250 years ago today, on June 28, 1776, a half-finished fort made of palm tree logs and sand did something it had no business doing: it beat the most powerful navy on earth and saved the American South. We just hit the 250th anniversary of one of the most improbable victories of the entire Revolution.
The setup looked hopeless. A massive British fleet under Admiral Sir Peter Parker sailed into Charleston harbor to crush the rebellion in the south before it could grow. Guarding the city was an unfinished little fort on Sullivan's Island, defended by Colonel William Moultrie and a few hundred men. The walls weren't even done. One British officer reportedly figured they'd flatten it in an hour.
Then the palmetto logs did the impossible. The fort was built from soft, spongy palmetto wood packed with sand, and instead of shattering when the British cannonballs hit, the logs just absorbed them. Iron sank into the mush and stuck. The fleet hammered that fort for hours and could not break it, while the American gunners coolly fired back and tore the British warships apart. Several ships ran aground. Admiral Parker himself got hit so hard that the blast literally ripped the seat out of his pants.
And then the moment that became legend. When a cannon blast knocked the fort's flag down, Sergeant William Jasper climbed out over the wall, in the middle of the bombardment, grabbed the fallen colors, and raised them back up so everyone could see the fort still stood.
By nightfall the British fleet limped away. They wouldn't seriously come back to the south for nearly three more years. South Carolina loved that fort so much it put the palmetto tree on its state flag, where it still flies today.
A quarter of a millennium later, the lesson still lands. Sometimes the thing everyone writes off as too soft and too unfinished to matter is the exact thing that refuses to break.
there is something in these photos that nobody is talking about.
the earth, seen from the moon’s surface, is a crescent. the same shape we see the moon from earth. which means from where these astronauts stood, our entire world, every human being alive, every city, every ocean, every mountain, was receiving light the same way the moon does.
dependent. reflective. not a source but a receiver. and God placed both of them, earth and moon, in a gravitational relationship so precise that if either one shifted slightly, the conditions for life dissolve completely.
He did not just create them. He positioned them. He calibrated the distance. He calculated the tilt. He set the orbital speed. and then He rested.
what that tells me about God is something i am still processing.
He is not a God who creates carelessly and steps back. He is a God who creates with intention so deep that billions of years later, the greatest scientific mission of our generation goes out there and finds everything exactly where He left it. the craters on that moon are not evidence of chaos.
they are evidence of endurance. of something built to absorb impact and remain.
God put that quality into the moon because it is His own quality. He absorbs everything this world throws at existence and remains. unchanged. unshaken. still in orbit. still faithful. still holding everything He made in the dark.
🚨“WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Office Members, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is SAFE and SOUND!” - President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸
If you're keeping score ...
Geno mad Dawn didn't shake his hand pre-game?
*Video replay shows she did.
Geno says South Carolina ripped his player's jersey?
*Video replays shows Sarah Strong ripped her own.
Biased? Clemson had 3 hits, 2 errors, 5 walks allowed, 2 running scoring wild pitches, struck out 15 times, and lost 7-0. Am I supposed to talk about how well they played?
What’s this tool bags name? Relieved of game day duties isn’t enough. He’s initiating contact bcuz they play for the other team. That’s technically‘assault’ for absolutely no reason. Make him famous!