Every year, I share this video of French caretakers who take sand from Omaha Beach in Normandy, and scrub them into the letters to give them the gold coloring.
They do this for all 9,386 US soldiers who died.
France also gave us this land as American soil. #MemorialDayWeekend
A pastor asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast.
"Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going.
The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned.
Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable.
Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen."
Within that prayer there is great wisdom for all when it comes to complicated situations like we are experiencing in the world today.
Stay strong, my friends, because our LORD is mixing several things that we don't really care for, but something even better is going to come when HE is done with it. AMEN!
How cool is this?! The Wyndham in downtown #Pittsburgh is lit up with graphics for the Draft, and it looks SO much better than what I had in my head! After the event tonight I ran up to Mt. Washington and the West End to capture it, and these are some of my favorites.
Did you know these interesting facts about Tommy Shaw?
In a dramatic turn, Shaw joined Styx in 1975 as a last-minute replacement for John Curulewski right before a major tour. He flew to Chicago for the audition, where they never even asked him to play guitar—they hired him based on his demo tape and his ability to hit the high harmony on “Lady.” His guitar stayed in the case!
• His debut album with Styx, Crystal Ball (1976), was named after one of his own songs, and he contributed major hits like “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man),” “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights),” “Too Much Time on My Hands,” and “Renegade.”
• The song “Boat on the River” (a bluegrass-influenced Styx track) came from a random mandolin purchase in South Bend, which inspired him to write it on the spot.
• Beyond Styx, he was a member of the supergroup Damn Yankees (with Ted Nugent and Jack Blades) and has released solo albums, including one called The Great Divide that leaned into his bluegrass roots.
• He was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
• Fun personal note: He’s 5’ 5½” tall, and his songs have appeared in movies like Armageddon, Tommy Boy, and Encino Man.
#mikesquestions #TommyShaw #Styx