A Soldier's King

Luke 19:38

. . . Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

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To keep you, our soldiers, warm and safe this holiday season, we pray that Christmas will bring a moment of peace and hope , not just for our country, but for the entire world.

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A Soldier’s King

written by John Barlow Jarvis and Kenny Horton

performed by Donny Osmond

video slide show

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja-7nRKLrsM

No one seemed to notice

The man beside the road

He was just a ragged soldier

Out there in the cold

But he seemed to have a purpose

Only known to him

As he walked along the streets that night

Through the town of Bethlehem

In his head he held a memory

Of all the wars he'd known

In his hand he clutched a medal

For the bravery he'd shown

And the weight of every battle

He carried in his heart

But his eyes were clear and searching

For a manger in the dark

Chorus:

Some are born to greatness

Some are born to fall

Some are bound to be forgotten

Like they never lived at all

But we're all born to know Him

And stand before His light

Like the soldier who found his king tonight

He had marched for politicians

Served under their command

And he fought for all the causes

That he did not understand

But there was something deep inside him now

That led him on his way

With a single star to guide him

To where the baby lay

(Chorus)

He stood before the Son of God

Come to pay our debt

He smiled up at the soldier

That the world would soon forget

So he held out his medal

And said this for you I bring

There he swore allegiance

To the newborn baby king

(Chorus)

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Growing up, my dad told me that he was a cook during WWII. He served on a supply ship which ran between California and Hawaii, or so he said. He would told me the story and always fixed a pot of Navy Bean Soup to prove it. My Dad lied about being a cook, he lied about never seeing any action, but he did make Navy Bean Soup. 

Here’s his recipe:

3 cups dry navy beans, soaked overnight in a pan with water and a T. of baking soda
1 large onion, chopped
1 c. diced celery
½ c. shredded carrots
1 ham hock, the meatier, the better
2 chicken boullion cubes
1 ½ quarts water

Drain the soaked beans, put them in kettle. Cut all of the meat off of the ham bone and reserve the meat, but place the bone in the pot and add all other ingredients. Bring soup to a boil, then simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until beans are soft. Remove bone, stir in ham bits and let heat another 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if it’s too thick.

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Today is Pearl Harbor Day, and it seemed an appropriate day to express gratitude to those serving in the military and their families. Only 3 soldiers from the USS Arizona are still alive to remember that “Day of Infamy”. Thanks to all of those who served in WWII. Our country is filled today with other soldiers and veterans to whom we owe our gratitude. Our families face and prepare to make the ultimate sacrifice. I talked with my nieces son, Jess after he completes his Marine Corp training, and he told me he learned to do automatically whatever was necessary to protect our country and our people. I admire him. I thank him, and his family. If you the opportunity to reach out and give support, do it. Show them love. I’d like to thank my niece Connie (Jesse’s mother) for helping me find this article. I was looking for a story, but thought this was a great reflection of a leader who cares enough about his men to serve them. Thanks, Connie and thank to Jesse and all other fine men and women who are serving in the military.

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A General Mattis Christmas Story

Extracted from : http://www.txdevildog.com/a-general-mattis-christmas-story/

A couple of months ago, when I told General Krulak, the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, now the chair of the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, that we were having General Mattis speak this evening, he said, “Let me tell you a Jim Mattis story.”


General Krulak said, when he was Commandant of the Marine Corps, every year, starting about a week before Christmas, he and his wife would bake hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Christmas cookies. They would package them in small bundles.
Then on Christmas day, he would load his vehicle. At about 4 a.m., General Krulak would drive himself to every Marine guard post in the Washington-Annapolis-Baltimore area and deliver a small package of Christmas cookies to whatever Marines were pulling guard duty that day. He said that one year, he had gone down to Quantico as one of his stops to deliver Christmas cookies to the Marines on guard duty. He went to the command center and gave a package to the lance corporal who was on duty.
He asked, “Who’s the officer of the day?” The lance corporal said, “Sir, it’s Brigadier General Mattis.” And General Krulak said, “No, no, no. I know who General Mattis is. I mean, who’s the officer of the day today, Christmas day?” The lance corporal, feeling a little anxious, said, “Sir, it is Brigadier General Mattis.”
General Krulak said that, about that time, he spotted in the back room a cot, or a daybed. He said, “No, Lance Corporal. Who slept in that bed last night?” The lance corporal said, “Sir, it was Brigadier General Mattis.”
About that time, General Krulak said that General Mattis came in, in a duty uniform with a sword, and General Krulak said, “Jim, what are you doing here on Christmas day? Why do you have duty?” General Mattis told him that the young officer who was scheduled to have duty on Christmas day had a family, and General Mattis decided it was better for the young officer to spend Christmas Day with his family, and so he chose to have duty on Christmas Day.
General Krulak said, “That’s the kind of officer that Jim Mattis is.”

The story above was told by Dr. Albert C. Pierce, the Director of the Center for the Study of Professional Military Ethics at The United States Naval Academy. He was introducing General James Mattis who gave a lecture on Ethical Challenges in Contemporary Conflict in the spring of 2006. This was taken from the transcript of that lecture.