Happy Memorial Day!

While most of us are all cozy & warm in our beds this morning, Amanda's friends are in Austin getting ready to start their triathlon.  They've been training for such a long time, and I know they're all excited (and a wee bit anxious) about how they'll do both individually and as a team.  Once again, here's a picture of the team, Good Ass Fried Chicken.  Please don't anybody bother to ask me how they came up with that name, because I do not know!  I can only conjecture that they ate some really good fried chicken one day & decided that would be a good team name.  I truthfully have no idea, but maybe Amanda will fill me in when she gets back in town.  As some of you may recall, she's the team's No. 1 athletic supporter - so she's in Austin as Jockstrap LBS, cheering her team on to victory.  Regardless of how GAFC places in the race, I'm extremely proud of all of them for the time and effort they've put into preparing for this event and helping raise money for the LLS.

As much as I admire them, the REAL reason for this holiday shouldn't be lost on any of us who live in this wonderful country of ours.  It may be flawed here and there, but it's still the greatest nation on earth - and hundreds of thousands have fought and died to keep it that way.  We owe it to them to take at least a few minutes today to pause and think about the sacrifices they made to preserve our freedom.  And while we're at it, I think we should also stop & say a little prayer for all the military personnel who are currently serving in combat.  Even if you disagree with the political reasoning behind their deployment, these men & women are performing their duty - and the very least we can do to repay them is to remember them in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Please hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform in service to our nation. 

In Christ's name we pray.  Amen.