Each Day Already is a Challenge

Don't do that

I was remembering a visit my aunt had to her family doctor when she was going through menopause. She was having bladder problems. Every time she coughed or sneezed, she would wet herself. The doc must have thought he was a real comedian. He told her to stop coughing and sneezing.

I guess I remembered that because my back is sooooooooo painful, but it's even more so if I move. So, I guess if I just stopped moving, I'd have just the normal ouchy back pains and not the pain that also shoots down my leg and up my spine as well. I'm probably walking strangely since I hurt so much, so now my (bad) knee is complaining too. When I move, my knee really feels like bone moving against bone.

And yes, it hurts when I cough or sneeze too.

Lying down in bed eases the "normal" pains a bit, but moving while lying down is more painful for some reason.

The worst pains are when I move the muscles in my back to get up and down from a chair or anywhere else where I might need to be sitting.

Enough about that stupid pain!

I have shared before that my computer is in the kitchen, beside a big bay window. Outside the window is a tree. I love watching the birds and squirrels romp and play in and around that tree as I type and think.

Last year at this time, I watched as the leaves on that tree changed from green to bright oranges and yellows. I watched as the winds blew and those leaves came tumbling down. And I watched as one lonely leaf stayed green and connected.

All winter long, as the harsh winds blew, temperatures dropped and snow landed on the tree branches, that one lone green leaf survived.

That one lone leaf inspired me last year. It was a reminder to me of the importance of staying connected to the One who cares the most about me. And that by being connected, I could survive all the winds and cold the world wants to dump on me.

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And what a strange world it has become out there on the other side of my window. The US census reports that over 85% of Americans still say they believe in God. If that is true, how have we allowed God to be taken from our schools?

Benjamin Franklin once said, "I have lived, Sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth, that God governs in the Affairs of Men. And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the Ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid?"

I believe it was also Benjamin Franklin who said that the only true history is in the Bible. (Although I cannot find the quote that I read again just yesterday.) Our children are being taught a history of our country that is false or is only half true. Most of the founding fathers were godly men and they knew that without God, our country could not survive and thrive.

Our children are told (and so many adults believe) that Thomas Jefferson was adamant about the separation of church and state. Many, wrongly, think those words are in our founding documents. They are not. They were penned by Jefferson in a letter where he was assuring the recipient that our government would not dictate or form a religion that all must follow - as had been the case in Europe for years.

Jefferson did say, "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever."

In his 28 Principles of Freedom, Ben Franklin said:
The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law. (God's Law)
A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible .
To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.
The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.
The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.

John Adams wrote: "I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."

Our founding fathers thought they had a divine mission.

By doing nothing, each US citizen is partially to blame for today's outcome. We think that one person cannot make a difference, but that is just not true.

Voting takes place in just a few short days. Another of Ben Franklin's 28 Principles was this: "The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders."