Deck of Cards

A young soldier was in his bunkhouse all alone one Sunday morning over in Afghanistan. It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't made a noise. The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk. Just then an army sergeant came in and said,

"Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?"

The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord."

The sergeant said, "Looks like you're going to play cards."

The soldier said, "No sir, you see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards."

The sergeant asked in disbelief, "How will you do that?"

The soldier replied: "You see the Ace, it reminds me that there is only one God.

The 2 represents the 2 parts of the Bible, Old and New testaments.

The 3 represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The 4 stands for the 4 Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The 5 is for the 5 virgins that were 10 but only 5 of them were glorified.

The 6 is for the 6 days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.

The 7 is for the day God rested after working 6 days.

The 8 is for the family of Noah and his wife, their 3 sons and their wives,

In which God saved the 8 people from the flood that destroyed the earth for the first time.

The 9 is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed 10 but 9 never thanked Him.

The 10 represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan. One of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.

The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365, one for every day of the year. There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week, 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represents the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards; there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for."

The sergeant just stood there and after a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?"


I hope this was encouraging. Have a great day.

The Four Candles

The four candles burned slowly. Their ambiance was so soft you could hear them speak...

The first candle said, "I am Peace, but these days, nobody wants to keep me lit."Then Peace's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.

The second candle says, "I am Faith, but these days, I am no longer indispensable."Then Faith's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.

Sadly the third candle spoke, ”I am Love and I haven't the strength to stay lit any longer. People put me aside and don't understand my importance. They even forget to love those who are nearest to them." And waiting no longer, Love goes out completely.

Suddenly, A child enters the room and sees the three candles no longer burning. The child begins to cry, "Why are you not burning? You are supposed to stay lit until the end."

Then the fourth candle spoke gently to the little boy, "Don't be afraid, for I am Hope, and while I still burn, we can re-light the other candles."

With shining eyes the child took the candle of Hope and lit the other three candles.

Never let the flame of Hope go out of your life. With Hope, no matter how bad things look and are, Peace, Faith and Love can shine brightly in our lives.

Something to share

Every man is afraid of something.
That's how you know he's in love with you; when he is afraid of losing you.

The teaching of respect for America

I found this article the other day and I thought it was very interesting. I wanted to share it with you because I feel strongly that each generation has something to pass along and I think something each generation is slowly leaving out is respect. Say what you want but we all know this. Look at how things were 50 years ago and how people treated one another. Thank you and you’re welcome, excuse me, holding a door open, are all slowly becoming a thing of the past. Sure people still do these things but what I am saying is that they are slowly starting to diminish.

But this article is talking about the respect of America and our flag. People need to keep teaching one another about how this country came about and what we as Americans stand for. As our settlers were forming our great country people worked hard for a better place, and they didn’t complain about it. America is a blessed country, and if you think it’s not, then you need to step out of your comfort zone and go take a look at many other countries. We have the right to speak our minds, and our religions. We have the right to vote either way we want to. In other countries you can and will be shot if you are caught supporting someone different that “they” don’t want.

So this little article I found talks about ways that we can teach our kids and the next generation about our blessed country and the respect we should show for her.

Also, as you read this please try to leave out your political party thoughts, we all know that what this article is talking about and it is not about being a Republican or a Democrat, it's about this country and the citizens that live in it. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Regardless of other beliefs, parents have a responsibility to teach children to respect our nation and to be proud to be an American. Here are some suggestions:

• 1.  Teach respect for the American flag by modeling appropriate behavior. Teach children the pledge of Allegiance, how to salute and care for the flag.
• 2.     Honor those who have served in our armed forces, both in the present and in the past.
• 3.     Make friends with a veteran in your church or community. Help your child record the stories these people can share.
• 4.     Plan a family trip to historical sites that offer re-enactment of early days in America. Before you visit, read about these events.
• 5.     Is your city planning an Independence Day parade? If so, attend or be a participant.
• 6.     Display an American Flag in your yard. Encourage neighbors to do the same.
• 7.     Take advantage of patriotic music or events scheduled in your church or community.
• 8.     Encourage your child to write a report on “Why I’m Proud to be an American.”
• 9.     Read about how the first Independence Day, July 4, 1776 was celebrated.
• 10.  Review American history with your children or grandchildren. Include people and events such as Paul Revere, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Second Continental Congress and George Washington. Encourage children to develop Trivia questions and plan a family night game time.

As your family celebrates Independence Day, make it more than food and fireworks. Remember the heroes who gave their lives to make our country free in the past, as well as those who served in our Armed Forces today. And thank God you live in a country like America.