The Greatest Generation

First off I just want to recognize that this is Memorial Day weekend and I want to say thank you to our military men and women who have laid down their lives and gave their all so that we here in America could remain free.


Once upon a time there were a group of young men (and women) who accepted the call to fight for and protect freedom around the world. They came together from all different backgrounds, walks of life and countries world wide. I would like to introduce you to one such man, a man that was our friend and whom we love greatly, his name was Mr. Charles Pike. He never really talked much about his time in the war. I believe that sometimes, even in his 80's, the memories and the pain were just to hard to bear. I would like to tell you just a little bit about what he told us and by way of his story I hope to introduce you to The Greatest Generation.

Mr. Pike left his home in North Carolina to fight the Nazi's in Europe.  He was a machine gun man. What that means is he was responsible for part of the set up of the gun. He was what he called the tripod man, he was the first out to set up the footing for the gun and the other men would follow behind. He saw many battles and watched his friends die. I remember one story in particular he told us. He was sitting in a tank just sort of keeping an eye on things, his shift was just about up, but no replacement had come. His commanding officer came to tell him that he would be taking his place and to go get some rest. Mr. Pike said that he remembered it just like it was yesterday. He hadn't been out of that tank but just a few minutes when it was bombed and his commanding officer was killed. He always told us that he was so very fortunate and blessed, that God had looked after him the whole time. 

Mr. Pike was one of the greatest men I have ever known. He went to war willingly to fight and defeat a very evil man and his armies.  Mr. Pike would have told you that he wasn't anything special, that he was just doing the right thing. I say he was remarkable and I am so glad that my family had a chance to know him.

According to statistics, our World War II vets are dying at a rate of approximately 492 a day.  I wonder how many of them live alone or in nursing homes? How many of them would love to have a visitor, someone to talk to and tell their story to?  I know that I miss Mr. Pike so much and would love to have the chance to talk with him again. I also know that he loved Jesus, was saved and is in Heaven right now.  One day we will see each other again and we will have eternity to just visit with one another. 

 

Mr. Charles Pike

Veteran World War II

 

 



"That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"

 



Why Frozen is so popular

So, I have gotten way behind in my blogging, but it seems that since we returned from Disney that life has been going crazy (a blog for another time). I am trying to catch up on my writing, since I have so many ideas and really need to get them on paper. Today I thought I would tackle a question that I hear lots of people asking. In 2013 Disney released the movie Frozen and honestly I beleive it has exceeded all the limits that Disney imagined for it. While we were at Disney World I saw lots of little Annas and Elsas and if you wanted to meet the princesses you had best have a fast pass to make it happen. We did have one for 8 at night, it was the first we could get, but the only fast pass I really had to have. So back to the question I hear all the time.

So, why is Frozen so popular?

 It's a cartoon, I mean who doesn't love a good cartoon. I remember fighting with my brothers on Saturday morning to see who was going to get control of the television. We all loved Saturday morning television. They had the best cartoons, especially Looney Tunes, and that is how we spent our Saturdays.

It has those really catchy songs. Even now I still catch myself belting out "Let it Go" or "In Summer". The songs are some of the best I have heard from Disney and they just kind of get stuck in your head.

It has a villian that you just love to hate. I mean, who would have ever thought that he would have turned out to be the bad guy. I will not give anything away, just in case their are some people out there who have not seen it yet.

 It has an amazing storyline. Two sisters who just adore each other and then all of sudden one day they lose that. I know there were circumstances that got in the way,but that is life. If Elsa would have just been honest with Anna things would have definately went different. I think that is the case for all of us, we often leave things unsaid in families and we just fall away from one another. If we would just take the time to talk and listen we could learn about and help each other.

It is not only children that love the movie, but adults as well, most likely the women love it best. Which brings me to the point of why I just adore this movie and I believe so many other adult women love it too. I think Elsa is sort of like all of us.

I bet you wonder why I think that? Let me take just a few minutes to explain myself.

I believe that Elsa is like all of us mainly because she has to keep a secret that is eating her up inside. All of us have something that we will not share with others. Perhaps like Elsa we feel that our family and friends will not understand. That they will criticize or put us down for how we feel. Elsa felt as if she could not tell Anna what was going on and I think we all have that at times. I also feel connected to Elsa in that I just want to be free. I just want a place to be for me and only me. A place to go where I can be who I am without fear of judgment. A place to cry and weep if I need to. A place where I don't have to explain myself to anyone. Of course my place would be somewhere warm and tropical, the one way I differ from Queen Elsa. I believe that Elsa calls to us all in that she just felt overwhelmed and couldn't control herself. I think she felt like life was just dragging at her like it does us.  It is very important for us all to have time alone. That time to unwind and just "Let it Go". The things of life drag at us everyday and if we don't take the time to get it out of our system all of it will overtake us causing us to loss our sense of self.

Elsa was finally able to work through her problem and let her secret out. We may never be able to reveal that thing we are hiding from the world and we may never want to, but we must find us a place and a time to just be alone. We need it to clear our minds and help us get through the everyday things of life.

 



"That's my 'two-cents worth, what's yours?"

 

 

 

When you stop blooming

I have always heard people talk about blooming where your planted, just doing the work that you need to do during a season of your life. When I was in school all I had to do was my work and make sure I was able to graduate. I had to "bloom" right there in high school. Over the years my life has changed and I have had to" bloom" in different places and ways. As the weather has warmed up here I started to move all my inside plants outside. I noticed how my Peace Lilies were beginning to look like they might be ready to be transplanted to other pots.  I got the first Peace Lily almost 9 years ago and I have gotten several plants from that one. I gave a few away, but I still kept two of them.  As they grow and get to big for their pots the roots start to grow upward, the plants become root bound and will begin to die. The only way to save them is by moving them into a bigger pot.  As my mind went along this line of thinking, it occurred to me that we are just like my two little lilies. 

I bet some of you wonder how I could believe that we are like my little houseplants, but when you really stop to consider it we are.  First off let me explain the flower part of my analogy: When you first put a flower in a pot, you make sure the pot is big enough to give room for the flower to grow and thrive. At some point it will outgrow that pot and you will just have to keep moving it from pot to pot.  It is just the way things are, if you want your plant to live you have to take the time to care for it and make sure that it has the room it needs.

Now let me explain how that goes right along with our lives:  We like plants have to have room to grow and thrive in order to live and bloom. I will use a personal experience that may bring this whole idea into perspective. Once I was involved in an activity that I had been a part of for over 7 years. I had always enjoyed being a part of it, but then something's happened in my life and I just didn't enjoy being a part of my special place anymore.  I just felt like I was wilting and withering away, like I had gotten root bound and couldn't grow.  I felt stuck and I was very unhappy.  I begin to pray for the Lord to move me someplace else or to give me back the love for what I had been doing.  The Lord did work it out and moved me somewhere new, doing something that I love. You see the Lord saw that I was no longer able to "bloom" where I was and he moved me to a brand new place that allowed for growth and blooming. I now am able to thrive and grow.

So you see just like plants, we at times grow out of room and need to be moved so we can grow and thrive.  God has a special job for all of us, a place that he has just for us, but at times that place will change and perhaps he will need to move us or change us, so that we can grow and bloom for him. 

"That's my 'two-cents' worth, what's your's?"