"I was there.."

You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news on September 11, 2001. Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say "Goodbye." I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK ... I am ready to go." I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. "I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course I will show you the way home - only believe on Me now."

I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.

I was with the Firefighters, the Police Officers, the Emergency Workers. I was there, watching each brave step they took.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.

I was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor. Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; "Come to Me...this way...take My hand." Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?

September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well.

Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go." I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

~~~ God ~~~

Written by: Stacey Randall

I believe...

(To find the CD recording of this, please click this link: "I Was There")

Always Remembered...

Liberty Island (source)


(source:Exclusive: American Families, Seven Years Later)

Always honoured.

Black Bears

Something totally different from all the noise of elections, and politics. This from my inbox, sent to me by Janet. Thank you, Janet :)

THE BEARS AND I

Black bears typically have two cubs, rarely one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire ,a black bear sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs but five was, and is, extraordinary. I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom, no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks I had that once in a lifetime opportunity and photographed them in the shadows and dull lighting of the evening. Due to these conditions the photograph is a bit noisy as I had to use the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.

I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive. As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them and everything remained OK. I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends. This could be dangerous for both man and animal. After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.

This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007. I saw them before mid April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once in a lifetime photograph. On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream.

When something as magical as this happens between man and animal Native Americans say, "We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow".

And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you.

Wednesday Hero

SSgt. Andy Pena

Staff Sgt. Andy Pena performs in-flight calibrations on a HH-60 Pave Low while flying Sept. 3 over Ellington Field, Texas. He and members of the 55th Rescue Squadron deployed from Davis-Mothan Air Force Base, Ariz., to Ellington Field in response to Hurricane Gustav with less than 24 hours after notification. Sergeant Pena is an aerial gunner.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We’re In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don’t Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

"What's the right thing to do?"

These days, all sorts of smear campaigns (Fight the Smear...lol) are being waged against Sarah Palin, VP candidate. I just found a piece by someone who actually knows her - has worked with her. Unlike third hand gossip repeated ad nauseum, or slurs tainted with venom, this is the real goods. Read on:

A Palin Media Advisor Talks About Governor Palin

Sarah Palin, a Friend of Mine

By David Murrow at American Daughter
Published with permission

I see in her the grit, resolve and complete lack of political pretense that brought Teddy Roosevelt to power a century ago.

People around the world are asking, “Who is Sarah Palin?” I thought you might appreciate an analysis from someone who has worked with John McCain’s pick for Vice President.

Before I wrote Why Men Hate Going to Church, I was a full-time television producer in Anchorage, Alaska. I did quite a bit of political consulting in election years. Sarah came to me in 2002 and asked me to produce media for her Lt. Governor campaign. I knew right away she was a different kind of politician. She was confident but not arrogant. She was down-home approachable, yet sophisticated. She seemed utterly uninterested in the trappings of power, yet ambitious to wield power for good. As cameras rolled for her first commercial, I knew that Sarah Palin was a gifted communicator.

And she was a savvy negotiator. At our first meeting she made it clear she would be running a shoestring campaign. She told me she liked my work and wanted me to produce her electronic media, but she had no fat cat donors to bankroll her run.

I don’t cut my rates for anybody. But I did what Christians are supposed to do: I went home and prayed about the decision. Frankly, I didn’t expect an answer. God doesn’t usually prompt me regarding my business decisions. But in the case of Sarah I had an immediate impression that I should help her, and that I was not to worry about the money. I called Sarah the next day and signed on for her long-shot campaign.

Sarah has been a guest in my home. She’s had dinner with my family and I’ve been to her house in Wasilla to film one of her commercials. We’ve worked together through the pressures of the campaign season. We took a moment to stop and pray when the campaign got tough. Sarah also encouraged me to complete my first book, and came to a book signing at Barnes and Noble in Anchorage in 2005 (see photo).

Her rapid rise in politics is a direct result of her unwavering moral compass. Sarah makes her decisions based on one criterion: what’s the right thing to do?...

This piece is the real deal. Go read the rest of it here at Maggie's Notebook, or go to the original writer, here.

*cross-posted on Tanker Bros and Knee Deep in the Hooah!

Biden: The Surge is a Failure, No Wait! It’s a Success thanks to me!

Oh, settle down will you? lol Just because I am not writing my own original thoughts these days (but 'normal' brat service will be resumed shortly. The brat brain is still working.lol), does not mean I am not reading. Found the following two posts over at Knee Deep in the Hooah!

Read on:

Joe Biden Takes Credit For Iraq Success

sayanythingblog.com
By Rob on September 8, 2008 at 09:27 pm

Excerpt

Faced with having been wrong about Iraq in train wreck proportions the Democrats have some serious spinning to do. But I’m not sure the public is going to buy their attempts to take credit the success we’re now seeing in Iraq.

That’s not stopping Joe Biden, though. Here’s what Biden had to say about the surge earlier this year in April:

WASHINGTON — A leading Democrat on Saturday declared last year’s troop buildup in Iraq a failure. Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the military push didn’t succeed because U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers and political reconciliation has not been achieved. . .”

*snip*

Now flash forward several months (and one VP nomination) and here’s what Biden had to say about Iraq just yesterday on Meet The Press:

SEN. BIDEN: No. The surge helped make that–what made is possible in Anbar province is they did what I’d suggested two and a half years ago: gave local control....

Go read the rest of this one here.

And yep - that IS audacity. ;)

Brat

I bet you didn't know

Most of my regular readers are all too well aware of ramp ceremonies. Kentucky Woman (another of KDIH writers,) shares something SHE found. I agree with her that EVERY American should read this - be aware of. Read on:

I’ve come across something in my daily stroll through the milblog world that needs to be read by every red blooded American. Now that I have access to a bigger audience than over at my ‘lil blog, I’m going to put it up here as well.

I found this on one of the milblogs I have kept up with for over a year. LTC Rich Phillips was deployed to Afghanistan last year. He spent his time at FOB Salerno. He redeployed home this past April. I left a comment on LTC Phillips blog “Richard’s Deployment to Afghanistan”, requesting permission to re post. Within minutes, I received a reply to “Post away”.

‘OUR Guys’ and the honoring of Our Fallen.

Date: 10:21 AM 7/20/2008Subject:
An observation after a sad day in Afghanistan

I hope this e-mail finds each of you and your families well.

Here in southern Afghanistan it has been a sober day. We had a really bad fire fight. At this point I am not allowed to say much but our team had 18 guys vs 175-200 bad guys. They scored once; we scored many, many more. Yeah for the good guys.

Unfortunately, we held the first of several hero ceremonies, which occurs every time they move a body from one location to another. At each ceremony, every available service member will stand at attention and line the road, starting at our small morgue and eventually ending with his final flight home.

I am not sure folks back home know what happens at a small Forward Operations Base when a US kid dies in battle...

There is more. Go here.