Wisdom Wednesday

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on May 16, 2012 in Wisdom Wednesday | 0 comments

“Without a humble imitation of the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, we can never hope to be a happy nation.” – George Washington, 1st President of The United States.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012

Seasons at The Richland Inn

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on May 15, 2012 in Faith | 5 comments

In the wee hours before daybreak, I opened my email and scrolled through the messages.  One stood out from the rest.

The owners of The Richland Inn wanted me to know that not only had ”my room” been updated and painted a “lighter, brighter shade of blue,” but the Inn was “calling my name.”  I picked up the key that sits in a special place on my desk and held it in my hand.

My first visit to The Richland Inn was during a cold spell in spring, my husband at my side.  We were too numb to be sociable.  Several months before, my husband had lost his job.  Now, at the prompting of the Lord, we sold our house and placed all of our earthly possessions in storage.  With dwindling finances and no place of our own, we planned to stay for several days at the Inn until settlement when we would part for good with our home.

Ice pellets stung our faces as we walked to the front door.  Inside, a crackling fire and a glass of wine warmed us while we talked with the Innkeepers.  On the dresser in our cozy blue and white room, a vase filled with delicate grape hyacinths stroked my aching heart.  Throughout our stay, gentle voices consoled us with the soothing Words of God that never return void.

I returned alone that winter.  My nerves were jagged as I pulled into the driveway.  The snowy drive through the Allegheny Mountains had been treacherous and the months of joblessness and lack of our own home had worn me down.  I knew my husband needed time at The Richland Inn as badly as I, but he sent me off while he stayed behind, doggedly searching for employment.

It snowed beautifully every day and each night of my visit.  Filled with anxiety and sadness, I woke often during the nights in “my room.”  Propped up in bed on one arm, I cried as I watched the falling snow through open drapes.

During my waking hours, the two Innkeepers comforted me with prayers and God’s promises.  Finally, when His peace filled all of me and left no room for tears, I departed and returned to my beloved, sharing my refreshed faith and strength as we held each other tightly.

That summer, in need of sanctuary, I returned to the Inn.  The Innkeepers were away but they, recognizing my need for refuge, had provided me with a key.  I placed my computer on the kitchen table, next to a mason jar filled with cheerful zinnias, and wrote for hours, the stillness igniting my imagination.  During walks, my eyes lingered over the carefully laid flower gardens and smiles replaced my frowns.  Book completed, God’s peace established once more in my soul, I locked the Inn’s door and drove many hours back to uncertainty.

I returned for the last time that fall.  Trees dressed in vivid colors surrounded the Inn.  Inside, evening fires chased the chill from my spirit while God-breathed words provided salve for my raw emotions.  I wondered aloud to the Innkeepers how much longer my husband and I could endure such overwhelming adversity, and was assured that God always provides a way out at just the right time.  When my heart was revived, yet again, I hurried to my husband, knowing that he anxiously waited for fresh encouragement.

Odd, isn’t it, how an email and a key that sits on my desk could take me straight back to Richland.  It was there that God used an Inn and its two keepers to love my husband and me through the seasons of our faith.

“For there is a time and a way for everything, although a man’s trouble lays heavy on him.”  Ecclesiastes 8:6 (ESV 2001).

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012

Wisdom Wednesday

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on May 9, 2012 in Wisdom Wednesday | 1 comment

“The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.” – The United States Congress, 1782.

Sooo, what happened?  Anybody?

As far as I’m concerned:  TO GOD BE THE GLORY.  What about you?

Cynthia Howerter © 2012

5 Things I Want My Kids To Know by Guest Host Allison G. Martin

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on May 8, 2012 in Family | 2 comments

While we don’t have kids yet, and probably won’t for a while, I’ve been thinking lately about the legacy I want to leave behind to my children whenever they do come along. Each lesson is one I’m still learning myself, but if I teach my children nothing else, I will consider their raising a job well done.

Lesson One: Choose Encouragement, not Entitlement: Mark Twain once said, “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.” Every day we have a choice to either be an encouragement to others or to drag others down by thinking they owe us something. Consider it more important to be a blessing than to be blessed.

Lesson Two: Choose Meaning, not Things: Amassing a room full of toys, video games, name brand clothing, IKEA furniture—insert any other material item here—will neither bring you happiness nor fulfillment. A life is not made from what we get but what we do with the things we already have—our time, our words, our actions.

Lesson Three: Choose Boredom, not Overstimulation: Boredom is the best conduit for creativity. Allow boredom to clear your mind and recalibrate your imagination. See the endless possibilities in all life’s situations and circumstances, and use them to their full potential.

Lesson Four: Choose Gratitude, not Complacency: Say “Thank You” because you mean it. Don’t become so comfortable with your life that you take it for granted. Pray at each meal because you’re truly thankful for clean water to drink and the opportunity to choose what you eat. Be a good steward of the resources you have by avoiding unnecessary waste, creatively reusing what others have discarded, and being generous to those in need.

Lesson Five: Choose Laughter, not Tears: Mistakes will happen. Feelings will be hurt. Bad days are guaranteed to come. Choose to learn from your mistakes. Choose to apologize and mean it. Choose to see the humor in every situation, and don’t let the little things in life become the big things.

How about you? What piece of advice have you shared with your children that you hope they cling to in adulthood? What one piece of advice has shaped the way you deal with life and all its ups and downs?

Allison Martin is a wife and writer who blogs about budgeting, health, beauty, fashion, pop culture, organization, creative ways to stretch a dollar, and a little bit of everything else in between over at The Budget Maven: Living on Less with Style (www.budgetmaven.wordpress.com).  You can also follow her on Twitter @thebudgetmaven or find her on Facebook (The Budget Maven).

Thank you, Allison, for being the Guest Host today on SOAR WITH EAGLES and for sharing sage and practical advice on childrearing.  Please visit Allison Martin’s blog at:  www.budgetmaven.wordpress.com

TO GOD BE THE GLORY 

Cynthia Howerter © 2012 

Who Are The Good People?

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on May 7, 2012 in American Government | 0 comments

Many of you may recall my article on September 12th, “True Americans,” about Colonel John Kelly, my 4th great-grandfather who fought in the Revolutionary War alongside General George Washington and others.

In the article, I wondered when good people would step forward to stand up to our current Big Government of both Democrats and Republicans, who by increasing the size of our government are ignoring our Constitution and stripping every American of their rights.

Who are those good people who need to step forward?  Friend, those good people are you and me.

What does it take to step forward and say no more outrageous government spending that will enslave us and our children for generations to come? What does it take to say that we will not have our Constitution ignored or rewritten?  What does it take to say our country needs to remain a democratic republic and not a Socialist country?

What does it take?  For starters, pray and ask God what He would have YOU do.  Pray right now.  Don’t put it off or you won’t do it.

Do you want some suggestions as to what you can do?

Register to vote.  Do it now.  Don’t wait until the last minute.

Decide which candidates you want to support.  Thoroughly research those candidates.  Ask questions.  Make sure those candidates stand for what you believe in.  Do not choose a candidate simply based on party affiliation.  Do not choose because someone else tells you who they want you to vote for.  God gave you a mind.  The Founding Fathers gave you a vote.  Use them.

How do you do this research?  Can you ask questions?  Can you read?  I thought so.  Well then, call the candidate’s office and ask questions, ask what the candidate’s platform is.  The candidate doesn’t have a  platform?  Run.

You don’t know who the candidates are?  Dear Father, help us; we are in trouble.

Once you choose a candidate, volunteer for them.  Stuff envelopes, man the phone bank, put a sign in your yard, talk with people.  Lazy people will not do any of these things.  But they will complain when gas prices increase.  They will not like it when their once extra money is taxed to pay the deficit.  Turn the boob tube off and get out of your chair.

Research the Tea Party.  The Democrats have slandered the Tea Party all the way to hell itself.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters publicly stated that “The Tea Party can go straight to hell.”  Why?  Because Maxine and her party know that publicly slandering someone or something drives most people away from it.

Because they know that the Tea Party members have taken a stand against out-of-control government spending that MUST BE PAID FOR AT SOME POINT. 

The Tea Party realizes that those in power, both Republicans and Democrats, want to ignore the Constitution, make their own rules as they go along, and grow the government so big that it controls the people.  Not the other way around like our Founding Fathers intended.

Do you even know what the Founding Fathers intended for our country?  Well don’t feel bad; until two years ago, I didn’t either.  But it’s not too late to learn.  I’ll do future articles on this.

If you are spending your free time watching mindless shows on TV that will never improve your life or mind, stop it.  Stop your foolishness.  While you’ve focused on mindless folly, you weren’t able to see that you’ve been losing your American rights and freedoms.  Start paying attention to what is happening in our government.  Then get off your chair, pray, and take a stand.  While you still can.

I don’t know about you, but I will not let my ancestor or our Founding Fathers – all who put their lives, their families’ lives, their finances and their properties on the line for you and me - have made all of these personal sacrifices in vain.

So, I ask:  Are you one of those good people who will step forward and do what you can to take our Constitution and our once-great country back?

I’m taking that step forward.  I’m making that stand.  Will you?

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto the inhabitants thereof…”  Leviticus 25:10.  This is also inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012