Beyonce

"God Bless the USA"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnCNHFg9y1Q

Happiness is... knowing that you're loved even when you don't feel lovable...

Are you referring to grades 1-8, 9-12, or colleges only?



I think technology and modern day thinkers are dividing our country even more severely. The haves are far exceeding the abilities of the have nots and don't care about helping them to catch up.

Just because people are being intentionally left behind doesn't mean they aren't intelligent and savvy enough survivors that are capable of succeeding even without book learned educations though.

And there is already such class division due in most part to the lack of quality education and access to it that people who want to thrive are becoming wiser in the ways that are more important toward ensuring long term survival.

Also, if there ever was civil war in this country... and/or electricity to run computers and the information highway became obsolete or only accessible for those who could afford it, I'd bet my money (if I had any ) on the under-educated who know how to hustle (via manual labor) and survive the old fashioned way first.

Hurricane Arthur hits NC coast just before July 4 holiday

news.yahoo.com/arthur-hits-nc-coast-just-july-4-holiday-091450235.html

My home state...

Genesis 4:8-17

Now Cain talked to his brother Abel, and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."

And Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."

And the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.



Cain was jealous of his brother Abel because God favored Abel's offering of the best of his flock that symbolized his obedience to God's instructions and Christ's future self sacrifice.

While God detested Cain's offering that consisted of the best of his garden. Rather than Cain honoring and obeying God he was showing off his skill and bounty not realizing it was God who made his garden fruitful, it wasn't because of Cain's sweat and toil.

The hatred that Cain felt toward his brother that inspired him to murder is the same hatred Jesus would endure hanging on the cross for our sins of disobedience and rebellion. And His death and self sacrifice would ensure our debts would be paid to pave the way for our reunion with God the Father some day.

When Cain killed Abel it was another instance of good vs evil, Satan vs God. And it was the beginning of the path that would divide everyone's footsteps either leading in one direction or the other.

Those who will humble themselves and become like little children obeying God and His instructions...

Or those who are arrogant and proud of their abilities and accomplishments who follow their own ways and ideals instead...

And just like our first parents, Adam and Eve, rather than accepting personal responsibility for the decisions we make and actions we take we tend to like to blame everybody else for why we do things.

But ultimately, according to Scripture we will ALL answer individually for every word and deed.

Genesis 3:8

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.



According to Scripture it was Adam that God was speaking directly too when giving instructions. And now a serpent speaks directly to Eve and she carries on a conversation with it. She even trusts it enough to take its advice to disobey her husband and Father, God.

Once guilty of sin and rebellion, Eve talks Adam into eating the forbidden fruit too. Adam knew better but apparently his love for his wife was so strong that he didn't want to lose her so he rebelled too.

I assume that up to this point nothing had died so Adam and Eve didn't really know what the consequences of death truly meant.

Genesis 3:8-12

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"

Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."



Both could feel the weight and shame of the guilt they equally shared and in their naivete they thought they could hide it from their Creator/Father.

But of course Adam, rather than manning up and confessing his own disobedience he immediately blamed Eve for his personal actions.



Genesis 3:13-19

And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return."



And of course Eve followed her husband's example and blamed the serpent for her personal actions.

But now Eve was no longer Adam's equal. Now because of her weakness and rebellion she was to be ruled by her husband. And Adam would toil and struggle to take care of his family.

...

Genesis 1:26-31

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"'; and it was so.

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.

Genesis 2:8-9

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:15-17

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."



Apparently in the beginning man, animal and bugs alike all were to eat green herbs and fruit for food.

And God gave Adam strict instructions about NOT eating from the ONE and ONLY tree that was forbidden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:19-20

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.



Apparently God created the animals and man alike directly from the ingredients existing in the earth. This is an awesome idea to contemplate even if I cannot truly fathom it.

Right from the onset of creation God bestowed on Adam the power and responsibility to lead.

Genesis 2:18

And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."



Then God created a woman, Eve, to stand by a man's side, Adam, to help him rule.

Feel free to post whatever you like in honor of America's day of celebrating our independence from Britain in 1776.

Lee Greenwood - God Bless the USA (Live in 1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf8hfZuzw_A

OMGoodness, my girls brought me a tablet... seems like I'm going to move into the 21st century slowly but surely... now I've got to figure out how to operate this thing.

Jeez, I feel so stupid... Haley knows how to use modern technology playthings like nobodies business, and me, I have to read the user manual just to learn how to turn up the sound.

OMG!!! talk about the selfies I can take now too...

Jane and Haley are coming up to celebrate with me. It's already been a great day so far, I've heard from all my besties.