Dr. Benjamin Carson's remarks are full of wisdom, faith, and encouragement. This beautiful presentation is inspiring for teenagers, moms, dads, and anyone else who faces challenging trials.
According to Dr. Carson, the key to success is to give our life to God.
Love this beautiful portrayal of the life of Jesus. Hope you do too.
"Where there is faith, there is love;
Where there is love, there is peace;
Where there is peace, there is God;
Where there is God; there is no need."
~Leo Tolstoy
Many thanks to DailyEncouragement.net for this wonderful history about the Pilgrims!
 Prayer upon landing – "Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees, and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof…" ~William Bradford Mayflower Compact – Nov. 11, 1620 The Mayflower compact is signed. This compact drawn up in the cabin of the Mayflower was not a constitution. However it was the germ of popular government in America. Gov. Bradford refers to the circumstances under which this Compact was drawn up and signed: "This day, before we came to harbour, observing some not well affected to unity and concord, but gave some appearance of faction, it was thought good there should be an association and agreement, that we should combine together in one body and to submit to such government and governors as we should by common consent agree to make and choose, and set our hands to this that follows, word for word."Search Party – 18 men (those who were strongest and healthiest) went on exploratory trips to find a good location for building their colony. Three trips were made. They got lost in winter storm "the water froze on our clothes, and made them like coats of iron." They also dealt with Indians. December 11 – The search party finds the place John Smith had discovered years earlier which he had named Plimouth (running brooks, fields already cleared, two rivers, harbor safe for small boats and no enemy Indians) December 16 – The Mayflower sails to Plimouth arriving on Dec. 21. First Building Project – "The Common House" – 26 days to build. It was the meeting house, church, storage house and it became necessarily a "hospital" for the sick. Workdays – The Sabbath began on Saturday afternoon through Monday morning. The Great Sickness – Some days in the spring only 6 or 7 were well enough to care for the sick. Children are dying, parents are dying leaving orphans, sailors are dying. The Dead – By spring half of the pilgrims are now dead and their remains must be buried. The pilgrims did this in secret after dark and did not mark the sight for fear that they might be overtaken by the Indians after they find the number of pilgrims so few. SOS Prayers spoken for God to send aid. Indians Arrive – Samoset arrives and speaks English. Within a couple days he brings Squanto along who also speaks English and chooses to live with the pilgrims and help them farm, hunt, and work with the land. He was Christianized while living as a slave inSpain. Squanto was a very good friend to the Indians and died about three years later due to illness. Peace Treaty – Indians and Pilgrims live in harmony for over 50 years. Prosperous Growth – Summer of 1621 Thanksgiving Celebration for God's goodness – The governor declares a Thanksgiving celebration over a three day period and invites Chief Massasoit. They also said he could bring a few friends. The pilgrims gave thanks for:- Much corn
- Plenty to eat
- Seven houses finished with others started
- Danger of sickness over
- No fear of Indians due to a peace treaty
- Most importantly they could worship God according to His Word
The feast was held in the middle of October 1621.- 50 pilgrims,
- Chief Massasoit and a "few" friends (he brought 90)
The Food – Wild turkey, meat pies, wild geese, wild duck, lobsters, eels, clams, oysters, fresh fish of all kings. Indians brought five deer, popcorn, corn, carrots, cucumbers, turnips and onions, radishes, beets and cabbages. Berries picked in the spring and dried to eat later. Activities – Men and boys played games, had contests, shot bows and arrows, hand wrestled, jumping, running and racing. Parade – Myles Standish, army commander, held a parade. Soldiers marched and fired their guns. Woman and girls – Constantly cooked and prepared the meals. Time of Sharing - For all the pilgrims it was a time of sharing and giving thanks to God.
 These are the notes to a program Brooksyne Weber uses to share the history of the Pilgrim's coming to America. Information is pulled from: - "Saints and Strangers"
- "Stories of the Pilgrims"
- "If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620"
- "Of Plimouth Plantation"
- Other readings
"May not and ought not our children rightly say, "Our fathers...came over this great ocean, ready to perish in this wilderness for freedom. But by the grace of God, they were saved."
So said William Bradford, the governor of the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.
Thanks to Governor Bradford's journal, called "Of Plymouth Plantation," we know about the life of the Pilgrims, their struggles, and their faith.
 "One Nation Under God.
"This simple phrase, added to the pledge of allegiance over 50 years ago has been the source of unbelievable debate and heated controversy. Likewise, the phrase 'In God We Trust' on our currency has been targeted and continues to be attacked as improper and politically incorrect...
"As this debate continues, some so called experts have implied or concluded that our Founding Fathers and Patriots were not religious. These secular champions, in an effort to further their own causes, have even painted these great men and women from our history as being devoid of religious passions or even a belief in God. This is a part of their strategy to remove any discussion of God from the public forum.
"These men and women were passionately religious and saw the hand of God all around them. To God they gave Thanks for His Hand in the founding of this great nation. To Him, according to their own testimony they turned for wisdom and strength when life and liberty hung in the balance."
~Jon McNaughton
As we face serious challenges in our day, we too can find inner peace and strength by recognizing the hand of God in our lives, giving Him thanks, and seeking the help only He can give.
 Louis Pasteur was not just a great scientist, he was a great man.
Losing three of his five children to typhoid fever could have caused him to turn inward or to lose his faith in God. Instead, his faith sustained him, and his suffering motivated him to help others.
He learned much about how to prevent infectious diseases. He created vaccines for rabies and anthrax. And he created a process to stop milk and juice from making people sick. We now call that process "pasteurization" in his honor.
Louis Pasteur's example of faith, courage, compassion, and perseverance can strengthen and inspire us as we face our trials.
We each experience pain and suffering as we go through life. Although we don't seek them, our trials can refine us and help us grow. And as we see how great people of the past have risen above their challenges, we realize our own potential more fully.
"The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator." ~Louis Pasteur "The more I know, the more does my faith approach that of the Breton peasant. Could I but know all, I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman." ~Louis Pasteur "God grant that by my persevering labors I may bring a little stone to the frail and ill-assured edifice of our knowledge of those deep mysteries of Life and Death where all our intellects have so lamentably failed." ~Louis Pasteur "Pasteurization of milk has prevented countless epidemics and saved thousands of lives." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower "Years ago Louis Pasteur said, 'I hold the unconquerable belief that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war; that nations will come together not to destroy, but to construct; and that the future belongs to those who accomplish most for humanity.'" ~Lyndon B. Johnson You know, Louis Pasteur once said: 'Chance favors only the prepared mind.'...For America to be prepared for the future, our children must be educated." ~George W. Bush Thanks to Bill Federer, and the American Minute, for gathering these wonderful quotes!
Ronald Reagan was my governor when I was a young girl growing up in California, and he's held a special place in my heart ever since.
He even has his very own shelf, full of great books by and about him, in my “I Love America Bookcase.”
When America's future appears bleak, I like to remember how, with God's help, he was able to turn things around.
Here is a speech President Reagan gave to young people at a religious gathering. His remarks reflect his deep faith, his belief in family values, his extensive knowledge of American history and heritage, and his hope for America’s future.
This is a great message to watch and discuss with our children!
It takes 25 minutes to watch all the videos. If you don't have 25 minutes, just watch one video at a time. You'll be glad you did!
Independence Day is a marvelous opportunity to reflect on the Founding Fathers and the price they paid to create a lasting legacy of liberty.
Many of our Founding Fathers and Mothers, were people of deep faith. Their love of God and their desire to please Him gave them the strength and courage they needed to pay the nearly impossible price to establish freedom in America.
In this video, Mike Huckabee and David Barton discuss the Founding Fathers and their faith.
"Our Father"
 From National Review: Sunday morning at the Hanoi Hilton was church time. To gather our “congregation,” the Senior Ranking Officer (SRO) tapped “cc,” quietly on his wall. Each cell in turn tapped “cc,” and soon all have been alerted to Church Call. The service was a prayer and a reciting of Bible verses. If I was lucky, I was in a cell with one or two other POWs, and we could pool our knowledge of the Bible. A failed rescue attempt led to the most memorable of our church experiences. It happened on November 20, 1970, when U.S. Special Forces staged a mission to rescue the POWs believed to be at Son Tay, one of the small prisons the North Vietnamese maintained outside Hanoi. The raid was brilliantly planned and executed perfectly. Our men landed at the prison in helicopters and came home without the loss of a single American. There was only one problem: All the POWs had been moved out of Son Tay about four months before the rescue effort so none of us went back with our rescuers. The mission still turned out to be a huge success for us, however.Realizing that such rescue attempts could happen again, the North Vietnamese brought us in from outlying prison camps into the main Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi: the Hanoi Hilton. Within hours of the raid, we were moved into large cells — 43 of us in my cell. It was the greatest day of our prison life. For the first time, we were meeting POWs whose names we had memorized years earlier. Many of us had formed intense friendships through the tap code with men we’d never seen. As we met that night, “So this is what you look like” was heard over and over throughout the cell.
by Stephanie Nielson
From YouTube:
"Go on an unforgettable journey, with a woman who has unimaginable strength.
"Stephanie Nielson began sharing her life in 2005 on nieniedialogues.com, drawing readers in with her warmth and candor. She quickly attracted a loyal following that was captivated by the upbeat mother happily raising her young children, madly in love with her husband, Christian (Mr. Nielson to her readers), and filled with gratitude for her blessed life.
"However, everything changed in an instant on a sunny day in August 2008, when Stephanie and Christian were in a horrific plane crash. Christian was burned over 40 percent of his body, and Stephanie was on the brink of death, with burns over 80 percent of her body. She would remain in a coma for four months.
"In the aftermath of this harrowing tragedy, Stephanie maintained a stunning sense of humor, optimism, and resilience. She has since shared this strength of spirit with others through her blog, in magazine features, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Now, in this moving memoir, Stephanie tells the full, extraordinary story of her unlikely recovery and the incredible love behind it—from a riveting account of the crash to all that followed in its wake. With vivid detail, Stephanie recounts her emotional and physical journey, from her first painful days after awakening from the coma to the first time she saw her face in the mirror, the first kiss she shared with Christian after the accident, and the first time she talked to her children after their long separation. She also reflects back on life before the accident, to her happy childhood as one of nine siblings, her close-knit community and strong Mormon faith, and her fairy-tale love story, all of which became her foundation of strength as she rebuilt her life.
"What emerges from the wreckage of a tragic accident is a unique perspective on joy, beauty, and overcoming adversity that is as gripping as it is inspirational. Heaven Is Here is a poignant reminder of how faith and family, love and community can bolster us, sustain us, and quite literally, in some cases, save us."
Stephanie's inspiring book is coming out tomorrow!
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