Have Not I Commanded Thee? Be Strong and of a Good Courage – Joshua 1:9
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. –Joshua 1:9
Listen to Chapter 1 of Joshua, read by Max McLean and courtesy of BibleGateway.com.
Reaching Beyond Self – Sending a Soldier a Care Package from Home
There are many American soldiers scattered throughout the world who would like nothing more than a piece of home, whether that be much needed gear, bed linens, their favorite snack or just a few kind words in a short letter from a stranger.
Sending a care package from home to a complete stranger might not be your first thought when seeking self-development, but these small acts of charity (the more accurate translation of the word commonly referred to as “love” found in 1 Corinthians 13 in many newer versions of the Bible) help to take our mind off our own daily issues and to be thankful for the small things in life we take for granted.
Finding a soldier is easier than you might think. Shipping is not expensive and they are only a few basic guidelines you need to follow. The website Any Soldier makes it easy to put a smile on the face of a hardworking soldier.
From the Any Soldier website:
It was March 26th, 2003. Army Sergeant Brian Horn, one of 1,000 soldiers, parachuted into enemy territory in Northern Iraq. Five months later, Brian Horn was able to call his parents. Marty and Sue Horn had been sending their son an average of six care packages per week. So when Brian asked his parents to send more, “my wife and I thought he was kidding!” Marty Horn told me. “But Brian said, ‘no — its for the soldiers that don’t get any.’”
Both Marty and Sue Horn had spent their careers in the Military, so they immediately understood what Brian was saying. Millions of men and women serving overseas never receive any mail. Besides often lacking basic necessities, these men and women have to cope with the harsh conditions of serving overseas without signs of support from friends and family back home.
Any Soldier is a website that lets you find a soldier to send letters or packages to. Some are better off than others but all of them are missing something or another from home. Some of them would like nothing better than a letter.
Why would you want to do this? You may want to consider this act a reminder to be thankful for what you might take for granted, or to remember others before you start to worry about trivial matters in your life. Keep in mind this action is in no way a political statement. Whether or not you believe in the reason the government put those soldiers in various places around the world has nothing to do with the individual Americans that are far from home.
Maybe their store is always running out of soap or they can’t get their favorite gum or candy where they are. Maybe they are in short supply of socks or proper boots or need sheets. Maybe they are bored and just want a new video game to take their mind off more serious things in their off time. If you are a die-hard gamer you can understand this plight. The items and reasons are endlessly varied.
There are thousands of names to choose from and usually it is best to choose someone that is newly listed because they don’t have as many people sending them packages. Each soldier will state how many people they have contact with on a regular basis and separate them into male and female. I chose a female soldier because I figured I’d have a better grasp of what she would want or need.
If you want to help, do what you can, even if it is just a letter. I’ve read time and time again letters are much appreciated. This would also be a good project for a classroom or church. A soldier could be chosen that has an appropriate amount of contacts (say one for each student or one per classroom). A list could be made public of all their wants and needs. Small donations could be asked for the shipping and packaging supplies. Boxes could be sent off as they become full and the money is raised for shipping.
You can click on a link on the solider info page that will tell you what the shipping rules are. Also you will need to read the details about shipping. Basically you only pay for shipping to a few points around the United States, so you might want to pick someone that has a zip code close by to keep your shipping costs to a minimum. The average sized box shouldn’t cost more than 10 dollars or so to ship.
For security reasons you have to request an email containing the soldier’s address, and can only ask for a few at a time. They are usually prompt in emailing you the information, just be patient and check your junk mail. Also, before sending additional packages, check back and see if there is a notice that the address has changed. Usually it doesn’t because units move together, but if the individual is a floater of sorts or if a unit embeds itself into bigger units then there may be an address change.
If you decide to send anything, just follow the rules. Depending on where you send something the rules may change. Often you cannot send pork products, fresh vegetables, or money and I’m pretty sure you can never send anything overly violent or sexual, even if they don’t know any better or do know and ask. You are still responsible for what you send in the mail.
Although you may ship to a specific soldier, in spirit the packages can be given to anyone who might need what’s inside, but only if you write a specific line in the shipping address. If you want, you may write “ATTENTION: ANY SOLDIER” (in all capitals to adhere to U.S.P.S. guidelines) below the soldier’s name. This will help ensure that your package will be given to someone else who can appreciate your effort and not end up a “Return to Sender” waste of time and money.
I’ve had arguments with a few postal workers about the use of the line “ATTENTION: ANY SOLDIER” even though there is a name above it. This particular line without a name is not acceptable, but the official rule as I understand it, is that it is fine as long as there is a name above it. Try telling that to some of the postal workers and you’ll end up in an argument and won’t get anything sent.
There is however a simple solution to this. After writing the line, cross it off with a single pen stroke. Then there is no argument because if you are given a hard time by a well-meaning but misguided employee you can say: “Yes I know, so I crossed it off.” A scowl might be thrown your way but they can’t do anything about it. The addition of this simple line in the address helps the soldier understand the meaning of the package.
The rule of thumb for shipping is, if the box is shaken and you can hear stuff move around you haven’t stuffed enough peanuts in. I hold the box closed and give it a gentle and then rougher shake. Once I get the box so there’s no more sounds of shifting, I then pack a few extra in, squeeze it shut and tape it up very well. The reason I do this is because peanuts do settle a bit in shipment.
Put as many layers of sealed plastic as you can between things. If you send something such as soap and candy in the same box, wrap them up individually in several layers of small unscented trash bags or sandwich bags or even larger food storage bags. (These kind of bags can be reused and might come in handy.) I can ensure you, the candy will taste like soap after being locked up in a box for a good deal of time, even if they are both in their own package. This also helps if something comes out of its package and leaks. Even if it makes it way out of its own plastic bag, it won’t get on everything else. Whatever you do, never send anything like soda or aerosol cans like shaving 
cream or bug spray. Buy squirt bottles instead. It’s a good idea to tape removable lids in place.
Oh and don’t expect a reply. They are busy doing a dangerous job. It is usually easier to give them an email, but even then, sometimes they just don’t have time or don’t have access to a computer on a regular basis. Some of them don’t have access to reliable electricity!
The best way to keep up with what is going on with them is to check back on the website, as they have to check in every 50 or so days so the owners of Any Soldier know they are still available to take packages and letters. Some of them seem to give weekly updates with lots of pictures. Others aren’t so social or wordy and just let you know they received your packages and they are thankful and give an update on things such as “no more books we have a library now!” or “we still need socks and shampoo.”
Check out the Any Soldier website and become familiar with it. Click on some names and read what these soldiers have to say. Pick one, check the shipping rules for their particular address, and put a smile on the face of a hard working soldier!
1 Corinthians 13:11-13
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Living The Lord’s Prayer For Planet Earth
written by: Nancy B. Detweiler
For the past couple of months, I have frequently driven to a nearby location where I can view the sunset. Awe-inspiring … breathtaking … beautiful beyond words … 
are feeble attempts at describing the loveliness displayed. Looking up, the sky becomes God’s cathedral enfolding our planet … the indigo, white, rose pink, and gray clouds are transformed into heavenly stained glass windows, shimmering in the light of the Sun. Looking up, I am aware of our planet nestled within a universe of planets, stars, and Suns. Looking up, I pray the Lord’s Prayer for our planet.
On the other hand, I observe drivers speeding past a lovely sunset … people walking along the roadside … church members parking their cars nearby and going inside … few, if any, look up long enough to behold the heavenly vision surrounding them. All are engrossed in the tasks at hand … tasks that seem, to us, to be vital to our earth plane lives. Yet, these very tasks tend to separate us from the much more comprehensive drama of God’s unfolding plan for our planet. They cause us to look down … to forget that our lives are taking place on a planet … within a solar system … within a galaxy … within a cosmos.
I find that praying the Lord’s Prayer … while conscious of standing on planet Earth … looking up to the Sun of our solar system … magnifies the prayer into one for the planet. I invite all of you to do likewise. Praying thus lifts our perspective from one focused on our individual lives and immediate surroundings to remembrance of our entire human family. We can, then, seek to live out this prayer by extending our life’s orientation to one that includes our brothers and sisters throughout this planet. We shift to a new life paradigm … one that seeks to share with all who inhabit our planet.
Our Father becomes the Source of life for all that is … the Sun … stars … planets … and the inhabitants thereon. Our Father is the life force manifesting through the myriad forms of creation as they express on many dimensions of consciousness. We are increasingly hearing of encounters with UFOs and extraterrestrials. Most of us readily accept the existence of angels and the Ascended Masters. Our Father is their father as well. Many visitors from throughout the cosmos are present with us … they are members of our galactic family and have come to assist and to observe Planet Earth’s shift into the New Golden Age. As we stand before our Sun, praying the Lord’s Prayer, let us include our cosmic brothers and sisters. Let us begin to live with the realization that we are not alone on this planet … that many loving beings are present with us. They yearn to assist us in creating a home planet characterized by world peace and unconditional love.
Our Father, who art in heaven is the river of life through which flows our capacity to create world peace and familial love between all of Earth’s inhabitants. Our Father, who art in heaven individualizes as our I AM PRESENCE. From this dimension of heaven within us, we catch a glimpse of the prosperity and individual soul wellness/fulfillment that are available to all. Through contact with our I AM PRESENCE, or the God indwelling each of us, we can live in constant communication with the heavenly realms. Herein is the fountain for all our Good. Extraterrestrials, angels, and Ascended Masters drink from this same Fountain of Good. Through our Father, who art in heaven, all are members of one cosmic family. We live the Lord’s Prayer for planet Earth as we remember our interconnectedness.
Hallowed be thy name! Harper’s Bible Dictionary states that to hallow something is to set it apart, with great reverence, for a sacred purpose. Every name possesses a numerical vibration indicating the qualities through which all function. To pray, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name is to recognize, with deep reverence, the qualities of God … omnipresence within us as the I AM PRESENCE … the Source of all wisdom, love, and prosperity. Standing before a sunset provides the perfect setting for hallowing God’s name … the majestic loveliness, painted across the skies, easily fills us with awe. Then, our sacred purpose—stemming from this awe—is to assist in bringing forth God’s love and wisdom upon the Earth.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth. With these words, we affirm: It is possible to establish a Golden Age on planet Earth. God’s Kingdom is one in which all live in peace with one another … all—extraterrestrials, angels, ascended masters, and the inhabitants of Earth—work together and share the bounties of living in harmonious relationship. Thy kingdom come means that all are free to pursue their talents … to spend their time in tasks that are fulfilling and that enhance the overall Good. All are free to live out the numerical vibration within their name. Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth is a call to God for divine intervention into our lives … intervention that allows divine order to unfold on Earth as it does on the higher dimensions of consciousness.
The cosmic divine plan is that Earth is to ascend into the 5th dimension. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth affirms this truth. At this very moment, we stand at the threshold of the new heaven and the new Earth. Tremendous transformative events are taking place on the inner planes and will soon manifest on the physical. Then we will know—beyond doubt—that we are not alone … that we are loved beyond words … that God’s divine plan for each of us, and for planet Earth, is flowing forth in ways that are presently beyond our capacity to comprehend. Thy will be done is our surrender to the arrival of heaven on earth—the Golden Age of Aquarius!
Give us this day our daily bread. Our Father, give us all that we need to allow your divine plan to unfold in our lives and that of our planet. Grant to us an open mind with the capacity to receive abundance, intuitive guidance, and the acceptance that with God all things are possible. When God chooses to intervene in our lives … in the life of America … in the life of our planet … all things are possible. We have arrived at such a portal of divine intervention. Our daily bread becomes more than the food, shelter, and work we need in order to live on the 3rd dimensional, physical plane. Now, the daily bread we need is an open mind … a mind that allows for all possibilities … a mind that recognizes our intellect cannot lead us to truth. Our daily bread becomes attunement to our intuitive minds … the willingness to listen to the inner Self … to be an open channel for God’s love and wisdom to manifest in our lives. Insisting on physical proof slams shut the inner door. Our daily bread becomes the courage and persistence to live out our intuitive feelings, even though what we feel makes no common sense. We cannot move forward in God’s plan if we insist upon things remaining the same. Our planet is ready to move forward into a world of peace and love. Give us this day our daily bread is our affirmation that we surrender to the changes involved in Earth’s transformation.
And forgive us our offenses, as we have forgiven those who offend us. For at least the past year, many have felt compelled to make right their relationships with others … to seek to forgive others … to ask for forgiveness … to forgive ourselves … and to release the unhappy memories. We have felt the need to clean out our lives … our homes … the way we relate to others. This urge toward cleaning out, forgiving, and releasing signifies the unfolding of divine order … in preparation for the magnificent Light that is coming into our world.
Light shatters darkness. We may experience this shattering as trauma and the destruction of a belief system that, heretofore, has been the foundation for our lives. We are already reading and hearing on the news about cover-ups in our government. Light brings forth all that is not truth … in every structure of our planetary society. Give us this day our daily bread; forgive us our offenses as we have forgiven those who offend us. The Lord’s Prayer can become the foundation on which we base our responses to the coming days. Forgiveness will play a major role. Our daily bread is to be our willingness to forgive … to discern truth … and to be open to loving all persons while rejecting their behaviors. God has nothing to forgive because we are already perfect in the eyes of Our Father. Forgive us our offenses is a prayer to our own I AM PRESENCE: ‘Give me the wisdom to forgive myself for falling short in my discernment of truth.’
And do not let us enter into temptation, but deliver us from evil. As the Light tears asunder the curtain of darkness and illusions that characterize the 3rd dimension, we are likely to experience anger that so much has been hidden from us by those in power positions within every structure of our planetary society. We have been taught in our schools, churches, and governmental structures to think inside the box of traditional beliefs. Those who have refused this robotic mode of thinking have been persecuted, often severely. As the Light exposes the non-truths to which we have adhered, we may be tempted to react with anger and frustration. Do not let us enter into temptation, but deliver us from evil holds the secret to responding with forgiveness and love. Know that Light dispels the darkness. Light delivers us from evil. Evil—defined as living with our backs to God—can assume all sorts of horrific forms. Praying: Do not let us enter into temptation is our affirmation that we will strive to forgive and extend unconditional love to those who have lived with their backs to God. As the Light delivers us from evil, we are surrounded by a multitude of beings from the higher spiritual dimensions. These beings enfold us with love; they gladly instruct and help us in creating a new Earth. It is up to us to enter not into the temptation of continuing to think within the box of the former status quo. Much that preceded this time in our planetary history has been laced with darkness or non-truth. The Golden Age of Truth and Light lies before us. We are in the transition period … from darkness into the Light of a New Age.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. The kingdom of God on Earth, for which we have prayed for thousands of years, stretches before us. The Golden Age is an Age in which we live in God’s kingdom … in full knowledge of God’s power … and stand in the glory of God forever. The Golden Age is an Age in which we come to know and to experience daily the truth about ourselves: We are One with God and all of creation. In this kingdom, we stand in the Light of our own I AM PRESENCE, demonstrating the power that is ours to transform our world … We stand in the glory that is ours as child gods and we will do so for ever and ever. Once we know Truth, it cannot be taken from us.
AMEN! As we close the Lord’s Prayer and every prayer with the word Amen, we are affirming certainty that our prayer is present reality. Prayer is a means of co-creating with God; Amen commands, ‘So be it!’ Amen affirms our knowledge that the Golden Age … the new heaven and new Earth … are our rightful inheritance as Sons and Daughters of God. Amen affirms our intention to henceforth live within the kingdom, the power, and the glory of God and our own I AM PRESENCE for ever and ever.
In doing so, we live the Lord’s Prayer for Planet Earth.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/christianity-articles/living-the-lord039s-prayer-for-planet-earth-2134417.html
About the Author
Nancy B. Detweiler is the author of three books: A NEW AGE CHRISTIAN: MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY; WHERE ARE YOU, GOD? A METAPHYSICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLICAL BOOK OF JOB; & THE CAUDLES OF ANSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. Her books are available on her website: http://www.pathwaytoascension.com
CleanWear Aims for Positive Impact with “Put on a Clean Shirt” Message
The story behind CleanWear is not an unfamiliar one when it comes to parents not only trying to cope with a child’s struggle with drug abuse, but provide guidance and a hopeful message with meaning and substance.
According to the founders of this homegrown business:
CleanWear came to be in the fall of 2009 when our family envisioned a way for our oldest son, Josh, to have a second chance at success after many years of substance abuse problems that led him down a dark road.
The CleanWear mission is as striking as their clothing line. A portion of their revenue from clothing and fashion accessories goes toward personal growth programs such as addiction and education. They are committed to hiring people who need a second chance. Presumably not wanting to take a narrow approach, they strive to keep manufacturing of their products within American borders whenever possible. This start up also made a decision to be an active member on Twitter and Facebook.
"Put on a Clean Shirt" Campaign
It’s not just a shirt, it’s about hope and empowerment. When communities pull together, have a solid plan, and lift others up, we are surely all better off.
Read more at WAYD?
Welcome to Planet Earth 
leave a comment