Happy 250th and Good Saturday to all of you.
Did you know Arkansas celebrated the Fourth of July long before it became a state?
When Americans in the Arkansas Territory gathered on July 4 before statehood in 1836, they didn't celebrate as Arkansans they celebrated as proud Americans.
The day often began with a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, followed by patriotic speeches, church services, militia drills, musket and cannon salutes, community feasts, fiddle music, dancing, and formal toasts to the United States, the Constitution, and George Washington.
Along the Arkansas River, steamboats were decorated with flags and blasted their whistles in celebration. In frontier towns like Little Rock, Arkansas Post, and Batesville, neighbors came together to celebrate the nation's birthday even while living on what was still America's western frontier.
One of the most fascinating traditions? Many gatherings ended with a toast to "the future State of Arkansas," years before statehood became a reality.
Freedom was worth celebrating here long before Arkansas earned its 25th star on the American flag.
Happy Independence Day! 250 Years of Freedom
On June 13, 1948, a dying man put on his old uniform one last time, used his bat as a cane to stand up, and broke the heart of every baseball fan in America.
It was Yankee Stadium's 25th anniversary, "The House That Ruth Built." Babe Ruth was there to have his No. 3 retired, only the second number the Yankees ever retired after Lou Gehrig. But everyone in the crowd of nearly 50,000 could see it. The Babe was wasting away from throat cancer. He was thin, frail, and wrapped in a heavy wool overcoat in June because he was always cold now.
He walked out into the roar leaning on a bat like an old man's cane. When he spoke, the booming voice was gone, reduced to a painful rasp. But he stood. He tipped his cap. He soaked in the love one final time.
A photographer named Nat Fein didn't shoot the usual photo from the front. He moved behind Ruth and captured the Babe from the back, number 3, shoulders stooped, facing the crowd and the field he ruled. He titled it "The Babe Bows Out." It won the Pulitzer Prize, the first sports photo ever to do so.
Two months later Ruth was dead at 53.
78 years ago today, the greatest to ever play it said goodbye.
This morning, I saw a sanitation worker put a trash can back by the side door of an elderly woman’s home.
After talking with her, I found out she can’t move around easily, and this man does this for her every week. It might seem small to some people, but to her, it means a lot. Small kind acts like this don’t change the whole world, but they do change her world. I didn’t catch your name, sir, but you are amazing!
Credits: Teresa Headley
Good mornin' folks...
Let's pray together this morning...
Heavenly Father, we come to You today with open hands and an open heart … ready to depend on You to help us through this day and all it will bring our way. We come to You for guidance, strength, provision, and protection. As we face tough choices and hard situations, help us to remember that we are Your children and Your representative to the world around us. Help us live today in a way that brings honor to Your holy name. In Jesus’ Name, amen...Remember...God's gotcha folks...have a gooden
It was Memorial Day at SunTrust Park in Atlanta.
The Braves were preparing to play. The crowd filled the seats. The flags hung still in the heavy spring air. And then, before the first pitch, the stadium grew quiet for the part of the day that mattered more than the game.
Near home plate stood a small white table.
A single place setting. An empty chair. A folded napkin. A glass turned upside down. A slice of lemon. A pinch of salt. A single rose.
The POW/MIA table, set the same way at military events across America. Each item carries meaning. The empty chair is for the service members who never came home. The lemon for their bitter fate. The salt for the tears of their families. The inverted glass because they cannot toast with us tonight.
That table represents the more than 81,000 American soldiers still missing, scattered across battlefields, oceans, and jungles from World War II to today.
Standing beside that table was a seventeen-year-old Junior ROTC cadet. Crisp uniform. White gloves. Posture perfect. He had volunteered for the honor of standing watch over the empty chair.
Then the sky opened.
The rain came down in sheets. Fans pulled up hoods. Players jogged for cover. Officials rushed to protect equipment.
The cadet did not move.
He stood at attention, eyes forward, hands at his sides, the rain soaking through his uniform, dripping from the brim of his cap, running down his face like tears he was too disciplined to wipe away.
He had a duty. You do not abandon the post for weather.
In the stands, one man noticed what everyone else was too busy to see. An older fan, just there to watch baseball. He looked at the boy in the rain. He looked at the empty chair beside him. And he understood something most people miss.
That cadet wasn't just standing for ceremony. He was standing for every soldier who could not stand anymore.
The man stood up.
He climbed down from his seat. He walked across the wet stadium floor. He carried a simple umbrella. And without a word, without seeking attention, without a single glance toward the cameras, he stepped beside the cadet and quietly raised the umbrella over the boy's head.
He stood there with him.
Two strangers. Two generations. One umbrella. One unspoken understanding that some things are bigger than getting wet.
The cadet never broke posture. Never turned his head. Never even smiled.
But the man stayed. Through the rest of the ceremony, through the national anthem, through every moment that mattered, he stood beside that boy and held the umbrella steady.
Someone in the crowd took a photograph.
By the next morning, it had traveled around the world. Millions of people stopped scrolling to look. Veterans wrote that it made them cry. Parents showed it to their children. Strangers shared it with strangers. In a country that often feels divided, here was an image that did not ask anyone to choose a side.
It just asked people to remember.
REMEMBER
🕯 The empty chair, and who it's for.
🌧 The boy who stood in the rain because someone had to.
☂️ The man who walked down from the stands because someone had to do that too.
We often think heroism looks like grand speeches and great battles. We look for it on stages and in headlines.
But sometimes heroism is quieter than that. Sometimes it is a teenager refusing to flinch. Sometimes it is an older man with an umbrella who decided that today, this stranger's dignity was worth getting wet for.
You do not need a uniform to honor service. You do not need a microphone to show respect. You do not need permission to do the right thing when you see it.
You just need to stand up.
Walk down the steps.
And hold the umbrella.
It’s hard to accept that I can’t do the same things physically that I could do 4 years ago. It’s painful mentally. To run 50 or 100 miles in the mountains ain’t happening anymore. 2 fake hips won’t allow it. For now. But I’m grateful every fkn day to be able to hike for hours with my precious dogs. And to be able to really enjoy those moments. If you’re still young, please don’t take anything for granted.
MIKE LEE JUST DREW THE LINE — FORCE THE SAVE AMERICA ACT ON THE FLOOR NOW!
Sen. Mike Lee is calling out the obstruction and demanding Senate Republicans stop playing games. We have the majority support, so put the SAVE America Act on the floor immediately and keep debating it until it passes.
Responding to Sen. John Cornyn’s claims, Lee made it crystal clear:
“This isn’t an attack on Republicans. That’s a plan of attack against voter fraud.”
This is the fight that actually matters. Our elections have been under siege for years while career politicians dragged their feet. Mike Lee is showing what real leadership looks like — no more excuses, no more delays.
Every Republican senator needs to stand up and be counted. Secure the vote. Secure the Republic.
It was on June 12, 1948 when President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, enabling women to serve as permanent, regular members of the armed forces.
To all Women Veterans, thank you!
If we have to explain why this day is important, then you truly do not understand... We are a unique group of ladies and are very proud of our service.
This article was written by a 26 yr old college student by the name of Alyssa Ahlgren, who's in grad school for her MBA. What a GREAT perspecitve..👍🏽
My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us!
I'm sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis (Florida) trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of presidential candidates calling for policies to "fix" the so-called injustices of capitalism. I put my phone down and continue to look around.
I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook's, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we've become completely blind to it.
Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose.These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don't give them a second thought.
We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty One Times!!!
Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful. ??
Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, "An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity."
Never saw American prosperity! Let that sink in.
When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I've ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided.
My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let's just say I didn't have the popular opinion, but I digress.
Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country.
People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they've never seen prosperity, and as a result, we elect some politicians who are dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.
Why? The answer is this,?? my generation has only seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn't live in the great depression, or live through two world wars, the Korean War, The Vietnam War or we didn't see the rise and fall of socialism and communism.
We don't know what it's like to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don't have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it's spreading like a plague."
In a world gone mad, where evil is called “good,” darkness is praised as “light,” and bitter is sold as sweet — God’s Word and warnings ring louder than ever:
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”
Isaiah 5:20-21 (KJV).
Our leaders are fighting wars on multiple fronts at once. Israel is under siege. America is stretched thin. Ukraine is mired in what seems to be a never-ending war.
China, Russia, and Europe are opportunistic players in this global crisis.
Favor from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is our only hope.
We don’t need another congressional hearing or another speech about red lines.
We need God’s wisdom!
Let’s stop scrolling. Bow our heads and pray as the Lord leads.
Lord Jesus, grant our leaders supernatural wisdom and discernment.
Expose every lie and deception.
Protect the innocent.
Give our leaders humility and the courage to always choose light over darkness and good over evil in both domestic and foreign affairs.
I lift this petition in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
If you agree with this post, please post a scripture or drop an AMEN below and SHARE this post.
There are moments when I sit with God and realize I don’t even have the words anymore.
No clear sentences.
No perfect prayers.
Just a tired heart that still turns toward Him.
I used to think I needed to say everything the right way. That I had to explain it all, organize it all, make sense of what I was feeling before I brought it to Him.
But I am learning He already understands.
He sees the weight I carry before I speak it.
He knows the thoughts that keep me awake.
He feels the quiet ache I try to hide behind strength.
And still, He welcomes me.
Not with expectation,
but with compassion.
So I come as I am.
With the worries I cannot fix.
With the questions that keep circling.
With the heaviness I am tired of holding.
And I place it all in His hands again.
Not because I suddenly feel strong,
but because I know He is.
I am learning that surrender is not losing control.
It is finally releasing what was never mine to carry alone.
And when I let go, even a little, something shifts.
My breathing slows.
My thoughts quiet.
My heart softens in His presence.
Because He is not overwhelmed by what overwhelms me.
He is steady.
He is near.
He is already holding what I keep trying to pick back up.
So tonight, I am choosing to trust Him again.
With the fear.
With the unknown.
With every part of me that feels worn.
I may not have the words.
But I have Him.
And that is enough.
🇺🇸 Most Badass Americans You Don’t Know D-Day Edition: John J. Pinder Jr.
Technician Fifth Grade John J. Pinder Jr. landed on Omaha beach on his birthday. He didn’t make it off.
Born June 6, 1912, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, Joe Pinder was the oldest of three children. His father worked in the steel industry.
He graduated as valedictorian of Butler High School in 1931.
Pinder spent the next several years as a right-handed pitcher in the minor leagues.
He played six seasons in the farm systems of the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, and Brooklyn Dodgers.
In 1941 he won 17 games and was still chasing a shot at the major leagues when the war came.
He entered the Army in January 1942 after Pearl Harbor.
Assigned as a radio operator with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, he fought in North Africa and Sicily.
In Sicily he earned a Bronze Star for staying at an observation post under fire.
On June 6, 1944, Pinder landed with the first waves on Omaha Beach on his birthday.
Communications were shattered. His job was to get a working radio ashore.
He made it off the landing craft. They were 100 yards off the beach.
Then he was hit. A round tore into his face after only a few steps off the boat.
Pinder held the torn flesh of his face together with one hand, carried the radio with the other, and delivered the radio to his unit, while wading thru waste deep water.
That should have been enough. It wasn’t.
Weakened and bleeding, he turned around and went back into the surf and fire three more times to salvage communication equipment.
He even recovered another workable radio.
On the third trip machine gun fire hit him again, this time in the legs.
Still he kept going.
Weakening but exposed on the beach, he helped get the radios working so the men around him could call for support.
While doing so, he was hit for the third time and killed.
Medal of Honor. Posthumous.
It was presented to his father on January 26, 1945.
Pinder was initially buried in Normandy.
In 1947 his family brought him home to Grandview Cemetery in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.
He was the only professional baseball player awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II.
John Pinder is an American Badass
Thank you, John! 🫡🇺🇸
Elon Musk is absolutely correct on this.
Vote them out.
And in my opinion, the entirety of Congress had MONTHS under the direction of the President to get the SAVE America Act passed.
All 535 members of Congress are responsible for this.
This is the time when all members of Congress should have come together to protect American citizens and our sacred right of voting.
They miserably failed the American people.
These women, most barely in their early twenties stood at the front lines of human suffering.
Working 12-to-18-hour shifts in understaffed field hospitals and MASH units, they treated horrifying wounds from bullets, shrapnel, napalm burns, and landmines, often while mortar rounds exploded nearby.
With blood-soaked scrubs and trembling hands, they stabilized soldiers who arrived by helicopter in shock, missing limbs, or clinging to life. Many had never seen death before arriving in-country, yet they held dying boys’ hands, wrote their final letters home, and somehow kept going day after brutal day.
These courageous women of the Army Nurse Corps faced not only the horrors of war but also the emotional weight of watching thousands of young lives slip away, forever changed by what they witnessed in the bloodiest conflict, the Vietnam War.
#WarNurses #TheVietnamWar
Opossums live short, difficult lives, yet they spend their nights doing work many people never see.
Most only live about one to two years in the wild. They move through backyards, forests, roadsides, and neighborhoods after dark, searching for food while avoiding cars, dogs, predators, and harsh weather. Their lives are brief, but their role in nature is meaningful.
Opossums help clean the world around you. They eat pests, insects, carrion, and sometimes even venomous snakes. They also help reduce ticks, which can carry disease. In their quiet way, they support the balance of the places they pass through.
Still, many people fear them because of how they look or because they appear at night. But opossums are usually shy, gentle animals. When scared, they often freeze, hiss, drool, or play dead because they want to survive, not attack.
Kindness can be simple. Give them space. Do not harm them. Slow down when you see one near the road. Let them keep doing the work nature gave them.
Opossums may not live long, but they leave the world cleaner than they found it.