SemperFidelis07

There is not, nor has there ever been an independent Kingdom, and Emirate, or a Republic of Palestine. There has never been an indigenous Palestinian people, there has never been a Palestinian language, nor has there ever been a Palestinian culture. The name itself was created by the Romans to spite the Jews after they took over the Land of Israel. It was named after the land of the Philistines, a long time enemy of the Jews who were not Arab, they weren't even a Semitic race. Then the Islamic Empires ruled it for a long time, until finally, the British took over and used and Anglicized version of its Latin name, calling it "Palestine". This was until 1948, when the land was recognized as Israel. "Palestine", until 1948 has always been "occupied land". The so-called Palestinians have no religious claim to it. Throughout history, they had plenty of opportunities for a Palestinian land and they turned it down.

My sister called me yesterday. The man met with his lawyer and decided to plead guilty. They gave him life without parole.

Well, the trial starts in early March. He does not stand a chance in that county. It's a rather red area so I doubt any prosecutor won't ask for the death penalty. Maybe a merciful jury will give him life.

I hope he finds Jesus before they pump in the potassium chloride.

I'm also asking you pray for that guard's family.

Ten years ago, my older sister was brutally raped and beaten nearly to death by a man she once considered her friend. She got pregnant and made the choice to keep the baby.What came was a beautiful angel of a little girl. My older little niece. Her attacker got thirty-five years in prison. Ten for rape, twenty-five for attempted murder. Well, now he went and killed a prison guard who tried to break up a fight between him and another inmate. He stabbed him several times. Now he's awaiting trial and could get the death penalty. Here I am hoping he will and I know as a Christian, I shouldn't.

Oohrah, brother.

You know something, my nieces are here to spend three weeks Christmas vacation with me and my wife. They arrived Saturday. Just seeing their smiles, hearing their laughs, hugging them makes me forget everything that is wrong with the world. This past morning before heading off to work, I went to check on my nieces. Seeing my older niece, Maya, sleeping there peacefully...all I needed wat to see her angelic face and later hear my sister's sarcastic sense of humor from her at dinner and I forget that she wouldn't be here because of that man (in the loosest sense of the word). You know, I'm gonna write out a letter, keep it in a safe place and maybe one day send it. Right now I can only pray that his time in prison will change him for the better. A lot can happen in 35 years. The judge stated that if he was legally able to, he would have sentenced him to life imprisonment but he gave him the harshest possible sentence that the state of South Carolina allowed.

My favorite is the 1984 version with George C. Scott as Scrooge. I think anything George C. Scott touched turned to gold. The 2009 movie with Jim Carey isa close second.

Of course I'm not gonna tell him about my niece if I do decide to write to him. He won't be paroled for "good" behavior, the court wanted him to serve his full sentence, but I'm still not gonna open an old wound. Maybe I'll take your advice and write it all down and put it to the side and possibly shred it later instead of sending it.

Abortion seems to be a big topic on many Christian forums I'm on. Well, this subject got me thinking about an incident that happened to my sister. Pro-choicers talk about cases of rape or incest. Well...It's easy to say "don't blame the baby for the crimes of the rapist" until it's happened to you or someone you love. My oldest sister was raped and beaten to within an inch of her life with a chain eight, nearly nine years ago by a man she once considered her friend. She was only 18 and she got pregnant and she made the choice to keep the baby. Her fiance (later that year, husband) agreed because it was her decision. But we would have totally sympathized with her if she decided to abort the pregnancy. However, what came out of this traumatic event for our family was a beautiful little girl. My sister bore a daughter, my little niece who I love more than anything and you know what, she and her husband had another little girl two years later. As for the rapist, that scumbag got 35 years for rape and attempted murder. He nearly killed my sister, he raped and beat her with no remorse, and now he's getting what he deserves. And I hope one day he'll get to see the beautiful result of his crime that the Lord granted my sister. This beautiful angel of a little girl who will never acknowledge him as her father. He's going to be locked away for decades and when they finally release him (that is if he survives prison), he'll be branded a sex offender until the day he dies. She only visited him at the prison one time and that was in 2010. My sister looked that man dead in the eye through that glass and told him that she forgives him and loves him as a good Christian woman. Now I'm only telling you this because my sister speaks to rape victims and encourages them not to abort. I can only hope he finds Christ in prison because I know I can't forgive him for what he's done but I suppose I should because if he hadn't I wouldn't have my older niece. Well, now I want to write this person a letter expressing my feelings to him that I kept in me for years. Now that I'm an adult, a proud uncle of two, a Marine veteran with two deployments, and a father to be, I want to write to him not out of spite but just the straight facts. Do you think I should? And what should I say. My sister didn't tell him about her daughter, she was very to-the-point with him. I will not succumb to hatred even though I can honestly say I hate him. Please, if you're going to post scripture, explain how it's relevant.

I always looked forward to Christmas when it came around. Even as a kid,I knew that the most important thing about Christmas after the birth of Christ our Savior was family, love, good will, and generosity. What I enjoyed the most was doing everything together with the family. Pre-Christmas: I come from a big family (I'm number 3 out of 7 and the only son), so decorating was never a burden. We'd get assignments by selecting them out of a hat. My favorite thing to do as a kid was to climb up the ladder with my dad and hang up the lights outside. We would also try and buy or prepare something meaningful to each other as presents (in addition to material presents). When we were little, our parents would take us to see Santa in the mall of course. We would also do our tree selection twelve days before Christmas, decorate it with both bought and made ornaments and the youngest one of my siblings (the last one being my fourth youngest sister) would put the star on top. Then my dad would always do the initial lighting of the tree. Christmas Eve: During the day, I'd help my mom cook Christmas dinner and put the presents under the tree. My dad works as a corrections officer and generally came home at 1900 or later but on Christmas Eve, he'd come home early. Most of the time, it was just the immediate family but sometimes we'd have family over and when we got older, we'd invite our significant others over. We'd go to church, the come home and have a light dinner and then go to the living room. Then we would all just spend a few hours talking, watching a movie, each giving our own view of what the Nativity meant for mankind, and ending it off with singing Christmas songs. When I was a kid, up to the age of seven, I'd sit with my second to oldest sister (who I was always closest with) on the couch by the fireplace looking for shapes in the flames. We'd both fall asleep on the couch so "'Santa' would see us". Christmas Day: 0800 we're all gathered in the living room to exchange gifts. Now for Christmas dinner, we'd always invite guests to join us. I can count on one hand the number of times our family was alone for Christmas dinner. My dad would lead us in prayer before eating. Most of the day, we'd just spend time together. It was always really nice. I really missed it when I was on my deployments or didn't get Christmas leave when I was in the Marine Corps. This will be my first Christmas as a married man in a new house and with a new job. My two little nieces are gonna stay with us for Christmas vacation while my oldest sister and her husband will be going to Israel. Keeping with the tradition of my family, I'm inviting my co-worker (who was my first CO in Iraq) and his family over for Christmas dinner.

Do you (or will you) tell your little kids about him? I think my wife and I will tell our kids. No harm in a little imagination and fantasy. All kids eventually find out it's not real. I figured it out when I was 7. But my parents really stretched the fun to make it seem more "realistic". They said it wasn't always the same Santa. They said that one retires when he gets too old and looks for a new one to take his place but not just anyone could be Santa. The candidate must be Dutch, must be Christian, must be named Nicholas, must speak every language, and must have the Christmas spirit in his heart all year long and if he has kids, they must be grown up. That's what we'll do when our daughter is born.

My wife decided, Anastasia Marina Anderson. She says she feels that that's the perfect name.

Before Thanksgiving, I took my wife to the doctor for an ultrasound/appointment. We have a healthy baby girl coming in June. We narrowed it down to four possible names: Anastasia, Nataliya, Marina, and Sofia.