What It Means To Be An American Citizen

Indianapolis Power and Light Building

 

 I was asked to write an acknowledgement, to be read at a ceremony honoring one who has  recently become a naturalized citizen of the USA.  The ceremony took place in another state and I was not privileged to attend, however it was my pleasure to assist in honoring her for this accomplishment. 

With permission, I share this today. 

 

 

What It Means To Be An American Citizen

Congratulations!

You are an American Citizen now.

 We celebrate with you today.

 Those of us who are American by birth applaud you and welcome you.

 We honor you for your choices and hard work that brought you to this moment,

 a moment etched in time.

America is known as the Land of Opportunity.

As you know, many nationalities and cultures are the face of an American.

My great-great-grandparents came from England and France and Germany

and though I am an American by birth,

 at one time,

 my ancestors stood

 on the threshold of hope and freedom just like you are today.

 Though they were distinct individuals with strengths and unique abilities,

 they came longing for the new beginning offered here.

So when you came to the United States of America as an individual with character and integrity,

 you most likely came with hope for a bright future,

 and along with that hope you also brought strengths and unique abilities.

 You brought abundant experiences,

 and perspective from a life lived beyond these borders of what is now your home.

You are an individual who is special and crafted by God for this moment.

 As God's eyes scanned the horizon of time,

 He knew that you would be needed here.

 So plans have fallen in place and dreams have been fulfilled

 for this time when we celebrate with you.

Being an American doesn't strip you of your heritage or your unique experiences and talents.

It doesn't take away your purpose in life.

 Oh no, when you came bearing those rich experiences and wonderful talents,

 and then CHOSE to become American,

 you chose freedom,

 FREEDOM to be uniquely you and free to pursue life,

 the life you long for.

 You are free to celebrate liberty and fulfill your purpose,

 and you're free to pursue happiness,

 the happiness you will find in serving others.

Though you are one individual, unique and gifted with talent,

 now you choose to become one of us and stand for the freedom we all hold so dear.

 Each one of us, uniquely individual, standing together with others,

 united and undivided in our purpose for freedom,

 that is an American.

So I say Welcome and Congratulations,

 and may you find great happiness in fulfilling your purpose as an American.

God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

 

 

 Rachel Easley Going

 

Who Decides This Stuff?

Have you heard that a first impression is made in only four seconds?
4 seconds
FOUR SECONDS

Uh OH!

And if you happen to be a magazine ad,
 you only have TWO seconds to make your first impression.

However, since you most likely are not a magazine ad,
 you have a two second leeway!

Just thought you'd want to know.

You're welcome!

:)

It's Official. It's BUG WEEK!

Well hello there little guy!

 

What's the view like from up there?

 

You and your siblings must have decided that you like to visit our porch.

 

How many of your family is here?

 

I see you and your brothers and sisters
 (or is that your parents?)
on the porch rafters and the windows and the rocking chairs
 and the hummingbird moths pulling nectar from the flowers
 and those noisy cicadas that keep landing on the porch floor and making that bzzzzzzz sound
 and the mosquitoes that enjoyed us as their tasty meal last night.

 Because of all this buggy activity,
I've officially named this week,
 BUG WEEK! 
Yes, it's Bug Week at A Romantic Porch.
Doesn't that make you feel special and proud, Mr. Bug?
You should.
Cold days are coming and soon you'll be gone.
Sniff!

Oh and by the way,
are you a
Praying Mantis
or
Preying Mantis
or
 Walking Stick?
Just what do you call yourself Mr. Bug?

And one more thing,
the most important thing,
though I really hesitate to call this to your attention.
Here at A Romantic Porch we generally say all visitors are welcome,
however when I learned that your nearest relatives are
termites and cockroaches,
uuuhhhmmm,
I really don't want them to come.
So, maybe...
don't let them know you are having such a wonderful time here.

Have You Ever Seen This?

Each evening lately, as dusk is approaching, we see hummingbird moths hovering over our flowers. 
 Look closely, maybe even squint. In the upper third of the photo you should be able to see it.

The first time I saw one, it caught me a tad bit off guard.

It felt a little weird to realize this thing was a bug!
Their flight patterns and movements are eerily similar to hummingbirds.

But as I got used to the idea and began to watch it use its long needle like "tongue" to gather nectar, I realized as it "ate" it was pollinating the flowers.

As they fluttered and flew from bloom to bloom, I found them to be difficult to photograph with the camera on my phone!

 

 

 

Now Tell Me What Would You Have Done?

 Rachel Polly Pocket donned her pink Polly Pocket dress and accessed the situation. 

 Work was non-stop for everyone at Polly Pocket Castle. 

There were not enough hours in the day to mark off the To Do List and she would lie awake at night worrying

 about customers and jobs and her family

and world crisis and starving children and homeless people

 and the near extension of the Quetzal bird in Central America

...well sorta that and some of the other stuff...sorta.

And worry wasn't changing anything.

She knew that change would only come with doing something different.

  She saw that the smallest of the Polly Pocket family had a very empty emotional tank and this was causing the little one much frustration.

 So Rachel Polly Pocket told the smallest of the Polly Pocket family that they would just leave the Polly Pocket Castle behind and do something fun...like bake a cake OR play pretend Polly Pockets.

While the cake cooled on the rack,  they flew through the dining room on their own private jet, headed to a cruise ship located off the Island of Hawaii, aka, dining room walkway.

 For the last leg of the journey to the cruise ship, they boarded an elaborate purple helicopter.

  Once they arrived at the cruise ship they just played and played and had fun.

Then they ate warm cake straight from the cake pan and washed it all down right quick with icy cold milk.

But they shared part of the cake with the male members of the Polly Pocket family.

And everyone in the Polly Pocket smiled and said it was very good.

 

Given those same circumstances, now tell me what would you have done?

That's what Rachel Polly Pocket did.

FALL and Becoming

Favorite photos from a previous Autumn

Dear Readers,  Some of you have wondered...did I find her?  Yes, after several failed attempts, I found my teacher, "Mrs. Fisher", and we have reconnected through Facebook.  I am overjoyed.
I knew you would want to know!

Did you see the leaves on the trees grow limp and droopy?
I'm certain you've seen this as Summer has worn on.
As Fall approaches the trees look like they're longing for change.
Maybe they are ready for cooler weather.
Or maybe it is the refreshing rain for which they are longing.

Now Fall has arrived!
Today is the day!
Yesterday as we drove on one of our main streets in town we talked about the last day of Summer.
You probably did that too!
And did you notice every time you drove past that big maple tree the leaves seemed to change a little more, almost within an hour?


This morning, yet again, the colors were more vibrant and distinct.
I'm sure you noticed it too.
Everything is still MOSTLY green.
I mean the leaves are still mostly green when I say everything.
I squint my eyes and I wonder.

I wonder about all the color.
I wonder about all the beauty.
Did you squint your eyes and wonder about any of this?
This beauty and color for a few  weeks will be splashed across the landscape before falling away.
But right now it is hidden under green.

Autumn is beautiful here in Indiana in a Mid-Western sort of way.
There are festivals and pumpkins and mums and hot cider and bon fires AND s'mores.
Do you enjoy Fall activities?
Surely you have a favorite.
Fall is miraculous, a seasonal MIRACLE.

I am always amazed every time I see the green change to vibrant color.
Please tell me it amazes you too.
The color is hidden under the green waiting for cool days.
It is waiting for some gentle rain.
It is waiting for some stiff wind.

All this brings change from green to color.
And I wonder since the miracle of color lays beneath the green in the leaves,
then what miracle is waiting to surface in me and in YOU?
There is a miracle in YOU.
Did you know that?

It may take a season, or several seasons.
It may take drought and hard times.
It may take some gentle or pelting rain.
It may take cool breezes or even stiff wind.
The elements will bring change.

In its time,
a season will come,
a miracle will happen,
IN YOU.
Hold tight!

What are your thoughts as you squint your eyes and wonder?

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

 

Old Testament Holy Bible Ecclesiastes 3

Mrs. Fisher, I NEVER expected this!

I hold no illusions of myself.
You know,
 illusions,
 such as:
 I'm grand or glorious,
or brilliant,
or funny,
or interesting,
 or that people clamor after my opinion.
Nope, that's not the way I think of myself.
I'm just me,
doing what I can,
 to do my best,
with my circumstances,
right now,
this moment.
When I wrote my first blog post almost six years ago
 (which I never published),
I really didn't know where this blog would take me. 

There are so many fabulous and famous bloggers out there.
Fortunately, they are willing to share tips on building a great blog.
I take those tips to heart,
though often, time doesn't allow me to place a priority on implementing those tips.

People love to read what the famous bloggers write and share.
I enjoy their blogs too.
Immensely!
I love to read what they write,
 their funny "take" on life,
or decorating,
or cooking,
or simply,
 ever so simply,
bringing me a new thought to ponder.

In 2007, my niece and I were discussing blogs.
She's had a blog since "blog time" began.
She knows the ins and outs of blogging.

She said I needed a blog and generously set one up for me.
I thought maybe I could sell some of the stuff I made through one.

A series of twists and turns in life left me using my blog to write.
Nope, not sell the stuff I made.
Just write.
Then my blog was hacked, hijacked!
It was taken from my administration and restructured by an "author" from who knows-what-or-where.
I felt violated.
Discouraged.
Stalked.
My words had been cast to the wind.
After several weeks, when my blog was once again my own,
it was with great uncertainty that I forged on.
I wanted to quit.
Give up.
Throw in the towel.
Yell, "loser"!
Hang my head in shame.
Something compelled me to proceed.
Cautiously, I started once again to brave the depths of vulnerability.

I love to write.
I remember receiving a brown diary for Christmas when I was nine years old.
I was so proud of it.
It was a place for words of my own.
When I was a Freshman in High School, Mrs. Fisher, my English teacher, challenged us to write in a journal every day.

Actually, she required it.

She was my English teacher 9-12 grade, and the journal was required every year.
Yes, I have all four years of High School, written in journals.
Priceless!
I guarded my journal carefully.
It was filled with pages of me, shy, uncertain, self-conscious, determined, little me.
If it would have been scattered and torn or ripped and cast to the wind I would have crumbled and melted right into the red clay soil of Northwest Arkansas.
Well, that's what I thought then.
Life has taught me I would have survived!

With her vivacious and energetic personality, Mrs. Fisher instilled in me a love for transposing thoughts or activities to written words.
I should find her and thank her.
Yes, I should thank her for all she nurtured in my learning and her part in becoming who I am today.
Through her class journal assignment,
she made me write when I didn't want too.
She required me to write when the thoughts were too difficult for transcription.
She insisted that I record my thoughts and activities when I was too busy.
And she allowed me to feel the joy of thoughts flowing freely into words.
In my memory, I can still see her beautiful brown curly hair and her petite frame moving from desk to desk to desk as she quickly circled the classroom and put a red check mark at the top of each student's completed journal page, and recording credit in her grade book.
She did this every school day.
I think often of the effort required on her part because this was an assignment for all of her students.
She said, "I will never read what you write.  Those are your thoughts, your words.  However, you must write one page.  I will check to see that you did the assignment each day.  You will receive credit for doing it."

I LOVED this assignment.
It was like my Christmas gift diary.
Only it was all grown up now!

Her system of checking our work,
 balanced against the assurance we could write whatever we chose, gave me freedom for expression.

So in 2007, when I first wrote the blog post, that remains unpublished,
I hung on the edge of fear, knowing that if I hit publish, suddenly with one key stroke,
 my thoughts  which I had translated to words,
 would no longer be my own.
Even now, when I click to publish a new post,
the fear surfaces because
the thoughts that have become words,
 are with the click of the cursor, 
 no longer mine,
they become ours.
They are now words that can be loved or criticized or despised or treasured.
They are simply scattered beyond my reach,
no longer guarded and held tightly in my arms, secured between  the front and back flimsy cardboard flaps and spiral wire binding
 of my journal.

Across these blog years,
I never expected to have people, some strangers, reach my direction, through private messages,
and other means of communication
 and tell me things with which they were dealing.
I never expected for someone to tell me that what I said through written words had given them a new focus...
...a new perspective.

I carry these people, and their concerns close to my heart.
I have been blessed by their stories.
It strengthens my resolve to live wisely and graciously.
When someone out there tells me they been touched by words read here...

...then...
I am humbled,
truly humbled.
I never expected it!
I'm writing for us,
 you and me,
AND
for Mrs. Fisher,
 and those looking for a glimmer of joy and a fresh breath of hope.
Thank you from the depths of my being for letting me know the words have come full circle.


I think I will see if I can find Mrs. Fisher.
AND
thank HER!
This is proof positive that a teacher's influence never stops.

If and when I do find her,
hopefully she will go easy on my sentence structure and grammatical errors
 and other things of importance to the English language!
Maybe she'll even put a little red check mark at the top of the page and record credit for it!

And also~
to those who've suggested it,
yes, I have started the book.