There has been alot of news this week in NASCAR. Petty Enterprises re-signing Bobby Labonte to an extension. Petty Enterprises selling majority ownership of its race organization to Boston Ventures a private firm equity. This sell and the resigning of Bobby Labonte are in hopes that Petty Enterprises will soon be returned to its glory days of winning races and championships.
On Friday morning before the teams ever hit the race track. NASCAR had an improtu meeting with all the drivers and team owners at Michigan. In this meeting it has been reported that NASCAR has basically told the drivers and team owners to suck it up. And quit complaining about the new COT. If NASCAR really wants to stop all the complaints and they really do care what the fans are saying. NASCAR should listen to the drivers and owners and make the changes. Let's face it. The racing on the small tracks has been pretty good with the current condition of the car. But on the mile and half and larger tracks, it really stinks.
It was announced also that NASCAR is being sued by a former official for $225 million. The lawsuit is for racial discrimination and sexual harrasment. So it looks like NASCAR is going to be back in court once again.
Makes one wonder what is going on in the front offices of NASCAR here lately. It seems like the NASCAR bosses are spending more and more time in the court room than in the board room. I bet both Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr. are turning over in their graves. Wondering what in the world is Brian France and Liza France Kennedy doing to their company.
But even with all this going on in NASCAR. There are more important things going on in this country. Gas is at an all time high of $4.01 a gallon here. And in other parts of the country it is well over $4.35 a gallon. But even that is not the most important thing going on in this country.
June 12: A View of the massive flooding in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa
This past weekend while many of us were watching the NASCAR race from Pocono. Many of our fellow Americans were fighting to save their homes from the torrential rains in the Midwest.
Flooding has hit the entire region. Parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas have seen the most severe flooding.
There are raging forest fires in California, North Carolina and in South Carolina.
Tornadoes are tearing up parts of Oklahoma and Kansas and other parts of the Midwest.
And extreme heat all up and down the Atlantic Coast. From Maine to Florida.
June 8 a cloud formation moves over Oconomowoc, Wis. as the state contends with heavy rains, wind damage and areas of flooding.
Ever where you turn our fellow Americans and maybe even some of us here on the blog world are suffering from the effects of the weather.
So as we all prepare to celebrate Father's Day tomorrow, let us not forget our fellow Americans who are suffering this weekend.
The hometown of NASCAR superstar Tony Stewart, Columbus, IN, was hit by the flooding in Indiana. He has pledged to give his share of the purse winnings from the race in Michigan to his hometown's Red Cross for the flood relief aid.
If you can help these folks in the Midwest with any aid, contact your local Red Cross Agency, I am sure that they can tell you how to best to help.
Let us all say an extra prayer for our country and our fellow Americans. And folks let us not forget our folks in the military and their families also.
So I hope that everyone will take the time to celebrate with their Fathers. But I also hope that we will not forget about our country. Have a great weekend everyone.
And Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there. And to my dear dad and father in law, a very big Special Happy Father's Day to you!!!!
As we ring in the New Year, give praise to God that he has seen this country through another year without a terror attack on our soil.
I hope that everyone will take a moment and reflect upon all of those that we have lost this year. And all of the ones who have been spared and are still with us.
Besure that you stop and remember all of our men and women in the service and their families. Who will not be together tonight because of their loyalty and patriotism to this wonderful country of ours.
All the many blessings that you have received in your life this past year.
Also remember if you drink, DO NOT DRIVE. Designate someone to drive you home. So you can be around for the new season of racing!
This Christmas season many families are without their loved ones all over the world. These families are the families of the men and women of the military.
They are in harms way each and everyday. And my prayers go out to each of them, for their safe return to their families.
But there is a story about about a war that keeps coming to my mind. It is a story that I my dad had told me about many years ago. I had never heard of it until then.
Just a couple days ago, I was listening to Alabama's version of "Tonight is Christmas". And it came to the part in the song about the truce. I was telling my husband that this had actually happened. And he was amazed when I told him the story. He had never heard of this story.
So I got to thinking I wondered how many others had never heard this story?
So I did alittle research to make sure I had all the facts. So I am going to do my Christmas blog about the Great Christmas Truce of 1914.
As the story goes, it was December 24, 1914 Christmas Eve. The first World War had been raging for nearly five months. Many soldiers lie dead on the battlefield.
Those that were still alive in the trenches were tired, cold and they were very muddy from the knee-deep sticky mud. Many of the soldiers were covered from head to toe in the mud.
I am sure that their spirits were very low. But something wonderful was about to happen. Something that would lift not only the British and French soldiers spirits, but the Germans as well.
These soldiers were in their trenches. Keeping their heads low, so as not to be an easy target for the enemy snipers. The closer to Christmas that it got the gunfire became more sporadic on both sides. It was as if both sides were telling the other side that we need a break from this war.
So on Christmas Eve in 1914 the first hard freeze had settled over the ground. Making the mud solid. This freeze was welcomed by the soldiers.
That night as the soldiers settled down to try and rest, I can just imagine that their thoughts turned to their families. How that their loved ones were preparing to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Whether it be preparing the Christmas goose, or the other items for the Christmas meal. Or maybe they were sitting around a warm fire singing Christmas carols or reading the Christmas story of the nativity. I can just imagine that these thoughts filled their minds and warmed their hearts as they tried to sleep.
In the early morning hours of Christmas day, a chorus of song could be heard coming from the German trenches. The British and French soldiers were stunned by what they were hearing, but due to the thick mist that settled around them it was hard to see from one side of the "No Man's Land" to the other.
The Allied soldiers were amazed when they peeked their heads over their trenches to see that the German soldiers had erected dozens of Christmas trees in their trenches and using what they had in their trenches had decorated the trees. The Allied soldiers listened from their trenches as the Germans sang "Silent Night." Stille nacht, heilige nacht...
When the song was finished, the Allied soldiers applauded the Germans for their rendition of the beautiful song. This caused the Allied soldiers to begin to sing a song of their own. And all through the night the soldiers sang together from either side of the battlefield.
When dawn broke the Germans called out to the allies, "Come over!" The allies being very cautious responded, "You first!"
Tenatively officers from both sides meet in the "No Man's Land" to greet each other. Both sides agreed to not fire into each others camp. A temporary ceasefire had been agreed upon.
Soldiers from both sides left their trenches and came to meet with the men who just two days before they had tried to kill. Some of them spoke to each other in their own language. Others communicated by giving gifts of cigarettes, clothing and food. They shared photographs of their families and called each other friend for the rest of the day.
One Englishman set up a free barber's service in "No Man's Land". And he would cut their hair, shave them or whatever they wanted no matter from which side they were from.
They built bonfires which glowed into the night. They also buried the dead and held service over their graves.
This truce went from December 25, 1914 until January 3, 1915.
When the truce was over these men returned to their trenches and once again became mortal enemies. While the men went back to killing each other, the British commander-in-chief, Sir John French, wrote: "I issued immediate orders to prevent any recurrence of such conduct, and called the local commanders to strict account.
The shooting began and World War I would continue for another four years.
Now this was not the only truce of that wonderful Christmas in 1914. All up and down the battle lines ceasefires were declared. But this is the one that has been talked about for decades.
So this Christmas as you sit down to enjoy your family, remember those on the battlefield in 1914 who stopped a war so they could celebrate with their enemy the true meaning of Christmas.
And please do remember the military men and women who are in the trenches this Christmas and their families as you say your prayers. And keep this wonderful God fearing nation in your prayers too.
Hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Just something interesting I came across while researching this story: German author Michael Jurgs notes that the truce was especially strong in a 50km stretch around Ypres in Belgium, and that an Austrian soldier billeted near the town complained that such behaviour should not be allowed in wartime. His name was Adolf ####.
I was reading Gunaquat's blog "Inquiring Minds What To Know-But Why". In it he talks about when heroes go bad, that is all that we talk about. And he makes the statement "There have to still be at least a few guys out there that wear white hats,..."
And it got me to thinking. Do we really have heroes who wear white hats?
I replied to him, that "I agree. The kids of today need real heroes. And I think that the heroes that they need are right in their own homes. "
So I asked myself, "What does hero mean?" "What constitutes as a hero?" "What qualifications do you have to have to be a hero?"
This is what Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary says about a hero:
Main Entry: he·ro Pronunciation: 'hir-(")O Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural heroes Etymology: Latin heros, from Greek hErOs 1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage 2 a : the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work b : the central figure in an event, period, or movement 3 plural usually heros : SUBMARINE 2 4 : an object of extreme admiration and devotion : IDOL
Now most of our heroes of today seem to follow into the mythical or idol description.
And in these descriptions you find sports heros. And maybe these personalities are heros. But to me that are just people who are able to do things that I can't. Not really heros in my mind.
My description of a hero is a person who sacrifices his all for others. A person who puts others before himself. A person who does ordinary things, not because they have to, but because they want to.
So I got to thinking who are my heros? Several people came to mind. But there was one that really stuck out in my mind. I guess I never really thought about it, but this man really is my hero.
This man is my dad.
I know, we all think our dad's are our heroes. But the truth is, I really can't ever remember thinking of my dad really as a hero. I am sure that I have said that he was. But I am not sure if I ever really thought about in terms of what is a hero?
I mean he never saved anyone's life. He never fought in a war. He never invented anything to make life easier for others. But as I thought of his qualities. I found myself saying yes, he is a hero.
My dad is like other dads. He worked hard to provide for his family. He made sure that the bills were paid. He made sure that there was money to buy food, and clothes for his family.
But that is what Daddy's are suppose to do. So that doesn't really make him a hero. It just means that he is a man who wants the best for his family, even if that means he has to go without.
In my eyes what makes my dad a hero is his faith. My dad is a man who has a very deep belief in his faith. He has lived a Holiness life before us his children. He makes no bones about what he believes.
He doesn't force it down anyone's throat. If you ask him a question about what he believes, he will tell you. And he will back it up with the Bible. But if you want to debate the Bible with him, he just will not. He allows his faith to speak for itself, by the way he lives his life.
I can remember as a child growing up, that my dad instilled in us children that God does exist. He could not show us God in the physical sense, but he showed us God, through his life.
Late at night when all was still. And everyone was suppose to be a sleep. I remember lying in my bed and listening to my dad talking to God from the family dining room.
He would go there, because it was away from the rest of the household and it had doors that he could close.
I remember my dad praying that God would give him the wisdom to raise us children. That God would help him live a righteous life before us. That God would help him provide for his family the things that we needed, not what we wanted.
I don't remember dad ever asking for anything that was materialistic. He always wanted to present himself to his family and especially his children as a God fearing man. He wanted a close walk with God.
And that is exactly what he did and he still does.
My dad is a man of few words. But if you want to talk about God and his word. Dad becomes a man of many words. God has bestowed upon my dad, an understanding of his word, that I am amazed at.
When I read something that I don't understand, I know where to go. My dad loves to talk about the wonderful blessings of God. But he also tells us that God warns of trouble times ahead.
Now I am not saying that my dad is some type of psychic. Because he isn't.
My dad doesn't profess to know everything. And he doesn't profess that he understands everything.
But from where I am standing, he does know everything and he does understand everything.
Why? Because he is my Dad! And my Hero wears a White Hat you just can't see it on his head. But it is there. Just look close enough and you will see it too!
Just a thought: If more parents would quite trying to make heros out of sports figures they might find out they are the TRUE heroes in their children's lives.
"Operation Wax Smoke" Rolls Along... We collect $100,000 for Victory Junction...Tony Stewart gets waxed and Kevin goes bald! Current total: $35,886.00 www.kevinharvick.com
This Wednesday, July 4, 2007 marks the 231st year that the Declaration of Independence was formally endorsed by the first Congress. The actual signing of the document did not occur until August 2, but it is July 4th that marks the beginning of the United States of America.
Our forefathers had been at war with Great Britain since April 18, 1775, the night that General Gage (Massachusetts Governor) ordered 700 British soldiers to Concord to destory the colonists' weapons depot.
That same night, Paul Revere and William Dawes are sent from Boston to warn colonists. Revere reaches Lexington about midnight and warns Sam Adams and John Hancock who are hiding out there.
At dawn on April 19 about 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen stand face to face on Lexington Green with the British advance guard. An unordered 'shot heard about the world' begins the American Revolution.
Now here we are 231 years later and we are embrawled in another war. This time not with a particular country but an ideology: Radical Islam.
Our forefathers were fighting for their freedom from a tyranny government. Now our soldiers are fighting to keep our freedom from terrorists groups of an ideology.
I am sure that 231 years ago the militiamen who fought on the front lines of the American Revolution never ever dreamed that our country would still be fighting to keep us free. But yet here we are. There are those in the Radical Muslim community, that would love to see our country fall.
They hate what we stand for. They hate the freedom that we enjoy here. They don't understand the sacrifices that our forefathers had to endure so that we could become a country.
Why? Because they do not belong to one country. Standing up for an ideology cannot mean the same as standing up for a country. People can easily shift from one ideology to another. But it not that easy to wipe away your nationality. But that is what the Radical Muslims have done. They have pledge their allegance to an ideology and have turned their back on their home country.
This ideology has infiltrated our country. But thank God there are those who still believe in what our forefathers believed and what they wrote in the Declaration of Independence.
In Congress, July 4, 1776,
THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world...
Our soldiers are fighting for these very words. They are fighting to keep our alienable rights as citizens of the United States of America. We don't all agree on everything. And we don't all believe the same way. But the one thing we all have in common is the fact that we are citizens of the Greatest Country in the world. We are all citizens of the United States of America.
We are all proud Americans celebrating the birthday of our great country.
So I hope everyone has a great and safe and Happy 4th of July.
Since I wrote my blog on my father in law, I have had many nice comments. So I just wanted to thank everyone for the nice comments and for all the prayers that have been said on the behalf of my father in law and our family.
The Lord has truly worked a miracle on my father in law. When I wrote that blog, the doctors had told us that he probably would not make it through the night. Not once, but twice. But each time, the Lord gave him the strength to fight.
We were told to call all the family in not long after he went into the hospital. So family members from all the over country came to see him, for what they thought would be the last time. But he kept fighting.
My father in law's will to live is strong. He was able to leave the hospital and he went to rehab for six weeks. While he was in rehab the doctors had his oldest call in the family again. Because they were not expecting him to live for more than a couple of days.
So once again we called the family in. And those who had not made it to see him before, came this time. But once again he pulled out of it. He gained enough strength that they put him on a rehab schedule. They began an exercise program for him, while he was confined to a wheelchair.
Soon his strength increased and within just a couple weeks, he was up and walking. There was talk of putting him into a rest home at this point. But four weeks later he and his doctors were talking about him coming home.
So here it is, he has been home for the past 10 days. He is under 24 hour care. He still has the heart valve problem, that is pumping blood back into his heart and his bladder cancer. But with the help of medications it is keeping the swelling down and he is able to exercise. He still gets tired easily. But he is home and he is happy. He has gained 7 pounds in the last 8 days. And he is walking everyday and he is gaining strength. He still has bad days, but at least he is eating well and taking his medications like he needs to.
So let me just extend my sincere thanks again for all the prayers. And I ask that you keep us in your prayers. We still have a long road ahead of us. But with the Lord's help, my father in law will continue to be on this earth with us, watching his great grandchildren grow as he watched his grandchildren and his own children grow. And inspiring us all to be better people towards our neighbors and our family.
First let me say this is the first time I have ever thought of writing anything about any sport other than NASCAR. So bear with me on this one. (hahaha)
But I have become aware of a NHL team called the Carolina Hurricanes.
Now being from North Carolina, I had heard of the Hurricanes. But until last weekend I actually thought they were some start up team for a major hockey team. Was I really surprised when I was told that they were in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Now I had seen other hockey games, so I was familiar with the game of hockey. But it has been several years since I actually sat and watched a game. Actually the last game I saw was the Sabres back in 1999. So that tells you that it has been awhile.
So I decided to tune in and watch Game 5 of the playoffs Thursday night. As I sat there watching the teams (I was pulling for the guys in white, but after the 2nd period I realized I was pulling for the WRONG team. The hurricanes were in the RED. Told you it had been awhile.) I found myself wishing that someone would trip one of those Oilers. And that the Hurricanes would somehow slip in there and score that finally puck so that they could be crowned the Champs.
Now the last time I pulled for "one of my teams" to win a Championship (other than Tony Stewart) was when the Miami Dolphins were facing the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. My Dolphins basically had a rookie quarterback, Dan Marino against a veteran ace quarterback Joe Montana. And well, we all know how that turned out. Marino never made it back to the Super Bowl.
Since then I have pulled for a team who has won 2 Championships in 4 years. So hopefully I will not "jinx" the Carolina Hurricanes by pulling for them in Game 6.
So Carolina Hurricanes I hope that you go out and win the Stanley Cup and bring it back home to Raleigh to be proudly displayed in your headquarters.
Good Luck To All the Hurricane Players and their Coaches.
I am a southern female who grew up on NASCAR. After all growing up in the backyard of many of the old tracks run here in North Carolina it is was hard not to follow NASCAR.
My Drivers: Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, J.J. Yeley, Kevin Harvick (in that order). I will not pull for a Roush or Hendrick driver. Just because they are the competition to a 3rd championship for Smoke.
