The Country Long at War

The country long at war
Declared a holiday
Though the land had grown torn
They paused to give thanks and pray

Many lost their lives
Doing what was right
Unafraid of hard times
They sought God to help them fight

In a Troubled Day

We have been placed on earth
In a troubled day
Complexity's now hurl
As powers struggle and weigh

The schemes of man
Are more at work
To destroy God's plan
With a downwards jerk

Deeply concerned
For this country of love
To serve...we must turn
And proudly stand up

This message is not sweet
But must be told
From God.. now we sweep
Unto socialism cold

Shockingly, now born
For the whole world to see
Policies have torn
Fabrics of liberty

The executive branch
Through supreme court call
Have worked hard to launch
A nation without God

Our future ... forlorn
Is frightening indeed
We must get informed
If we want to be freed

Stand for freedom's role
No matter the cost
It can save your soul
Without God...we are lost

Through complacency
We are now in danger
For our prosperity-
We must no longer languor

The time has come to heed
And get our homes in order
Portent storms indeed
Now lay upon four corners

If we are prepared
We shall not fear
God's Word, we must share
And proclaim He is near

George Washington

Out numbered, out generaled, and completely out done
George Washington crossed the frozen Delaware
For he knew a surprise attack had to be won
As only a man of God would know to dare

Laboring to keep virtue his guiding star
He relied heavily upon faith
Wielding unassailable power to travel far
It was more than tyranny he'd learned to face

With the Declaration of Independence in adoption
For eight long years, as the General, he exerted
Knowing quitting was never an option
He worked with troops who oft times deserted

The night was long and his plan was bold
It was a nine mile march to reach Trenton
None would have thought to do so in this bitter cold
But, the wind blanketed all noise from detection

In a fierce battle they went door to door
And forty five minutes later they'd won
Then on to Princeton, they fought once more
But, then, his enlistments were done

As the drums rolled, their leader did plead
To reenlist none stepped forward to fight
Each had farms at home and families to feed
And hope of payments had not reached their sights

Washington turned and rode away, too
But, then stopped, came back and said, "My dear fellows"
"You have done all that I've asked you to do"
But, still the war rages and bellows

Your homes and country's at stake
Please give it one more month to this day
And we'll end this war for liberties sake
Then...men stepped forward...they engaged without delay

That they rose to the occasion I give my thanks!


Education Week: George Washington was a man of true virtue | Mormon Times

The Glorious Cause of America
David McCullough
MTC
Sept. 27, 2005





Education Week: George Washington was a man of true virtue | Mormon Times

Having Been Formed as a Nation Under God

Having been formed as a nation under God
Our laws and freedoms come of Him
And the hot breath of destruction upon our necks will fall
As the slippery slope leads to hell's oven

Let us not be afraid to cling to our guns,
Our religion, and constitution
Let us rally together as Americans
And declare our allegiance with resolution

Let us re awake the Declaration of independence
For what else do we have at the end of the day?
Let us believe once again in divine providence
And commit to integrity, truth, and honor while we pray

thoughts from
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38891505/ns/politics-more_politics

Tens of thousands flock to Restoring Honor event
Tens of thousands of people heeded broadcaster Glenn Beck's summons for his "Restoring Honor" rally Saturday from the same marble steps at the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr.'s gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech 47 years ago to the day.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38891505/from/toolbar

"What else do we have, at the end of the day," beyond faith in God, Palin said, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

"You're not afraid to cling to your guns and your religion — and your Constitution," she added, echoing remarks by President Barack Obama in 2008 during campaigning.

The Constitution Should Not be Misconstrued

The Constitution should not be used
As a weapon to end debate
Especially when proposals abuse
The guarantees given to each state

For who is closer to the people
Who've sovereignty to embrace
Than the local government, pure and simple
Righting the issues that they face

And above all, may religious freedom reign
To promote righteousness and civic virtue
That faith in America not wain
For the good that it can do

Let us each express gratitude
To God for life and liberty
Then lest our laws be misconstrued
Let us work to balance them properly

“Fundamentals of Our Constitutions” - Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Utah’s Constitution Day Celebration

Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Utah

IN GOD WE TRUST

The author of freedom
Watches over this great land
Lighting us with wisdom
When we've goodness at hand

That each may progress
Freely by way of choice
He's laid a path that does bless
Those who want to hear His voice

"In God we trust"
There is no other way
That is properly just
And kind to obey

When there's a set back
Amidst uncertainty and gloom
May each family stay on track
With hope sweet in rich bloom

Each family filled with nurture,
Values, and service
Will help us claim our future
And strengthen resolve and purpose
america, in god we trust

Now is the Time

Now is the time
America is the place
To lift up our eyes
And lead the human race

...With the constitution in our arms
We must combine for the right
Protect the family from harm
And restore morals and might

Let's bring America back
Sovereign and strong
With our vote let's attack
All that has gone wrong

Dependency's a drug
Entitlement's corrupt
Let's stand up, show up
And declare: WE'VE HAD ENOUGH

For prosperity's sake
Let's restore order
We've coalitions to make
To defend each border

We'll not give up lightly
For strength, let's unite and pray
Unto God Almighty
He will light the way

inspired by Mitt Romney

The Faith of Abraham Lincoln

The choicest bounties of heaven
Have been ours, richly given
Preserved with peace and prosperity
Only to forget God because of vanity

Now, in war, we need to ask for clemency
And pray humbly for forgiveness
We are in need of God's mercy
To feel His hand once more upon us

Time passed, everything seemed stricken
I got down on my knees to pray
Mightily to God in heaven
And felt all my fears wash away

For this war was His war
And our cause was His
Though this nation now was torn
God would resolve this whole business

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which has preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” [March 30, 1863]

“Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of the campaign up there (at Gettysburg) when everybody seemed panic stricken and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, I went to my room one day and locked the door and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this war was His war, and our cause His cause, but we could not stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville… And after that, I don’t know how it was, and I cannot explain it, but soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul. The feeling came that God had taken the whole business into His own hands and that things would go right at Gettysburg and that is why I had no fears about you.” [July 5, 1863]

The Freedom To...

What Freedoms are you Thankful For?


What freedoms are you thankful for?
Given time and purpose to pursue
Line upon line, we will fulfill more
If we thank God for all we have and do

Living as families
Together in love
Awaking daily, happily
Can we give thanks enough?

Let us not be held back
Limited by circumstance
But look to God in all we lack
For the faith to advance

And... especially
Let us pray for
Those who've not liberty
That doors open unto more

I Do Solemnly Swear

I cried for Adam today
My tears a long downpour
Not in the old familiar way
But for what he stood for

Under God, as man of his word
He kept his solemn oath
The extended call, he heard
Though he'd done the time he owed

With but one small reserve-
A short weekend honeymoon
Again he stood to serve
Then...fallen, he died all too soon

In support of the Constitution
He defended it to his death
With courage his contribution
As a hero he took his last breath

I have been studying the constitution's birth- seeing the sacrifices and the inspiration in it. I was hit with emotion when I learned what I guess I'd forgotten-the oath is in support and defense of the Constitution.


The wordings of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

Army Sgt. Adam W. Estep
Died April 29, 2004 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

23, of Campbell, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed April 29 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his patrol in Baghdad.California soldier killed in Iraq ‘never showed fear’

Associated Press
Army Sgt. Adam W. Estep - Honor the Fallen - MilitaryTimes.com
SARATOGA, Calif. — Sgt. Adam Estep was remembered Tuesday by friends and family as a soldier who never showed fear, even in the most violent battles.

Estep, a 23-year-old tank driver, died April 29 in a rocket-propelled grenade attack outside Baghdad.

“Every day he touched lives in ways that cannot be erased,” friend and Marine Sgt. Jason Steele said at the funeral. “We should all aspire to be like him. You all must rejoice in the memories we have of him and know that he will always be with you.”

Estep, who was active in ROTC in high school in San Jose, joined the Army in 2000 and drove tanks for the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment and 1st Cavalry Division.

He had been stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and served a six-month tour in Kuwait. In December, the Army extended his commitment for 14 months. He left for Iraq in March.

His wife of two months, Demara Estep, said her husband longed to attend college and start a family. He lined his letters with sophisticated sketches.

Thank You Veterans!

How can our thanks be enough?
As you sacrifice so much.
You are what we rely on-
To keep our freedom strong

Through Common Ground we Build up Bridges

Through common ground
We build up bridges
Here friendships are found
Not on the fringes

A Responsible Approach

A responsible approach
To immigration reform
Is to cause those who encroach
To respect laws and conform

Nations have the right
To enforce law and order
To seek out and indict
Illegals who've crossed the border

A just and caring society
Maintains love for its neighbors
While balancing propriety
As for its citizens it labors

There's an ever present need
To gather families home
May those separated leave
And strengthen up his own

my thoughts on immigration
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Church Supports Principles of Utah Compact on Immigration
found at LDS.org newsroom

It is our Duty- Thanksgiving

It is our duty
To solemnly adore
And give thanks fully
To Jesus our Lord

Having been given
Divine providence
Let us more give Him
Sincere penitence

Under His nurturing hand
There's prosperity and peace
May we unify across the land
And let all strife and tension cease



FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)

wikipedia is looking for funding to keep its wonderful service growing. I am thankful for wikipedia!
Wikipedia is about the power of people like us to do extraordinary things. People like us write Wikipedia, one word at a time. People like us fund it, one donation at a time. It's proof of our collective potential to change the world.

Let's Work to Reverse Roe vs. Wade

Let's work to reverse
Roe vs. Wade first
Then let each state decide
Where its people now side

Being compassionate
Let's speak to hearts and minds
Being condsiderate
Let's see what our efforts find


thoughts from reading the Mitt Romney Central site

“Well, I think all of us — I believe almost all of us in the room would say that we’d love to have an America that didn’t have abortion. But the truth of the matter is that — (applause) — that’s not what America is right now. That’s not where the American people are right now, and so I’d like to see Roe v. Wade overturned and allow the states and the elected representatives of the people and the people themselves have the ability to put in place pro-life legislation.

And of course it’s our aspiration that at some point we’ll see a nation that doesn’t have abortion. But until that time, I certainly believe that allowing states and citizens and their representatives to fashion their own laws to protect the sanctity of life is very, very important.

I recognize that for many people, that is considered an act of murder, to have an abortion. It is without question the taking of a human life, and I believe that a civilized society must respect the sanctity of a human life. But we have two lives involved here: A mom and unborn child. We have to have concern for both lives. And so the expression of our compassion and our consideration — and work to change hearts and minds — and that’s the way, in my view, we’ll ultimately have a society without abortion.” -- 8/5/07 at Des Moines, IA debate

Americans are Tolerant

Americans are tolerant
Generous and kind
We oppose bigotry and disparagement
And same-sex marriage, you will find

For 3,000 years unopposed
The world's known traditional marriage as an institution
For the raising of children first and foremost
And we ought to state so in our constitution

thoughts from reading the Mitt Romney Central site

“Like the vast majority of Americans, I’ve opposed same-sex marriage, but I’ve also opposed unjust discrimination against anyone, for racial or religious reasons, or for sexual preference. Americans are a tolerant, generous, and kind people. We all oppose bigotry and disparagement. But the debate over same-sex marriage is not a debate over tolerance. It is a debate about the purpose of the institution of marriage and it is a debate about activist judges who make up the law rather than interpret the law.” -- Mitt Romney 12/14/06 National Review Online

The American Culture

The American culture
Values strong families and hard work
Invests in the future
And does not see dependency as a perk

Citizens let's unite
And work to curb social ills
Sexual promiscuity- let's fight
Along with pornography and drug thrills

The new and rising generation
Must follow our initiative
And self-promote abstinence education
While seeking opportunities where they live

thoughts from reading the Mitt Romney Central site
The strong family has been, and should continue to be, a source and foundation of American culture.
Couples should get married before they have children. Children benefit greatly from having both a mother and father at home.
Abstinence education should be given to students.
Pornography and sexual promiscuity are great threats to families and our culture.
The United States has always valued hard work, education, and belief in God.
Initiative, risk taking, and opportunity need to continue to be key values of American culture. Dependency is culture killing