THANKSGIVING, MORE THAN A HOLIDAY

Happy Thanksgiving all. This is the day we have set aside to reflect on all the blessings we have received from God. It sometimes seems we have made it a holiday of parades, feasting and shopping, which is all a part of it, but let us not forget the true intent of Thanksgiving.

On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers. On the journey, they set up an agreement, that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, regardless of their religious beliefs. The ideas used in the Mayflower Compact came from  the Bible. The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. This early foundation for the laws of this nation were built on the pilgrims faith in God!


President George Washington first proclaimed Thanksgiving to be "set aside" as a day to recognize the blessings of almighty God in the following proclaimation:

General Thanksgiving



By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America


A PROCLAMATION


WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houfes of Congress have, by their joint committee, requefted me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness:"


NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and affign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of thefe States to the fervice of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our fincere and humble thanksfor His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the fignal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpofitions of His providence in the courfe and conclufion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have fince enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to eftablish Conftitutions of government for our fafety and happinefs, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffufing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleafed to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in moft humbly offering our prayers and fupplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and befeech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private ftations, to perform our feveral and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a bleffing to all the people by conftantly being a Government of wife, juft, and conftitutional laws, difcreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all fovereigns and nations (especially fuch as have shewn kindnefs unto us); and to blefs them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increafe of fcience among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind fuch a degree of temporal profperity as he alone knows to be beft.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand feven hundred and eighty-nine.


(signed) G. Washington


Obviously there was no such thing as political correctness involved in the day of that proclaimation! President Washington was not worried about the actions of the ACLU!

As we enjoy our feasts of today, watch the parades and football games, let us take time to pray and thank our Father in heaven for all he has blessed us with as a nation and as individuals. Until next time... God bless us all ..  and Happy Thanksgiving :)

WHEELS CHOCKED FOR A WHILE!

We had a great and relaxing time camping at Rocky Point. Shortly after arriving at the "sticks and bricks" things tried to become stressful again! I opened the slide out to unload (something us vacationers have to do) and suddenly it came to a stop, a clattering noisy stop! I went outside to find my slide out room motor lying on the ground! Something had jammed the slide and the end result was the apparently powerful motor sheared off the housing and driving gears. Needless to say that old familiar enemy we call stress started creeping into my body! I did not surrender to the enemy, instead I "called in" (aka: prayer) for reinforcements.  My reinforcements arrived and took the form of faith and assurance that all was well.

Cheryl and I finished unloading the not so long trailer and I took on the monumental task of manually closing the slideout room. It was certainly not an easy task, it was accomplished regardless. I visited Southern RV this past Monday and they made an appointment for me the bring it to them on Thursday, which I did uneventfully. They gave me a call yesterday and give me an estimate of $775.00. This estimate is for a new motor, aligning the slideout and all labor involved. The parts will take about two weeks to arrive and then they will schedule the work. Thank God this happened during a period when we normally don't camp anyway  :)  .. It should be ready after the holidays and we will begin planning some weekend outings again  :) .

Anyway that is the recent misadventures of Don and Cheryl. We are still preparing our house to sell and getting things ready for our transition to a fulltime RV lifestyle. We should be able to start shopping for our truck around the March time frame and then the RV about 5 to 6 months afterwards.  I will try to keep everyone posted on our progress.

Until next time, God bless us all ............. Have a happy Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks to God our father!

CAMPING, RELAXING & RENEWING

Ok, I was starting to get caught up in that w**k frame of mind again, to the point of where it is first and foremost in my thoughts. The only remedy for that is to get the camper ready, hitch up and go camping! Friday morning (5 Nov) I did exactly that; I got the not so long trailer out of storage, got her ready and took off for Rocky Point COE (Corps of Engineer) campground on Lake Wright Patman in Texas.  Cheryl had to w**k, but as soon as she finished her day, she picked up two of our grandkids and joined me at the lake. When we finally got settled in on Friday, it was dark and getting quite cool, however the kids had a great time playing games inside.

Saturday morning started with Papa’s famous pancakes and sausage, which are some of the best pancakes you’ve ever eaten (according to Papa). These pancakes are special; they are made from a store bought mix and cooked by me (which makes them special).

After breakfast we went out to experience the great outdoors. The temperature had risen from freezing to above 50 degrees, so we enjoyed the heat wave. Nana and I enjoyed the heat wave by sitting in our loungers and watching as the kiddos rode their scooters up and down the roads laughing and being energetic to no end! :)

From 2010-11-06

It turned out to be a great day and the kids had a blast. We ended the day with a campfire and toasting marshmallows. They were pretty tired from all the outdoor activities and by the time 10pm rolled around we were all asleep with visions of campfires and toasted marshmallows dancing in our heads! :)
Sunday morning was warmer and the sun was out doing a nice job of warming the campground. We started the day with more of Papa’s famous pancakes. :) There is usually Sunday morning worship service here at the campground pavilion at 10am, however there was none this Sunday morning, so we worshipped on our own, enjoying the beautiful day God made for us. :)

From 2010-11-06

Later in the morning, our youngest grandson (Brendan) arrived with my oldest daughter and son-in-law. Brendan is only 4 years old, although he looks to be 5 or 6 years old and he has more energy than the other two combined! :) He says he would like to camp too, but he has never spent a night away from home before and since we are over an hour and a half from his home, we figured it was not a good time for his first camp out.

From 2010-11-06

Brendan had a great time with his sister and cousin. We had hotdogs cooked on the grill, then a nice campfire to toast marshmallows again. We even took a hike along a nature trail, but when we got deep into the woods, we spotted someone moving through the woods ahead wearing an orange vest. This is the time of year that when you spot someone in the woods in orange vests, it could be a hunter, so our better judgment kicked in and we reversed course to head back to the campground! Now why would a hunter be allowed into an area where there is a campground and a nature trail? Oh well this is Texas……

After a great day with family, they began their journey home and then it was just Cheryl and I for the rest of this week! We have been relaxing and renewing our spirit for the past three days. It has been great to have no certain time to be anywhere and nothing to do (literally since the aircard for the computer died and dvd player decided to quit too!). :)
It is now Thursday and I am writing this with intentions of posting it when I can get near a WiFi hotspot. I don’t know what is wrong with my aircard but I think it has something to do with it being under AT&T service! I am contemplating switching to Verizon and getting a Droid X. I think I could use the Droid to tether my laptop and therefore would not need an aircard? Anyway I need to do something different for better WiFi service!

Well that is about all I can think of to write about for now. We will leave here Saturday to take the not so long trailer back to storage until our next trip :( Until next time, God bless us all…………………………….