Good morning Kerry. Busy day ahead...I am on virtual deployment for the Colorado wildfires.
Not a good day for those folks but hoping I can make things a bit better...







SGM Steve Wettstein LT Brad McInnis LTC John Griscom PO1 John Johnson Maj William W. 'Bill' PriceSPC Nancy Greene SSG Michael Noll CMSgt Steve Pennington SGT Ed Matyjasik SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL PO2 (Join to see) CSM Chuck Stafford SGT Herbert Bollum SFC (Join to see) 1SG Steven Imerman SGT Steve McFarland GySgt Thomas Vick
COL Lisandro Murphy LTC Dave Leppanen LTC Stephen F.

Thank you my friend and brother-in-Christ Sgt (Join to see) the “Colonel’s” VFV Motivational/Inspirational Quotes & Message of the Day! fro Sunday, January 16, 2021

“Beautiful Day!”
1. There is beauty in each day. Wise leaders and followers can see the beauty in all things including what many see as ugly, prickly, stinking, and too loud.
2. There is beauty in each form of art including music. God created music. HE gave us eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell , taste buds to appreciate favors, and the largest organ our skin to feel.
3. We experience life moment by moment. As long as we are alive we will experience challenges, times of peace, and time to reflect. Be content it whatever circumstance you find your self in. I stand with the Apostle Paul "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’ [Philippians 4:11b-13 ESV]
4. In Christ we are free. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 'All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

Quotes
1. John Piper. God created us for this_to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is.
2. Simone Weil 'Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace.'
3. Joanne Raptis 'Be like a tree. Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break. Enjoy your unique natural beauty. Keep growing.'
4. Roy T. Bennett 'Never let hard lessons harden your heart; the hard lessons of life are meant to make you better, not bitter'

Scriptures
a. Galatians 5:13-14 ESV 'For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’'
b. Mark 7:14-23 'And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
c. 1 Corinthians 10:23-27 'All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.'
d. Philippians 4:11-13 ESV Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’
e. Isaiah 53:2b 'he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him'

Image: Beautiful

Thank you my friend and sister-in-Christ Lt Col Charlie Brown for mentioning me.

FYI SPC Douglas Bolton CWO3 Dave Alcantara Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi 1SG Dan Capri PO2 (Join to see) Maj Robert ThorntonLTC (Join to see) SP5 Geoffrey Vannerson CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SPC Maurice Evans SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Woody Bullard GySgt Thomas Vick GySgt Jack WallaceSSG Michael Noll SGT Mary G.

It's a Beautiful Day - White Bird - 7/7/1970 - Tanglewood (Official)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q918fs4RAto

Growing in Mindfulness

Is there a method for cultivating mindfulness? Yes, there are many methods. The one I have chosen is gratefulness. Gratefulness can be practiced, cultivated, learned. And as we grow in gratefulness, we grow in mindfulness. Before I open my eyes in the morning, I remind myself that I have eyes to see, while millions of my brothers and sisters are blind—most of them on account of conditions that could be improved if our human family would come to its senses and spend its resources reasonably, equitably. If I open my eyes with this thought, chances are that I will be more grateful for the gift of sight and more alert to the needs of those who lack that gift.
—from the book The Way of Silence: Engaging the Sacred in Daily Life
by Brother David Steindl-Rast

Saints of the Day for January 16
(d. January 16, 1220)

Saint Berard and Companions’ Story
Preaching the gospel is often dangerous work. Leaving one’s homeland and adjusting to new cultures, governments and languages is difficult enough; but martyrdom caps all the other sacrifices.
In 1219, with the blessing of Saint Francis, Berard left Italy with Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to preach in Morocco. En route in Spain, Vitalis became sick and commanded the other friars to continue their mission without him.
They tried preaching in Seville, then in Muslim hands, but made no converts. They went on to Morocco where they preached in the marketplace. The friars were immediately apprehended and ordered to leave the country; they refused. When they began preaching again, an exasperated sultan ordered them executed. After enduring severe beatings and declining various bribes to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the friars were beheaded by the sultan himself on January 16, 1220.
These were the first Franciscan martyrs. When Francis heard of their deaths, he exclaimed, “Now I can truly say that I have five Friars Minor!” Their relics were brought to Portugal where they prompted a young Augustinian canon to join the Franciscans and set off for Morocco the next year. That young man was Anthony of Padua. These five martyrs were canonized in 1481.

Reflection
The deaths of Berard and his companions sparked a missionary vocation in Anthony of Padua and others. There have been many, many Franciscans who have responded to Francis’ challenge. Proclaiming the gospel can be fatal, but that has not stopped the Franciscan men and women who even today risk their lives in many countries throughout the world.