I remember when, in elementary school, (mine was near downtown Minneapolis) we used to bring our dimes (only) to school and slip them into a small cardboard folder.  When it was full, we would receive another.  I think it was all for the war effort of WW2. Or just after the war??
Those were the times when money, even lowly coins, were important... our military needed these monies.  Oh sure, we had paper drives and soda bottle drives, turned in our damaged pots and tires, etc.  But they all required a bit of 'elbow grease', worked up a sweat to collect and pull wagons full to the school grounds or wherever the collection station was.
But, to slip a dime into the folder...to hold something in our hands that was valuable...something that could represent a paper bag of penny candy or a music magazine with the words of all the popular songs...to give ME pleasure...Well, I guess it gave me pleasure to do my small part to help the military overseas, fighting to keep me safe.  It seems patriotism encouraged even children differently then.
I had one uncle in the Army and one uncle in the Coast Guard...the least I could do was bring my dimes and place them in the folder.

Here's something to make you smile...can't you just see that fat-tummy, smiling bear say,

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them"

A. A. Milne, Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh

Isaiah 6

I was reading Isaiah 6 this morning and though God is speaking here of Judah, it sounds so much like what's happening in the Middle East today. 
 I read:
v. 11....“How long, O Lord?” (until the people obey God)

And he said:

“Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

and the land is a desolate waste,

v. 12 and the Lord removes people far away,

and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land."

(I added the blue)

The upheaval in all those countries surrounding Israel is no mistake, not coincidental...It is the Lord Who plans and commands it.  When they make Jehovah their God, He will treat them well as His children.

It's just pure grace that I was born in this free country; it is truly 'the land of the beautiful', in spite of our grumbling about it at times.  I thank Him for my life in Him here today.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Home.aspx

Do you hope so??

Often I say, "Oh, I hope so!" or, "Is that what you hope for?" 
We hope for the mundane:  I hope the coffee is hot.  I hope the sun shines today.  I hope my gr-kids turn out alright.  I hope my money stretches....
I've been watching the flowers pop into bloom the last couple of weeks.  A few years ago I planted a Camelia bush but it didn't bloom until this year...couldn't even remember what color it was supposed to be.  It's RED!!  (photo I took below).  The last few years the ornamental peach and pear trees were in bloom and we had another hard freeze that turned the blossoms a disgusting brown...they looked like Satan touched each one and laughed.
So, this spring I hoped that wouldn't happen...and my hope was realized...it didn't.  They bloom today; the jonquils and forsythia are also bright against the still sleeping grass.  What I hoped for did occur...flowers that bloom in the spring.

Today I share a V.I.P. 'hope-for'~~~"Looking for that blessed hope and the appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ." 
He is my hope and I'm hoping for the day He will return.  I can count on that promise:  HE WILL RETURN !
That verse is followed by another gem-the gospel: ~~~~"Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity..."   Titus 2:13,14
Yay!  Thank you, Jesus........you are my reason for hope.

What are you hoping for today??