Forefathers John Calvin, Robert E. Lee and my Heavenly Father

But although our mind cannot conceive of God, without rendering some worship to him, it will not, however, be sufficient simply to hold that he is the only being whom all ought to worship and adore, unless we are also persuaded that he is the fountain of all goodness, and that we must seek everything in him, and in none but him. My meaning is: we must be persuaded not only that as he once formed the world, so he sustains it by his boundless power, governs it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, in particular, rules the human race with justice and judgement, bears with them in mercy, shields them by his protection; but also that not a particle of light, or wisdom, or justice, or power, or rectitude, or genuine truth, will anywhere be found, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause; in this way we must learn to expect and ask all things from him, and thankfully ascribe to him whatever we receive. For this sense of the divine perfections is the proper master to teach us piety, out of which religion springs. By piety I mean that union of reverence and love to God which the knowledge of his benefits inspires. For, until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings, so that nought is to be looked for away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience; nay, unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity.

From "Institutes of the Christian Religion" by John Calvin

Are you a Southerner or a Yankee?

Take this here little test-it will do either one of two things: it will confirm what you already knew to begin with, or it will suprise you at the way our beautiful Southern dialect is being polluted by the harsh Yankee tongue.

This was posted on one of my favourite forums

The Dixie War Room

I Am The South

by Louise Nettles Allen

I was born on April 12, 1861, in the Harbor of Charleston, South Carolina and the Constitution of the Confederate States of America is my Birth Certificate.

The blood lines of the South run through my veins, for I offer freedom that each State should regulate her own affairs, according to its best interest. I am many things and many people.

I Am The South.

I am millions of living souls, and ghosts of thousands who died for me. I am the Farmer-made soldier who did not turn his back during Pickett's Charge. I am the Rebel Yell that was heard across many of my rolling fields, protecting our homeland.

I am Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson: I stood at Fort Sumter and fired the shot heard through our young nation. I am Longstreet, Hood and Patrick R. Cleburne. I am General's Johnson, Beaugard and President Jefferson Davis.

I remember how we fought in Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Vicksburg, and Atlanta. When duty called I answered and stayed until it was over. I left my heroic dead in Chickamauga, in the fields of Shiloh, on the bloody hills of Mannassas and the mountains of Kennesaw.

I Am The South.

I am the Mississippi River, and the cotton fields of Alabama and the piney woods of the Carolinas. I am the coal fields of Virginia and Kentucky, the Florida coast and the Louisiana bayou. I am Richmond, the Capitol of the Confederacy. I am the forest, field, mountain, and rivers. I am the quiet villages and the cities that never sleep.

I am the Heritage that's been forgotten, the dying memory of a way of life that is being still. You see me in the twilight and hear me in Dixie, as the past continues to fade away each year.

Yes, I Am The South, and these are the things I represent.

I was conceived by force, and God willing, I'll spend the rest of my days remembering my birth. May I always possess the integrity and the courage, and the strength to keep my Heritage alive, to remain a Loyal Southerner and stand tall and proud to the rest of the world.

Do not forget who we are, what we are and where we came from.... This is my goal, my hope, my prayer.
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Oh, I found out yesterday my sister is having another girl...Yea!!! Aunt Dessie x 2!

Heritage

It's always been an intrest of mine, coming from somewhere and someone. In junior high I started having these stirrings within to be in touch with my heritage. I have always known that I was a "Rebel girl" and began in childhood listening to country, pinning the Confederate Battle flag on my bedroom wall, and preferring to hang out with friends who thought the same about these kind of things as me. In the words of Barbara Mandrell, "I was country when country wasn't cool." Nowadays, according to the PC crowd, being what I am isn't so cool. Oh, well.

As a Christian, I am also stirred within about where I am going. I belong to God, I am His child, adopted by Him, and will some day become a citizen of Heaven. Oh, this isn't too cool with the PC'rs either.

But what an awesome thing to look at where I came from and learning about some of the people in my lineage and seeing the hand of God bring me to where I am now. Before my biological mother died, she told me of the lady I am named after, Dessie Mae (I am Dessie Ann). Dessie Mae was her grandma. My mother told me more than once about spending the night at her grandma's and at bedtime laying there in her grandma's bed, watching her kneel by the bed and listening to her pray. She prayed for her husband and children. She prayed for her grandchildren. She prayed for her great grandchildren and her posterity. She prayed for me, and I wasn't even born yet. She prayed for my children and I dont have them yet. And I am named after this godly lady.

Also recently I have discovered my dad's line has been traced on both sides. I knew about his dad's lineage, but didn't know until a couple of weeks ago about his mothers. It seems it has been traced thus far back to the late 1600's early 1700's in Switzerland. The next generation came to America. They stayed for one generation in Lancaster Co. PA and belonged to a church group known as Ephrata Cloister. From what I've researched on that, it seems this was a very devout, God fearing group of people. The line moves on to Dekalb Co. TN where the line remained (and some still remain there to this day.) My great, great, great grandpa was named John Calvin Atnip. There is a John Calvin in my line...how cool is that! He was named after one of my favorite theologians.

What gets even cooler, John Calvin and 3 of his brothers served in the Confederate Army. One of the brothers died in a Union POW camp in Indiana. John however, lived until well after the Great War was over. I now have proof to become a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and that is really cool too!

A few years before my mother died, she became a believer in Jesus Christ. She began praying for me and a couple of years later, I too accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord.

This is a legacy I want to pass to my children. The godliness of my forefathers, the Cause for which some of them fought, a love for Dixie, an inheritance of the Confederacy, and a hunger for an even greater inheritance-an eternal inheritance.