Herr Goebbels Couldn't Have Said It Better

Huh. Obama. He barks like a dog NOW.

Thanks Steve Ford, for helping me say "Thank YOU!"

Betty Ford was laid to rest today.  

And of course many kind and well-deserved tributes are to be found throughout the various media. But, one moment, in the number of beautiful eulogies struck me to the core. So much so I found myself blinking my eyes and gritting my teeth so I didn’t start sobbing in midday traffic.

Betty’s son Steven, began his eulogy talking about love. About the love his parents had for each other, for their country, and also about the love they showed all their children. He talked about the fact that his parents would tell him many times that they would pray every night together. And, at the end of their prayers, how they would pray for their children.

“They told us that they would hold hands each night at bedtime and at the end of their prayers they would pray for each of us and recite Proverbs three: five through six saying ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path.’ “

Steven then went on to talk about how much that meant to him, and to his brothers and sisters.

“That’s a gift to us. Mike, Jack and Susan. Thank you Dad. Thank you Mom, for loving us, loving your husband (sic) loving the Nation with the heart of God. We miss you, God bless you.”

As I listened to these words and thought of my own parents, blinking my eyes and and swallowing deeply many times, an overwhelming rush of thoughts surged through my mind, and my chest tightened with the effort to contain them, to sort them out.

Because these words that Steven delivered could be almost the exact words that someday I might find myself saying about my Mother. My Father.

Like President Ford and his wife Betty, my parents are people of deep faith, integrity and honor. Like the Fords, my parents worked hard and sacrificed for their children and their community. Like the Fords my parents loved each other, loved their children and loved their nation with the heart of God. Like the Fords, I know that every night, my parents get down on their knees and pray. And, like the Fords, my parents pray for their children and grandchildren. And yet there are differences.

Although I know my parents pray for me, my brothers and my sisters all, I don’t know what their prayers consist of, what words they might use. Unlike the Fords my parents made their way in the private sector, and used their influence and gains for the benefit of the community and for the Nation. And last, and really the best difference of all, my parents are still alive, healthy and vital, and they continue to do all those things that the Fords did for family, country and God.

And so, how could I not be compelled to sit down and say “thank you.” Thank you President and Mrs. Ford for all you sacrificed to carry out the Lord’s will. Thank you for what you did for the Nation, for our State and for my home now, Grand Rapids. Thank you for raising a good family and a good son.

Thank you Steven, for so compellingly remembering your parents’ love and thanking them in such a profound way that it touched my heart. And soul.

And thank you Mom and Dad.

Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for giving all of us children the opportunity and foundation to have a personal, loving relationship with Christ. Thank you for helping us feel God’s love through him. Thank you for loving our nation with a Heart of God. And thank you for loving each other, through sickness and in health, in good times and bad, through crises and joys. Thank you for loving me and all of us through it all. Thank you.

And how could I not thank God? For lletting me have the opportunity to show my gratitude to Mom and Dad. Today. And everyday that I am blessed to be with them.

Sen. Marco Rubio on the Rush Limbaugh Show

This proves Grand Rapids is the home of funky lip dub

Clark Retirement Community LipDub from Vision Stew on Vimeo.

McCotter. Rocks.

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism