Happy 4th of July!

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Happy 4th of July everyone. Even though we are at Canton’s First Monday we still were able to celebrate the tradition on July 4th. Friday night we watch Dale Jr take the checkered flag driving a tribute car to his father in the Nationwide  Series race.  Dale Jr drove the No. 3 Wrangler car honoring his Dad , Dale Earnhardt Sr. Last night we grilled hamburgers and watch the fireworks done by the city. Afterwards we watched the Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 400 race and boy did it have excitement. Today we had the traditional watermelon. We also    want to honor our men and women in the military who help protect our freedom to allow us to celebrate the 234th birthday of our nation.

Here’s a poem that was sent to me and boy does it cover the bases of  “ Why I Love America”.

I LOVE AMERICA

By Dr. Jack Hyles

It was the Monday morning of the opening of the 1977 Pastors' School. Several thousand men of God were traveling from all across America to assemble at our church for a week of training. America lay heavy on my heart. While in tears all the time and on my knees much of the time, I expressed the reasons that I love America. This poem was read during the sermon, "One Nation Under God," which was preached before several thousand at the aforementioned Pastors' School.

I love Thanksgiving when we pray,

And July 4th and Labor Day

With picnics, ants, and hungry flies,

And barbecue and hot French fries,

With Cokes and chips and apple pies

Beneath some hazy, lazy skies.

I love Miami's royal palm

That oozes forth a healing balm

Beside the ocean's quiet calm.

And Betsy Ross, and Orville Wright,

And dear Ben Franklin's flying kite;

And Thomas Jefferson's mightly quill,

And Alamo, and Bunker Hill,

And Paul Revere's midnight ride,

And Wilbur Wright's successful glide.

I love United's friendly skies;

And baseball when the umpire cries,

"Play ball!" as thousands quietly rise

To turn their moistened sober eyes

Toward waving flag that proudly flies.

And Casey Stengal's Stengaleze,

And Dairy Queen, and Tastee Freeze,

And cotton candy at the zoo;

And corny dogs and Big Macs too;

And Burger Kings, and shopping malls,

And hockey pucks, and basketballs.

And Mississippi's cotton fields,

And Holland, Michigan's spinning wheels;

Monotonous midwestern plains,

Florida's sun, Seattle's rams.

Atlanta's lovely, dogwood trails,

And Santa Fe's long clicking rails.

I love the Rocky Mountain peaks

Beneath a sky which mutely speaks;

And Disney World, and Disney Land,

And Georgia's fertile blood-red sand:

The Mississippi, and Rio Grande;

Wisconsin's cheese and dairy land.

I love McDonald's chocolate shakes,

And Minnesota's thousand lakes;

The Royal Gorge's mighty yawn,

A sleepy Alabama dawn;

The harvest moon that shineth on.

I love to gaze at Yellowstone

While licking on an ice cream cone;

And Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge;

And Ford, and Chevrolet, and Dodge.

I love the stately Empire State,

And San Francisco's Golden Gate.

I love St. Louis' friendly arch,

The Statue of Liberty's burning torch,

The Washington Monument's prickly goad,

And Colorado's trail ridge road.

I love "My Country, Tis of Thee,"

Oh, blessed land of liberty.

Long may our glorious land be bright,

With freedom's wondrous holy light,

Protect us by Thy matchless might.

I love to stand with hand o'er heart

And think of those who did their part,

Who left a mom a lone gold star,

Whose bodies rest 'neath fields afar.

I love New England's rolling farms,

Its quaint decor and blushing charms.

I love the azalea's freshened blooms,

East Texas' roses sparkling plumes.

I love it when my church choir sings,

And know the peace that worship brings.

There beats within my breast a dream

That that small faint and flickering gleam

Will soon become a mighty flame

To spread to all His matchless name:

That those dear four who call me "Dad"

Will know the country I have had;

Where freedom's flag flies proud and high,

And those dear ones may loudly cry,

"I'm free! My dad helped make it so.

That faint small gleam is now aglow!

That Christian land that he once knew

Is now the kind that we know too!

God's judging hand has now been stayed,

So I and mine are not afraid,

For churches like our own abound

In every city, village, town!

We're free to witness, visit, teach

The same dear truths we heard Dad preach!

And now we vow to God above

To pass it on to those we love."

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.