The 4th!

I had a great 4th of July. Every year since my parents were at 1st Baptist Pleasant Grove they have gone to a 4th of July bbq at Archie Phillip's house in south Shelby County. It's not a house, it's just a farm. It has an out house, lake, an inside area with not much to it and I was told a trailer out on the property. He uses it to hunt and fish. The only thing is you have to throw the fish back. Any way, every year at the bbq they fire off an old timey cannon. It's the real deal.

In June Archie was in a car wreck and this past Wednesday had back surgery and is still in the hospital. I thought the bbq was canceled but apparently it wasn't. I found out Friday it was still on. He invites tons and tons of people. I think there were about 60 or so there and everyone was commenting on how few people had come. The kids (except for mine) were swimming in the dirty lake, fishing on the very large dock with hotdogs and just having a grand ol time. After every one ate they started firing the cannons. Now that was so neat to watch. Now let me tell you you had to plug your ears even from a distance because it was so loud. They fired it probably close to 8 times. It was authentic and hearing them fire it made me wonder how the confederates were able to hear the cannons go off over and over again and in rapid succession. Surely they were all deaf when it was over.

I loved the people there. They were southern. There were some there that were down right country. It was great. There were people from the church in PG and this year not as many came because Archie didn't have it announced in the church bulletin because of his surgery. I realized how much I miss good ol southern people. Yes, there were some there who weren't refined or who seemed to have not gone past the 8th grade... okay the 9th grade, but I remember how great southern hospitality is. They were so nice and so friendly and the kind of people who would give you the shirt off their back.

Mackenzie made fast friends with a very elderly couple. She tried to get my mom to take her out in the canoe but it wasn't happening. It ended up that Mr. Morris (that's his first name) ended up taking Mackenzie out in one of the boats to go fishing. She loved it! She was out there for almost an hour. She didn't want to come back in. Now earlier in the day Jackson, Mackenzie and I were fishing out on the dock. We used hotdogs and when I caught the first fish it dawned on me that I didn't have a clue what to do with it. Thankfully another man was there and he go the fish off for me and let Jackson throw it back in.

So like an idiot I put another hotdog on and throw the line back out. Low and behold I catch another fish. I decided if I was going to catch it then I had to take it off the line. In that brief moment I rationalized that if that man could hold the fish then by golly I could too. To my amazement I did it. I touched the little fish and took the hook out. I ended up doing it about 5 times for me and the kids. Thankfully there was a wash basin on the dock and someone was smart enough to have a big bottle of Joy in there for me to wash my hands with.

While we were at the dock my parents and Avery walked down. I heard guns going off and they had started the skeet shooting. Man I wanted to fire a gun so badly. I was told if I went to any of the men they'd be more than happy to let me fire a gun. I was a little shy and so I waited. I ended up talking to a great lady who is a teacher in Pleasant Grove. Her son is in the 4th grade and will also go to Deer Valley like Mackenzie. She and I became fast friends. She doesn't live too far from me either. Now she's about 10 years younger than my parents but I'm an old soul. I just naturally get along with people who are older than I am.

Oh and I finally shot a gun. The men were happy to let me. They tell me how to hold it and where the safety is. The gun seriously is almost as long as I am. It holds 3 shots. I get in my stance and shoot it off and it was so thrilling. They tell me to do it again but I said I didn't really want to because I wanted to hit something. So they pull the skeet. Now that is not something I wanted to try. First of all it's a moving target. I've never done that before. Second of all I don't want to be embarrassed when I miss it. So the skeet goes fly and I'm looking down the barrel of the gun and I pull the trigger. The skeet goes flying into pieces. I hit it! It was such a great feeling.

When I walked back up underneath the huge outdoor covered picnic area my dad asked how I liked it. I said "I know what I want for Christmas this year." You know I don't think I was really kidding. I've always said I thought I'd be good at hitting targets. I would love to go to a shooting range and target practice. Now I think I'd love to go hunting. My dad certainly knows enough people up here who go hunting and I was told by many I could go any time. I am seriously going to take people up on that offer.

So the day was fun, we made friends and it was hot. We came home and the older kids went to the pool with dad while I took a shower and fed Avery. By the time they came back we cooked out. It was the perfect way to spend the 4th.

Today we went to church and I heard just about the best sermon ever. Now to begin with the music in the service was amazing. I loved the patriotic songs, the 18 year old banjo player who did a melody of those songs and the recogniztion of those in the armed forces and the choir singing each of their branches songs. The sermon was dead on. It was as about political as you can from the pulpit without breaking "the rules". Dr .Wood was dead on and used the passage of the Bible from Amos 7:1-9. He compared us to Israel (from back in the Biblical days). He referenced a study a man did back in the 50's or 60's comparing the Roman and Greek Empires and their rise and falls. They both went through the same exact cycles and America has gone through the same exact cycles except for the final 2. When I'm not so tired I am going to get the man's name and pull up the study and all of the points and post it on here. It is scary.

Wake up people. God has patience but can only sit and watch for so long. He can only cry out to our nation so many times and sit back while we ignore His calls. Our country was founded on religous freedom. Our founding fathers and president after president have said over and over again that without God can our nation be run. That God has to be apart of things. Now I'm not one to say we have to shove Christianity down the throats of Americans but our nation was built on "In God We Trust" and not in the Koran we trust, or Allah we trust, or some false God.

I am so fired up over the sermon today. So many of the points I tried to make on here the other day or thought about making he made them and so much better than I ever could have. I wanted to start standing up and yelling Amen again and again during the sermon. Focus on the Family is urging each church to have the members pray each Sunday for 5 minutes for our nation and nations leaders. I hope this is something that is done through out the entire country. I truly believe if enough can rise up through prayer and activism that we can make a difference and change the path of our nation.

The elections in 2010 are crucial. If the socially and fiscally conservatives don't take back the house and the senate I am afraid that any hope is gone. This is not some dire message or threat or me saying I'll leave the country if so and so is elected like all those dumb celebrities said about Bush. This is real. This is my life, your life, your childrens lives and your grandchildrens lives at stake.