I love Halloween for a number of reasons - the kids, the candy, the costumes, the contests, the decorations, the stories, the music and the scary movies. It’s the ending of my favorite month, when the air turns crisp and cool, and the beginning of the holiday season, full of beautiful sights, sounds and smells and visits with friends and family.
I love the tricks and the treats, the laughter and the screams. As a Christian, I understand the story of All Hallow’s Eve and know there’s nothing devilish about it. It’s the perfect time to share with your family and enjoy the life God gave you. Whip up some ghoulish treats with your kids, create a crazy costume and, if there’s karaoke at the party, jump up and sing. It’s all about making sweet memories that will last a lifetime.
Tomorrow, the colors will change from orange and black to red and green, and “Monster Mash” will be replaced with “Silent Night”. So read “The Pit and the Pendulum”, eat some candy, don your creative costume and have a safe, spooky, fun Halloween. It only comes once a year!
Happy Halloween, America!
Years ago, I signed up for and graduated, with high marks, from truck driving school and joined my husband on the road. What an experience! I didn’t know until then that I suffered from travel sickness, so it only lasted a few months, but they were some of the most interesting and educational months of my life.
I traveled through forty-four states in four months, seeing this great nation through the bug-splattered windshield of an eighteen-wheeler. I discovered this country is amazing, even through that dirty glass. The words to “America the Beautiful” leap from the page when you see this country from the road. Have you seen the spacious skies of the Western desert, the amber waves of grain of the Midwest or the majestic mountains of the Northwest and the Southeast? If not, make the time to see this country through the eyes of our ancestors. The good Lord blessed us all, for it is beautiful, from sea to shining sea.
During those months, that big truck became my home, sleeping, eating and working there twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I learned to love and respect rest areas, truck stops and diners with truck parking. I also learned a great deal more about the hard-working Americans who drive this nation and make it great, from truck drivers, to factory workers, waiters and waitresses, cashiers, janitors, secretaries and the highway patrol. Do you, as Americans, realize how many people work hard every day to make your life better? So many people touch your life - how many lives have you touched?
Today, think about everyone you meet, treat them with love and respect and show them some American hospitality. Allow someone to cut in front of you in traffic, thank your boss for your job, smile at the janitor, warmly greet the cashier, tip the waitress and wave at the truck driver you pass on the highway. Most importantly, take the time to pray and thank the good Lord above for blessing you with the gift of living in a free, diverse, interesting and great nation.
I am an American. I live in the greatest country in the world, with the freedom to be anything I dare to dream. I bear no ill will against the rest of the world. I have a brother-in-law from Mexico and a niece from Russia. I have friends who were born in England, Mexico, Laos, Korea and Russia and relatives who have traveled to and lived in many other countries and have wonderful stories to tell. Myself, I have traveled to Scotland and believe it to be one of the most beautiful and friendly places on God’s green earth. So, to reiterate, I bear no ill will against the rest of the world. I am simply proud of the country in which I was born and honored to be surrounded by such a vast and wonderful mix of people.
Generations before mine, my family, like so many others, struggled to travel here for the chance to settle in this “new world”. They were driven by adventure, opportunity and the dream of being free, free to own and work their own land, free to work their own trade, free to thrive, free to fail. The forefathers of this great nation had already fought and died for that freedom, paving the way for my ancestors. They had the courage to follow that path to this brave new land, and I am blessed to now be a part of its history.
There have been struggles and wars in this diverse country. People have fought, people have died, but people have also stood up for and loved one another, overcoming their differences. Is that really so hard to understand, considering this is earth’s “melting pot”? Other countries consist of mainly one people, one culture. America, since its infancy, has strived to blend a mix of cultures, on the basic commonality of freedom. We should be proud that the English, German, Dutch, Scottish, Italian, Greek, French, Norwegian, Spanish (and so many other nationalities) could all live peacefully, for the most part, in one place. It was something new, something never before imagined – there were bound be struggles!
Every day, America endeavors to blend even more cultures, more beliefs, more religions, believing that all men are created equally. How can the rest of the world not understand, when we ARE the world? We are a blend of their people, the ancestors they love and honor. We are, overall, a nation of good, cultural, religious people.
I am proud to be an American. I am honored to be free.
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