Historic Moments

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States.

I was in elementary school. I vividly remember an announcement over the school speaker system announcing that our President had been shot. I sat in the second row, third seat back. No one spoke a word. That is quite a feat for a classroom full of elementary boys and girls. Our teacher had started crying, and was trying to quickly wipe away the tears. We were stunned but we had no idea how serious this was.

School was dismissed and I walked/ran home since I live a few blocks away.

I was glued to the TV. (Yes, you younger folks, we DID have TV then) When it was announced by Walter Cronkrite, "From Dallas Texas, the flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1 PM central standard time"

He was visibly choked up and I had never seen emotion on a newscaster before - I my parents weren't home at that time and I just sat there, frozen.

(Link - If you are interested, it's toward the end)

I will never forget that moment. Kennedy's election coverage was the first I had ever watched and I viewed him as a very great man. He seemed young, even to me as a child. All of the other presidents I had learned about looked old.

I continued watching the news coverage every spare moment and I was again left speechless when Jack Ruby shot Oswald on live TV! (Note: This was the era before violence became commonplace on TV)

Link - If you are interested

Whether you are a young person, or older like me, you will have certain events burned in your memory. From that point on, I read every single newspaper article that I could find relating to President Kennedy.

Another related memorable event was when two year John Jr. stood like grown man and saluted his father during a memorial. A & E's biography of John Kennedy Jr. is in 5 parts, but the first view seconds of this video shows John Jr.'s salute.

Link

This video clip is not the one I saw live. The coverage I watched was a close-up of the family and John John stood their for probably 5-10 seconds in a motionless salute to the father he had just begun to know.

FYI: President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at 12:30 Central time.

"Freedom is NEVER free"

I borrowed my title today from a facebook status. We know that freedom for our nation had a cost. The older I get, the more I find myself interested in the details of history. History does repeat itself. Hopefully we can learn the things that are worth repeating.

As women, many of us eagerly look to the next stage -- Will I ever find someone to marry? Will he ever understand me? Will I ever have a baby? Will the struggles of these teenage years be over soon? Will my child marry a person that will help them get to heaven?

It's so easy to want to be free that we often forget to enjoy the moments that are. Every stage has it's struggles but it is also full of joys. Savour the joys of now and you'll be free of the struggles soon enough!

As individuals, we struggle to be free from our flaws. This is a good thing and while we'll never be free of them, we will grow.

Terry Sanford Smith

I got to know Terry and his wife Charlotte when they lived a few blocks from me. They are amazing individuals and I miss them.

While Terry worked with the church here, I visited with him on a regular basis. As time went by, he helped me learn some things about myself, some of which I did not want to know. As it turned out, the more I knew and accepted about me, the healthier I became emotionally.

Learning to love myself was a great gift and it occurred over time. An integral part of that process was a realization that came as a result of my observations of Terry Smith and how he interacted with everyone around him. I saw Terry consistently love people with words and actions. His genuine concern for people was like a shining light and at some point,

I UNDERSTOOD!

At that point, I had been a Christian for years and I knew in my head that God loved me and nothing could change that. While my head knew it, my heart had no clue until

that moment in time when Terry's example taught my heart that God loved me and NOTHING could change that. My heart FELT the love of God for the first time. My heart learned what my head had already known. What a gift!

Thank you Terry, for letting God use you to help me.

I recently came across a poetry blog entitled, "Your Story Matters". I was not surprised to learn that Terry Smith was the author.

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK.

Here is a link to just one of his poems.