We Gather Together

"Enter into His gates

with thanksgiving

and into His courts

with praise!"

Psalm 100:4

"Perhaps no custom reveals 

our character as a nation

so clearly as our

celebration of

Thanksgiving Day.

Rooted deeply in

our Judeo-Christian heritage,

the practice of offering

Thanksgiving

underscores our unshakable

belief in God

as the foundation

of our nation

and our firm reliance

upon Him

from Whom all

blessings flow."

President Ronald Reagan

 Thanksgiving Day

 1986

Mother and Son Peeling Potatoes
Norman Rockwell

"Give me the end of the year an' its fun
When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin' with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers."
-  Edgar A. Guest

A Happy Thanksgiving

 Alfredo Rodriguez

 The First Sermon Ashore at Plymouth

 Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 

Once a tiny seed was planted

By some Pilgrim people.

They came to this land

where there was neither

church or steeple.

There was neither

field nor fence,

Nor fireplace glowing red.

There was not a single place

To rest a weary head.

But sturdy were these Pilgrims come

To plant this noble seed.

And staunchly did they linger though

So deep and sad their need.

The seed they planted 

reached the sky

A mighty springing tree!

We call this great growth

Freedom...

And it's mean't 

for you and me.

From "The Giant Thanksgiving Book"

 By Lenore Hetrick

Over the river and through the woods
To Grandfather's house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
Through white and drifted snow.

Over the river and through the wood --
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the wood
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring,
Ting-a-ling-ling!
Hurrah forThanksgiving Day!
Over the river and through the wood,
Trot fast, my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground
Like a hunting hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river and through the wood,
And straight through the barnyard gate.
We seem to go
Extremely slow --
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river and through the wood --
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurray for the pumpkin pie!

Original Song By

Lydia Marie Child

Have A Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Awakening The Sleeping Giants

"There were giants on the earth in those days...and also afterward...

when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men,

and they bore children to them.These were the mighty men

who were of old, men of renown."

Genesis 6:4

 Remains of a race of giants found on

Catalina Island, California and in Spirit Cave in Nevada.

Catalina Island off the coast of California was
once owned by the wealthy Wrigley family whose
fortune was made through their famous chewing gum.

In the 1920's on the advice and direction of the
Catalina Museum, the Wrigleys hired Professor Ralph Glidden
to conduct a series of excavations on the island.
What Dr. Glidden and his team of diggers unearthed
there made headlines around the world at the time.

Yet, only 10 short years later, the evidence of their
extraordinary finds concerning the giants of America's
past  had mysteriously vanished.

Glidden and his team had exhumed the skeletal remains
of over 3700 blonde-haired giants, with the tallest who was
believed to have been a king measuring 9 feet, 2 inches tall!
The average height of the rest of the skeletons 
were determined to be at least 7 feet tall.

In addition, Dr. Glidden's team uncovered the remains
of a megalithic temple which they determined dated 
back to the era of the famous Stonehenge in England.

 Ancient Stonehenge

England

Meanwhile, radio-carbon later revealed that some of the
skeletal remains of giants uncovered on Catalina Island were 7,000 years old.
However, for many years,  the proof that this colony of tree top
tall people even existed was fiercely denied and the evidence of the
find was suppressed by representatives of the University of California
as well as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

It took until the year 2011 that the Smithsonian finally 
released a statement that the findings Dr. Glidden and his crew
discovered on Catalina Island nearly ninety years ago had
been locked away from public viewing in private access
rooms at the Institute, along with hundreds of incredible
photographs and detailed field reports of the excavations.
Shortly after the American Civil War, the director of
the Smithsonian Institute was actively involved in
the promotion of evolution, especially that mankind
had evolved from apes. 

The discoveries of a colony of giants on Catalina Island
and other places around the United States of America,
not to mention more recent discoveries found all over the world,
blows that bogus theory clean out of the water!

Meanwhile... in the Middle East...

The Gilgal  is Israel's Stonehenge whom ancient rabbis claimed was built by giants.

This book is a fascinating account of the time 
when the America was a land of giants who roamed
   from coast to coast and everywhere in between!



Although I find much of these stories interesting,  I often am
reminded that there is plenty of deception in the world too.
We are living in uncertain and perilous times.  
This is why I know it is important to keep the main
focus of my mind and heart on the Lord Jesus and
His great love and mercy!

The evidence is in the findings...Evolution is false but giants are real!

Christ and the Little Ones

Christ and the Little Ones

"The Master has come over Jordan,"

said Hannah the mother one day;

"He is healing the people who throng Him,

With a touch of His fingers, they say.

"And now I shall carry the children,

Little Rachel and Samuel and John,

I shall carry the baby Esther,

For the Lord to look upon."

The father looked at her kindly,

But he shook his head and smiled;

"Now who but a doting mother

Would think of a thing so wild?

"If the children were tortured by demons,

Or dying of fever, 'twere well;

Or had they the taint of the leper,

Like many in Israel."

"Nay, do not hinder me, Nathan,

I feel such a burden of care;

If I carry it to the Master,

Perhaps I shall leave it there.

"If He lay His hand on the children,

My heart will be lighter, I know,

For a blessing for ever and ever

Will follow them as they go."

So over the hills of Judah,

Along by vine rows green,

With Esther asleep on her bosom,

And Rachel her brothers between;

'Mid the people who hung on His teaching,

Or waited His touch and His word,

Through the row of proud Pharisees listening

She pressed to the feet of the Lord.

"Now why shouldst thou hinder the Master,"

Said Peter, "with children like these?

Seest not how from morning to evening

He teacheth and healeth disease?"

Then Christ said, "Forbid not the children,

Permit them to come to Me!"

And He took in His arms little Esther,

And Rachel He sat on His knee:

And the heavy heart of the mother

Was lifted all earth care above,

As He laid His hand on the brothers,

And blest them with holiest love;

As He said of the babes in His bosom,

"Of such are the kingdom of Heaven"-

And strength for all duty and trial

That hour to her spirit was given.

-Julia Gill

"Let the little children come unto Me"
Matthew 19:13

Jesus Was A Child Like Me

Once Jesus was a child like me,
But O, so kind and true;
His ever watchful eye can see
The very things I do.

Refrain

Yes, Jesus was a child like me,
But O, so pure and true;
My blessèd Savior He will be,
If I but love Him, too.

He played upon the village street,
In such a pleasant way;
And ran with glad and willing feet,
His parents to obey.

Refrain

I want to be His little child,
And more like Him to grow;
And ever truthful, good and mild,
Because He loves me so.

Refrain

And now to Jesus I will pray,
To pardon me from sin;
And if I serve Him every day,
His blessing I shall win.

Refrain

-Fanny Crosby

(1914) 

Little Girls & Dolls

My Doll and I

When I look at

my great big beautiful doll,

So golden-haired

and so slim and so tall,

I'm thankful

that she belongs to me,

And that she's as sweet

as a doll can be.

But I sometimes wonder

just what she thinks!

Never one lash of her eye

she blinks.

And I wonder if

in her stuffed parts there stir

Some thanks because

I belong to her!

-Louise Hetrick

Shirley Temple and friend.

A Doll Lover's Dream!

Shirley Temple's
Fabulous Doll Collection

A Quietude Of Gracious Days

“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion;

 slow to anger, and of great mercy.”

 Psalm 145:8

Slow to anger, full of kindness,
Rich in mercy, Lord, Thou art,
Wash me in Thy healing fountain,
Take away my sinful heart.

Refrain

I would go the pilgrim’s journey,
Onward to the promised land;
I would reach the golden city,
There to join the angel band.

Thou wilt never, never leave me,
If I give myself to Thee,
Teach, O teach me how to praise Thee,
Tell me what my life should be.

Refrain

May Thy ever gracious spirit,
Lead me in the way of truth,
May I learn the voice of wisdom,
In the early days of youth.

Refrain

O! how sweet to rest confiding,
On Thy Word that cannot fail,
Strong in Thee, whate’er my trials,
Through Thy grace I must prevail.

Refrain

-Fanny Crosby 

Fanny Crosby

1820-1915

Blind from infancy,

 Fanny was  known as the

  "Queen of Gospel Song Writers".

A devout Christian woman,

she was also a poet and a song composer

and American mission worker.

That Long Ago Harvest

When the harvest comes I always think

Of that first good harvest so long ago.

After the perils and after the labors,

Then the Pilgrims made their valiant show.

They took their little, and here in this new world

They celebrated with heartfelt joy.

Glad was every Pilgrim grown up,

And every Pilgrim girl and boy.

Little they owned and few their comforts,

But, they were glad for what they had.

Here in this primitive land they dined,

And had good fellowship and were glad.

And the reason why they were so joyful

Was because they'd won their great desire:

Freedom to worship and freedom to live!

And thus their songs leaped high and higher!

So let's be thankful for what we have!

Let's be thankful for work and play!

Let's be thankful as were the Pilgrims

On that first Thanksgiving Day.

-Louise Hetrick

The First Thanksgiving 1621

Oil on canvas by

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

(1899)

"I saw the lovely arch
Of rainbow span the sky,
The gold sun burning
As the rain swept by."
"November"

   -Elizabeth Coatsworth

Charity
There is so much good 
in the worst of us,
And so much bad
in the best of us,
That it ill behoves
any of us
to find fault with
the rest of us.
-Unknown

November, fringed with
nipping cool,
For Fall is everywhere;
A quietude of gracious days-
Thanksgiving's in the air.
-Henry W. Gurley

Veterans Day 2015: In Flanders Fields & Beyond

 In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

(1872-1918)

Canadian Army

On November 11, 1918
at the eleventh hour, 
of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

the Armistice was signed, bringing to an end,
 "the war to end all wars" 
World War I.

November 11th became Armistice Day
 in America,
 which was later

changed to Veterans Day
 to honor all who have given their lives 
 in the name of freedom.

Reply To Flanders Fields

Oh! sleep in peace where poppies grow;

The torch your falling hands let go

Was caught by us, again held high,

A beacon light in Flanders sky

That dims the stars to those below.

You are our dead, you held the foe,

And ere the poppies cease to blow,

We'll prove our faith in you who lie

In Flanders Fields

Oh! rest in peace, we quickly go

To you who bravely died, and know

In other fields was heard the cry

For freedom's cause, of you who lie,

So still asleep where poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

As in rumbling sound, to and fro,

The lightning flashes, sky aglow,

The mighty hosts appear, and high

Above the din of battle cry,

Scarce heard amidst the guns below,

And fearless hearts who fight the foe,

And guard the place where poppies grow.

Oh! sleep in peace, all you who lie

In Flanders Fields

And still the poppies gently blow,

Between the crosses, row on row,

The larks, still bravely soaring high,

Are singing now their lullaby

To you who sleep where poppies grow.

In Flanders Fields

-John Mitchell

Another Reply To  In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the cannons boom,

And fitful flashes light the gloom;

While up above, like eagles, fly

The fierce destroyers in the sky;

With stains the earth wherein you lie

Is redder than the poppy bloom,

In Flanders Fields

Sleep on, ye brave! The shrieking shell,

The quaking trench, the startling yell,

The fury of the battle hell

Shall wake you not, for all is well;

Sleep peacefully, for all is well.

Your flaming torch aloft we bear,

With burning heat and oath we swear

To keep the faith, to fight it through,

To crush the foe, or sleep with you,

In Flanders Fields.

-J.A. Armstrong

The Storming of Utah Beach

during the D-Day Invasion

June 6, 1944

America's Answer

Rest ye in peace, ye Flanders dead,

The fight that ye so bravely led

We've taken up. And we will keep

true faith with you who lie asleep

With each cross to mark his bed,

In Flanders Fields

Fear not that ye have died for naught.

The torch ye threw to us we caught.

Ten million hands will hold it high,

And Freedom's light shall never die!

We've learned the lesson that ye taught

In Flanders Fields

-R.W. Lilliard

To all who have honorably served

this great nation,

past and present,

both in war and in peace time,

thank you for your courage

and your commitment towards
defending and protecting
the American people.

And especially,

thank you all 

for my freedom!