Flag of the Week

The kids are back in school and summer is drawing to a close. Although you couldn't tell by the temperatures.
But soon the temperatures will dip, and we'll be cheering on our favorite football teams.

For now, I'd like to share another quote from President Ronald Reagan:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Flags, Sisters' Weekend, and The Greatest Generation

Today my good friend, and crit partner, Janet Ferguson is sharing our special 'Flag of the Week.' Here's Janet...

Every few years, I’ve gotten to experience an idea my oldest sister came up with—Sister Weekend at the Beach. It’s awesome that she came up with idea and also that she has a condo we can use on Hilton Head Island. We have a chance to catch up without our kids around and bond (we sometimes invite our husbands), and now that our parents have passed on, we share special memories.

Well, I knew Jackie Layton featured the American Flag on her blog, and when I saw a family had hoisted one in the sand, I was reminded of my father’s service in World War II.
I interviewed my father,James White, in 1997 and printed his story so that our family would be able to have his history to pass on. He was a determined and somewhat lucky man, dodging death on several occasions. The oldest son of a widow in tiny Hickory Flat, Mississippi, he aptly called his home town at the time “a wide place in the road.” During World War II, he enlisted in the Signal Corps so he could choose his area of service.

After basic training at Camp Crowder Missouri, weeks of teletype and radio school, then thirteen weeks of field artillery at Fort Eustis, Virginia, my father began radar training. At first, they used radar connected to their big guns. He said, “We were firing at a target pulled by a small plane, and once we got too close to the plane.” He transferred after that to Camp Davis, North Carolina, to attend another eight weeks of special training. “We went to school each day to a class which was across a pull-up bridge. Everything was top secret. I had to be investigated and approved before attending this training. No one was allowed in the area except those attending the classes. The bridge was kept pulled up at all times except when someone was allowed to cross.”

He had many other interesting stories, but I found this one intriguing. If you’d like to read more about Fort Davis, here’s a link http://www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher/ww2/ww2.htm. My father never made it overseas to fight in the war as his appendix ruptured just before his unit shipped out to Germany. Did I mention he was lucky? And so were my sisters and I to have a father from that Greatest Generation.

Flag of the Week

This week's flag also comes from Wilmore, KY.

Here's a great quote from President Ronald Regan:

I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land.

Have a great week!

Beginnings

This has been a summer of new beginnings in my family.

In May, Scott graduated from college. He was blessed to have a job lined up, and he's studying for his CPA exams. He's facing life with no more classes.



My sister-in-law's family moved to the DC area. We miss them but know God has good things planned for their family.

And last week Brooke started kindergarten.

She has a wonderful teacher whom we've known, and loved, for years. We celebrated before Brooke started school, and again Friday night by eating at Fiesta Mexico and then walking over for shaved ice.




I hope your year is full of fun and exciting times.


Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Flag of the Week

I spotted this week's flag walking through the neighborhood with Tim and Heinz.



I don't know these homeowners, but when I walk past their home I feel like they must be friendly.

The last two nights we've been out walking, we've met two new couples. One was driving around lost, and the other couple live down the street from us. I think our country will be stronger if we start by getting to know our neighbors.

God bless America.

Hahn Circle

One of the first people I met when we moved back to Kentucky years ago was Ted Hahn. He and my husband, Tim, became good friends. And Ted became a good friend of Wesley Village.

Recently Wesley Village dedicated Hahn Circle. I'd like to share Tim's tribute to Ted.

A Tribute to Ted Hahn – A Founding Father Of
Wesley Village Senior Living Community
By Tim Layton, VP for Development

Presented at the Dedication of Hahn Circle at the Village’s
20th Anniversary Celebration on June 20, 2015

29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

The last verse of this scripture from the 40th chapter of Isaiah is on the Hahn Circle Memorial Plaque. It was one of Ted’s favorites and is very fitting with the reference to the Eagle as Ted loved birds and so enjoyed taking pictures of them.

The scripture is also very fitting in another way….I’m sure Ted often wondered if the Village would ever really become a reality as he was appointed to a task force back in 1965 to explore developing a retirement community in Central KY… It took 30 plus years of faithful patient determination on his part, but once the first ground was broken on June 22, 1994. Ted was fully committed to keeping the Village growing and moving forward in every way possible. It was not an easy task…thus Ted had to put his trust in the Lord…which gave him new strength for the challenges before him. He soared high on Eagle wings…he kept running without growing weary…he walked and did not faint!

In 2006, the Village honored Ted as a Hero, Saint and Legend at its annual awards banquet for the tremendous difference he made in the lives of so many people, but especially for all he did for Wesley Village. Friends, “Without Ted Hahn, there would be no Wesley Village. Without his big heart…. vision… tenacity… financial support… and willingness to consistently go above and beyond the call of duty… Wesley Village would still be just a dream. What an incredible legacy of growth, service and ministry he has left for us all. And we especially thank his family …many who are here this morning….. for sharing Ted with us during those years. To God be the Glory for the great things he did through his faithful servant, Ted Hahn!




If you're in Wilmore, I invite you to stop by Wesley Village and take a few minutes to enjoy Hahn Circle.

Flag of the Week

President Calvin Coolidge said,

"We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth, peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home. … But when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.”

Visiting with Rose Allen McCauley

Guest blog by Rose Allen McCauley for Jackie Layton

Thanks, Jackie, for inviting me to your back porch. And since I have been there in person, I know how lovely and inviting it is, along with the rest of your house and yard!

My husband and I recently moved from our farm in Harrison County, KY to the small town of Paris, KY not very far from Lexington, so today I would like to welcome you to my new home. We don’t have a back porch yet, but hope to have a deck by next year, so perhaps Jackie will let me stop by again then.

Since Jackie posted flags yesterday I decided I would start my tour of my new yard and side porch with our flag in the side yard. My husband is an Air Force veteran, and we have flown a flag at our old home for decades, but bought a new one to put up here. We always want to remember our servicemen and women who sacrifice so much for us all.








We brought this old tobacco setter wheel and galvanized bucket from the farm to decorate around our tree in our new front yard.

Jackie and I share a love of writing—in fact, we are in a brainstorming group that meets every couple months or whenever we need to brainstorm! Jackie and I also share a love of the beach, so since I don’t want to move to the beach because I would be too far from our kids and grandkids, I decorated a couple rooms in my house and our front porch with beach colors and shells which you can see from this photo.

Jackie and I also share a love of travel, and I have started a Tuesday Travelogue on my blog at www.rosemccauley.com where I hope you will stop by and see some of the scenes I took on our trip to Puerto Rico when I went to check out some of the research I did for my latest book Surrender to Peace.

I’ll share the cover and blurb here.

Blurb: Despair to delight. A broken engagement finds Joy Worth in Puerto Rico with questions for the Lord. Can Benigno earn her love while helping her trust in God once more and learn to hear His voice again?

Surrender to Peace is out in e-book form at www.amazon.com and also www.ibooks.com as well as www.barnesandnoble.com and www.deepershopping.com and www.smashwords.com As soon as the cover art is ready, it will be released in print by Ingram in most bookstores.

Thanks for letting me stop by Jackie, and I want to invite your readers to visit my page if they are interested in scenery from Puerto Rico which is a very beautiful country. I’m also running a contest for all those who sign up for my blog or newsletter or author facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/RoseAllenMcCauley?fref=ts during the month of August. Be sure to leave a comment to let me know which ones you signed up for. Each place counts as one entry, so you could earn three entries in the contest toward a copy of Surrender to Peace –ebook or print version. The winner will get to choose which one and I will announce the winner on September 1st on my blog and on FB.

Flag of the Week

Carol and Chris Lutz shared these flags with me from Louisville, Kentucky.



Do you notice flags as you drive around town? My parents put their flag out every day that it's not raining. They taught me to respect the American flag and appreciate the sacrifices made for my freedom!