside......................2 sons
LakeLady.....................nephew
Spruce.....................daughter
Philman_36..............2 nephews
bjcintennessee.......son, niece
Ladysmith..nephew, friend's son
tina07......soninlaw & his friend
Katydidnt..........................son
MontanaCowgirlCop.......brother
Warrior Nurse...........active duty
SK1 Thurman...........active duty
David Osborne.........active duty
fc2tomschermuly......active duty
bkwells..................active duty
LongCut..................active duty
cjk..........................active duty
Trish.......................active duty
ODC-GIRL.................active duty
AF_Blue..................active duty
Notwithstanding.....active duty
thumperusn.............active duty
Q6-God.....................active duty
Q6-God...................twin brother
Veloxherc.................active duty
Don Simmons...........active duty
wingnutx..................active duty
Old Sarge................active duty
Bykrbayb.........................son
Hope and Glory................son
Walkenfree............2 grandsons,
3 nephews, 1 granddaughter
ariamne...............................2 cousins
Zechariah_8_13......brother-in-law, cousin

Mama_Bear.........2 nephews
ladtx........................2 sons
Its_me_K.E.T...................son
gator girl.................husband
severa.......husband, brother
Hostel......................cousin
MozartLover......son, nephew
LBGA...............................son
katykelly......................son
cookcounty.....................son
SpookBrat...nephew, cousin
Doug from Upland...son-in-law
Himyar..........................son
boxerblues................2 sons
the piper.........................son
sheeza.......................husband
kemathen7.................husband
Tiffee4Bob.................boyfriend
deadhead......................cousin
JimRobinson.........2 nephews
TexKat..............son, step-son
Consort..2 daughters,son-in-law
Darheel.........................niece
Donaeus......................nephew
dixie sass...................nephew
BeAllYouCanBe...................son
Repubmommy...............brother
AgThorn.........................2 sons
homeschoolmama.......nephew
kneezles.............................son
Rose inRoseBear...cousin's hubby
Redhead....step-granddaughter
Redhead..step-grdaughter fiance
Atomic Conspiracy..half-brother
Atomic Conspiracy...nephew
Atomic Conspiracy..........niece
Sunflowergal..............grandson
visualops.......................cousin
Alouette..............................son
mrstank.......................husband
MrsMike31..................husband
eaglesiniowa.........................son
auboy..................................cousin
spotbust1.......................husband
Leofl......................................son
chena......................................son
campfollower.......................fiance
LUV W.........................................son
painter................................nephew
ProudAFDad.................................son
TheMayor...........friends'son & nephew
mhking.....................................cousin
Misty4jc................................husband
Colorado Slim........................ nephew
Tapatio..............................2 nephews
CGblue............................active duty
ak_daddoo.........................nephew
DirtyHarryY2K............daughter, son-in-law
nelibeli......................................nephew

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you are all ready for Easter.

Hi Temple Owl, yes Easter is coming fast..

Good Morning Your Honor!

Hi Mayor.

Good Morning Sir!

Hi Victoria, Love that graphic..

Thanks Mayor. Feel free to use it if you like.

Good morning, Mayor!!

Thanks for the ping.

Texan was taking a taxi tour of London and was in a hurry. As they went by the Tower of London the cabbie explained what it was and that construction of it started in 1346 and was completed in 1412.

The Texan replied, "Shoot, a little ol' tower like that? In Houston we'd have that thing up in two weeks!"

Next they passed the House of Parliament - started in 1544 and completed in 1618.

"Well boy, we put up a bigger one than that in Dallas and it only took a year!"

As they passed Westminister Abbey the cabbie was silent. "Whoah! What's that over there?" asked the Texan

Cabbie: "I don't know, it wasn't there yesterday."

Good message this evening, Mr. Mayor.

...God bless the brave ones who keep us strong and protect us from harm!

As a group of soldiers stood in formation at an Army Base, the Drill Sergeant said, "All right! All you idiots fall out."
As the rest of the squad wandered away, one soldier remained at attention.
The Drill Instructor walked over until he was eye-to-eye with him, and then raised a single eyebrow. The soldier smiled and said, "Sure was a lot of 'em, huh, sir?"

A Platoon Sergeant and his Platoon Leader are bunking down in the field for
the night. The Platoon Sergeant looks up and says, "When you see all the
stars in the sky, what do you think, sir?"

The LT replies, "Well, I think of how insignificant we really are in the
universe; how small a piece of such a grand design. I can't help but wonder
if what we do truly means anything or makes any difference. Why? What do
you think of, Sergeant?"

"I think somebody stole the
tent."

It was a dark, stormy, night. The Marine was on his first assignment, and it was guard duty.
A General stepped out taking his dog for a walk. The nervous young Private snapped to attention, made a perfect salute, and snapped out "Sir, Good Evening, Sir!"
The General, out for some relaxation, returned the salute and said "Good evening soldier, nice night, isn't it?"
Well it wasn't a nice night, but the Private wasn't going to disagree with the General, so the he saluted again and replied "Sir, Yes Sir!".
The General continued, "You know there's something about a stormy night that I find soothing, it's really relaxing. Don't you agree?"
The Private didn't agree, but them the private was just a private, and responded "Sir, Yes Sir!"
The General, pointing at the dog, "This is a Golden Retriever, the best type of dog to train."
The Private glanced at the dog, saluted yet again and said "Sir, Yes Sir!"
The General continued "I got this dog for my wife."
The Private simply said "Good trade Sir!"

Soldier's Prayer
Stay with me, God. The night is dark,
The night is cold: my little spark
Of courage dies. The night is long;
Be with me, God, and make me strong.

Verse One, Soldier's Prayer found in Tunisia during WWII

Former President George H. W. Bush surprises Sgt. Rosa Weston, a topographic surveyor with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, III Corps from Fort Hood, Texas, with his American Flag suit during a Naturalization Ceremony Friday at the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M. Weston's two sons, Edward, 9, and Alex, 12, were present at the ceremony and were selected to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Weston just redeployed to Fort Hood following her year-long deployment to Camp Victory, Iraq.

(Photo by Spc. Nicole Welch, III Corps PAO, Sentinel Staff Reporter)

How to be a soldier

1. Dig a big hole in your back yard and live in it for 30 days straight.

2. Go inside only to clean the house. On weekends, you can eat in the house, but you can't talk.

3. Pour 10 inches of nasty, crappy water into your hole, then shovel it out, stack sandbags around it and cover it with a sheet of old plywood.

4. Fill a backpack with 50 pounds of kitty litter. Never take it off outdoors. Jog everywhere you go.

5. Every couple of weeks, dress up in your best clothes and go the scummiest part of town, find the most run down trashy bar you can, pay $10 per beer until you're hammered, then walk home in the freezing cold.

6. Perform a weekly disassembly and inspection of your lawnmower.

7. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays turn the water pressure in your shower down to a trickle, then on Tuesday and Thursday turn it up so hard it peels skin. On Saturdays and Sundays declare to your entire family that they can't use the shower in order to keep it clean for inspection.

8. Go inside and make your bed every morning. Have your wife tear the blankets off at random during the day. Re-make the bed each time until it is time to go back outside and sleep in your hole.

9. Have your next door neighbor come over each day at 5am, and blow a whistle so loud that Helen Keller could hear it and shout "Get up! Get up! You are moving too slow! Get down and do push-ups!"

10. Have your mother-in-law write down everything she's going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in the back yard at 6am and read it to you.

11. Eat the raunchiest Mexican food you can find for three days straight, then lock yourself out of the bathroom for 12 hours. Hang a sign on the bathroom door that says, "Unserviceable."

12. Submit a request form to your father-in-law, asking if it's ok for you to leave your house before 5pm.

13. Invite 200 of your not-so-closest friends to come over. Have them all dig holes in your yard to live in. After 30 days, fill in the holes and wave at your friends and family through the front window of your home as you set out for a 25 mile walk and After-Action-Review.

14. Shower with above-mentioned friends.

15. Make your family qualify to operate all the appliances in your home (i.e. Dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc.).

16. Walk around your car for 4 hours checking the tire pressure every 15 minutes. Write down on a piece of paper everything you want the shop to fix the next time you bring the car in. Give your wife the list to throw away.

17. Sit in your car and let it run for 4 hours with the windows down before going anywhere. Tune the radio to static and monitor it while letting the car run. If it is cold outside, don't run the heat. Sleep on the hood or roof of your car.

18. Empty all the garbage bins in your house, and sweep your driveway 3 times a day, whether they need it or not.

19. Repaint your entire house once a month. Paint white rings around all the trees in your neighborhood. Paint all curbs yellow. Paint all rocks red.

20. Cook all of your food blindfolded, groping for any spice and seasoning you can get your hands on.

21. Use eighteen scoops of budget coffee grounds per pot, and allow each pot to sit 5 hours before drinking.

22. Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item.

23. Spend $20,000 on a satellite system for your TV, but only watch CNN and the Weather Channel when you are inside to eat. Tune the tint on the TV to green.

24. Avoid watching your green tinted TV with the exception of movies which are played in the middle of the night. Have the family vote on which movie to watch and then show a different one.

25. Have your 5-year-old cousin give you a haircut with goat shears.

26. Sew big pockets to the legs of your pants. Don't use them.

27. Spend 2 weeks sleeping in holes in your neighbor's lawns and call it a deployment.

28. Spend a year sleeping in holes in your local area and call it world travel.

29. Attempt to spend 5 years working at McDonalds, and NOT get promoted.

30. Ensure that any promotions you do get are from stepping on the dead bodies of your co-workers.

31. Blast heavy metal music on your stereo and conduct Ranger PT, grass drills, and sprints on your front lawn after your neighbors have gone to bed.

32. When your children are in bed, run into their room with a megaphone and shout at the top of your lungs that your home is under attack, and order them to man their fighting positions. Don't let them eat or sleep again for two days.

33. Make your family menu a week ahead of time and do so without checking the pantry and refrigerator.

34. Post a menu on the refrigerator door informing your family that you are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for at least an hour. When they finally get to the kitchen, tell them that you are out of steak, but you have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they don't pay attention to the menu any more so they just ask for hot dogs.

35. When baking a cake, prop up one side of the pan while it is in the oven. Spread icing on real thick to level it off.

36. In the middle of January, place a gate at the end of your street. Have your family stand watches at the gate, rotating at 4-hour intervals.

37. Make your family live with you in your hole for 6 weeks. Then tell them that at the end of the 6th week you're going to take them to Disneyland for "block leave." When the end of the 6th week rolls around, inform them that Disneyland has been canceled due to the fact that they need to get ready for Individual Skill Certification, and that it will be another week before they can go back into the house.

38. In your hole (refer to #1), with 200 of your not-so-closest friends (see para. 13), get the flu.

39. Sleep in a thicket of blackberries or rose bushes. Tie a string to your foot that runs to the house. Have your wife yank on the string about 3 hours after you go to sleep. Crawl out of the bushes and go to the house to see what she wants. She should then shine a flashlight in your eyes and mumble "Just making sure you're okay."

40. Do not sleep from 1:00 a.m. Monday mornings until 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoons. Tie a branch around your neck and chew on sand to stay awake.

41. When there is a thunderstorm in your area, dig a trench into your hole so that it fills up with water. During the worst part of the storm, get out of your hole and go for a 12 mile walk.

42. Don't change your socks for a week. After they disintegrate off with pieces of your feet, put on an unbroken pair of new boots and go for a 12 mile walk.

43. For mechanized infantry or armor types: leave the lawn mower running next to your hole 24 hours a day. When you get an opportunity to sleep in your house, put lube oil in your humidifier and set it on high.

44. Have the paperboy give you a haircut.

45. Set up a port-a-potty in the corner of your yard. Once a week, have the service truck back into your yard and pump it out. Make sure the wind carries the smell into your neighbors house. Ignore his complaints.

46. Every other month pull every single possession you own out of your house and line everything up on your lawn from smallest to largest, front to back. Count everything and write it down to file with your insurance company. Give your wife the list to throw away.

47. Lock wire the lug nuts on your car.

48. Buy a trash can, but don't use it. Store the garbage in your hole.

49. Get up every night around midnight and stroll around your yard to "check the perimeter."

50. Run the garden hose to your hole and turn it on. Set your alarm clock to go off at random during the night. Jump up and get dressed as fast as you can. Run out into the backyard and get in your hole.

51. Once a month, take apart every major appliance in your home and put them back together again.

52. Build a scale model of your yard. Make your children draw sketches of it including little arrows indicating what they are going to do when they go out to play. Post these sketches on a bulletin board for reference.

53. Remove the insulation and widen the frames of your front and back doors so that no matter how tight you shut the door, the weather will still get inside.

54. Every so often, throw the cat in front of your hole and shout "Enemy in the wire! Fire Claymores!" Then run into the house cut off the circuit breaker. Yell at the wife and kids for violating security and not maintaining good noise and light discipline.

55. Put on the headphones from your stereo set, but don't plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck with string. Go sit in your car. Say to no one in particular "Lost-One, this is Lost-Three, are you lost too, over?" Sit there for three or four hours with the engine running. Say again to no one in particular "Negative contact, Lost-Three out." Roll up your headphones and paper cup and place them in a box.

I do so pledge!

The coffee will wake me up enough to go to bed! I'll have to read the lesson again tomorrow.

Thanks Russ

A Bumpy Road

Read:Philippians 1:27-30

To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. —Philippians 1:29

Bible In One Year: Judges 9-12

Read:
Philippians 1:27-30