“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatever  state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil. 4:11) I confess. More than occasionally I dream of living in a state other than muggy Mississippi.  Okay, so I think about it more than occasionally, and in my search for greener pastures, I came across these tidbits. Mississippi has more than 2 million people, Alaska has approximately 700,000 people. Mississippi is nearly 49,000 square miles while Alaska is a sweeping 663,267 square miles.  In winter, Mississippi is green, Alaska is white. Mississippi borders four other states, Alaska borders none. Mississippi’s highest point is a hilly 807 feet but Alaska’s is a majestic 20,320 feet. Alaska's Kenai River (photo by Rick Small) Mint The Restaurant’s mint julep chicken and waffles is a Mississippi favorite, and while Alaska has no Mint, they do have a Nordstrom’s, my favorite department store for those stuffy-but-work-required business suits. Want to taste Mississippi’s mouth-watering catfish? Going once… going twice… wait, maybe you’d prefer Alaska’s healthy Omega 3-rich King Salmon. Residents of both states enjoy the great outdoors. Mississippians water ski while Alaskans snow ski.  Deer hunting in Mississippi or moose hunting in Alaska… take your pick. Line your pockets with Mississippi “white gold”, cotton.  On second thought, it’d be more profitable to line them with Alaska gold. So what am I driving at?  Here’s the bottom line. Both states have their unique landscapes, local color, and differences… much like people. Governor Sarah Palin has made a life in Alaska. I’ve made a life in Mississippi. We’ve both decided to “bloom where we were planted”, or maybe grow where we landed. No matter, we both have a home, family, friends, and fun things we like to do. We are using our skills, gifts, and talents to make a mark where we live.     Sarah Heath is Warrior #22 Looking to Governor Palin, she made a mark on Wasilla High School as point guard for the Warriors basketball team leading them to their very first state championship. She made a mark on Alaska small business by slaying salmon on Bristol Bay alongside her commercial fisherman husband Todd. When not knee-deep in fish slime, the self-described sports enthusiast was making her mark on the pageant world winning such titles as Miss Wasilla and Miss Alaska Congeniality, all for the sake of scholarship money for college. As a mom, Governor Palin made her mark on the community by getting involved with the PTA at her children’s school. And no one --- and I do mean no one -- can refute the indelible mark she made on the Mat-Su Valley as Wasilla City Councilwoman and Mayor or as the Alaska Oil and Gas Commissioner and Governor of the Last Frontier. Reaching beyond Alaska, Governor Palin splashed her mark across America as the 2008 Republican Vice Presidential nominee. Today she continues to make her mark as a wife, mom, and “Na Na”… a daughter, sister, niece, friend, prayer warrior, caribou-hunter, best-selling author, political analyst, keynote speaker, travelogue star via "Sarah Palin's Alaska", and endorsee of commonsense conservative candidates running for office, to name just a few of her providential “marks”. Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wasilla 1996 - 2002         Governor Palin of the great State of Alaska 2008 Vice Presidential Candidate Palin Are you making a mark where you live? Your circle of influence has eternal ramifications, you know that... right? God is looking for people to stand up and make their mark. He’s waiting for somebody who will be a leader in this hour—someone who’s not just waiting for the door to be opened, but who’s opening the door and pressing through. This is not the time to sit back and just watch what’s happening. Follow Governor Palin's example. It’s time to make your mark!  

  "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power..." (I Corinthians 2:4) Not one to just talk-the-talk but instead to walk-the-walk, Governor Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, demonstrated their belief in God's abundant life by giving birth to a precious baby boy with special needs. Trig Paxson Van Palin made his world debut on April 18, 2008 at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Palmer, Alaska. Gov. Palin and her son Trig soaking up some sun in Arizona on November 5, 2008 "The moment he was born... my heart overflowed with joy... I felt a love I had a never felt before and a compassion I didn't even know was there... Trig is a miracle", Gov. Palin often says of her fifth child. Speaking to more than 9,000 at the Women of Joy Conference in Oklahoma City on April 15, 2011, Governor Palin made it known in no uncertain terms that when it comes to Trig, "There are our standards of perfection, and then there is God's standard of perfection." Women of Joy worshipping the Lord in Oklahoma City where Gov. Palin made the keynote speech Governor Palin continued demonstrating God's goodness to those present with her encourarging faith-building words of wisdom. The following are excerpts from her message of exhortation: "Your passions and interests were given to you for the service of others and our Creator.” “In Matthew [Chapter] 5, Jesus taught something… ‘Bless those who are hurt and mourn’, and He said they would be comforted… they’d be blessed… when people insult… and make things up about you, or say false things because of His Name.” “Jesus’ blessings are directly tied to getting out of self and risking our hearts in service to others for His sake. That is what our purpose is, and He didn’t promise it would be easy.” Gov. Palin demonstrating God's power and grace to Oklahoma's Women of Joy “Our road… I know the Palin’s road, hasn’t been easy… if you were to ask people like my parents or your parents if their most important growing years were their easiest years, they would tell you ‘no’, because with trial and struggle comes significance and the power to live with purpose.” “My prayer for all of you through this conference, starting tonight, is that this year you’ll really hone in on seeking opportunities to focus on taking the steps forward into what God’s prepared for you…  to grow more tender to Jesus [and] to really listen to his voice… forgo any role of victim to pursue the role of visionary.” “You’ve got to learn to deal with unnecessary criticism because the critics will always be there.” Dance, Sarah, Dance! “The bottom line, gals, is to be a ‘woman of joy’, you might as well dance.”   

      It takes more than horsepower to win the world's longest toughest snowmachine race over an unforgiving Alaska landscape, just ask four-time Iron Dog Champion Todd Palin. Drivers also need skill, knowledge, and the determination to stay in the race.  Iron Dog contendors also race with perseverance. Perseverance means “the ability to bear difficulties calmly and without complaint.” Perseverance keeps going and moving forward no matter what opponents say or do.  I once heard someone describe perseverance as "stick-to-it-ness".        Todd Palin is a world class snowmachine racer Four-time Iron Dog Champion Todd Palin   Team #22 Davis/Palin ready to hit the Iron Dog Trail, the longest toughest snowmachine race in the world Like her world class snowmachine racing husband Todd, 2008 GOP Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin personifies perseverance. No matter how the mainstream media elite, the liberal political pundits, the late night talk show hosts, or even the nosy neighbor peering through a wooden fence may slander her, Governor Palin consistently perseveres. She forges ahead endorsing commonsense conservative candidates, speaking the truth with boldness at fundraisers and rallies, and shares personally from her heart at pro-life events without giving a fleeting thought to inevitable media backlashes and hit-pieces. In contrast to the Iron Dog Champion's perseverance and Governor Palin's "stick-to-it-ness", how then shall we describe the liberal agenda of this generation? It is like children calling to their playmates: "We wanted to play wedding, but you didn't want to be happy; so we wanted to play funeral, and you didn't want to be sad. So, in other words, what DO you want!?  What would make you happy!?"  The answer is, sadly, NOTHING! You might as well not even try, and thus Governor Palin does not TRY to accommodate the liberal agenda.  No doubt she provokes furious responses from those who oppose, but at the end of the day, I am certain that their spitting, their foaming at the mouth, their wide-eyed carryings-on leave them confused as to why they are going so insane over the self-proclaimed hockey mom from Wasilla. Here's how I'd like to apply it to commonsense conservative freedom-loving Christian Americans. Jesus said in John 15:18-27 that the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. If they were so offended with the Master, do you really think Governor Palin, a woman of devout Christian faith, can get by without getting anybody riled up? Well, she CAN'T.  In fact, she does everything exactly right, and she does it well, and humbly, and patiently, and with a good motive... and the liberal elite get so upset that they blame her for every ill on the planet. According to them, she must have had a hand in planning the September Attacks in 2001 and the Wall Street plunge last fall. She is the one causing the ice caps to shrink! She caused the deadlock in Congress, she engineered the Bird flu virus in her basement, and in their minds, there never WILL be peace and security as long as Governor Palin is on the loose. (Yes, it really is as Mahalia Jackson sings in Sweet Little Jesus Boy:  That's just the way things are down here below).  Silly, isn't it?     Gov. Palin with FL AG candidate Pam Bondi Endorsing Miller for AK US Senate Campaigning with Nikki Haley for SC Governor So what do we do? We vote for Palin-endorsed commonsense conservative candidates on November 2nd. We smile with both good humor and a heart of trustfulness, and pray, "Dear Lord, You know—much better than we do—how things are 'round here. Continue to give Governor Palin the bold strength to expose the socialist agenda seeking to take over our country. Protect her from the scornful enemies who plot to stone her dead! Keep her alive and her voice loud, Lord, and send her as many faithful supporters as can be gathered together across the nation. And one more thing dear Jesus: HEAL THEM ALL!"  

Known by its Athabascan name “Denali”, meaning “Great One”, majestic Mount McKinley is located in Alaska’s Denali National Park.  With a peak at 20,320 feet high, Denali is the tallest mountain in the United States.  History tells us that the first settlers are believed to be nomadic hunters and fishermen who developed villages and fish camps on the rugged terrain, and by the early 1900s, settlers came to Denali for the prospect of finding gold and striking it rich.  President Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act on July 7, 1958 which made Alaska the 49th state of the United States of America, and Old Glory was proud to boast seven rows of seven stars. Despite the destructive earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck south central Alaska on Good Friday in 1964, hard working Americans with pioneering spirits from the Lower 48 continued to pack up their belongings and move north to Alaska in search of adventure and a better life.  Chuck Heath, Sr. and his family from Sandpoint, Idaho were no exception. Can you imagine what the Heath family thought as they soared above the Rocky Mountains and the Yukon in a Grumman Goose marveling at the lofty summits and snowy peaks of the Land of the Midnight Sun?  Never becoming dismayed at the enormity of their challenge or the uncertainty of their future, the young family pressed onward to Skagway via Juneau when others would have turned around and headed back home. Just as the Heath family encountered physical mountains upon their move to Alaska, our nation today is confronted with figurative mountains:  energy dependence, illegal immigration, socialized healthcare, record-high unemployment, disregard for the unborn, the debt crisis, and the war situation.  These troubling issues can seem daunting and permanent.  Never learn to live with a mountain of difficulty.  Instead, like the Heath family, move forward in faith without fear or intimidation.  As Chuck, Sr. moved his family into a small house in the tiny town of Skagway, he had no way of knowing that his infant daughter, Sarah Louise, would grow up to be a city councilwoman, a mayor, a governor, a vice presidential nominee, a best-selling author, and a serious contender for the American Presidency. Fast-forward to Fairbanks on July 26, 2009, as the infant daughter is now Governor Sarah Palin bidding farewell to the Alaska governorship by wholeheartedly thanking its citizens for allowing her to serve and challenging the media to respect freedom of speech and honor the American soldier by, “Quit making things up.”  Governor Palin may have walked off that Fairbanks stage into an unknown political future, but she had mountain-moving faith in that, “The steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord.” (Psalm 37:23)  Governor Palin stepped out of one realm and into another as she has effectively endorsed common-sense conservative candidates like Alaska’s Joe Miller, Washington’s Clint Didier, and California’s Carly Fiorina, who are ready to take the U.S. Sentate by storm, and gubernatorial candidates like Iowa’s Terry Branstad, South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, and New Mexico’s Susan Martinez who are principled leaders and know what is right for their state. Encountering mountains--- difficulties, problems, hardships, the unknown – in life is inevitable.  Like the Heath and Palin families, we all come across them.  Some of our “mountains” are big like the Rockies, and some are as intimidating as Denali. The secret to moving mountains is to never become separated from our statement of faith.  We must keep our words connected to our faith as we stand alongside Governor Palin to take our country back in the 2010 mid-term elections.  America’s best days are ahead, and there ain't no mountain high enough that can't be conquerored as we move toward conservative victory in 2010!

  The gloves were off and the game was on in Madison, Wisconsin on Tax Day, Saturday, April 16, 2011 where Governor Sarah Palin declared, "And the 2012 election begins here... Mr. President, game on!" during a rousing speech aimed at the debacle of Obamacare and other left-wing policies crippling the American economy. Governor Palin's supporters were out in droves-- and in the sleet and snow-- to see the woman they believe (and I do too) will be the next President of the United States. In true Sarah-style, she wowed the crowd with her message of American exceptionalism and "we can do it" spirit. The following is Governor Palin's speech in its entirety as written on her Facebook page, with photos added by me for emphasis. ____________________________________________________________________ Hello, Madison, Wisconsin! You look good. I feel like I’m at home. This is beautiful. Madison, I am proud to get to be with you today. Madison, these are the frontlines in the battle for the future of our country. This is where the line has been drawn in the sand. And I am proud to stand with you today in solidarity. I am here today as a patriot, as a taxpayer, as a former union member, and as the wife of a union member. What I have to say today I say it to our good patriotic brothers and sisters who are in unions. I say this, too, proudly standing here as the daughter of a family full of school teachers. My parents, my grandparents, aunt, cousins, brother, sister – so many of these good folks are living on teachers’ pensions, having worked or are still working in education.   A pension is a promise that must be kept. Now, your Governor Scott Walker understands this. He understands that states must be solvent in order to keep their promises. And that’s what he’s trying to do. He’s not trying to hurt union members. Hey, folks, he’s trying to save your jobs and your pensions! But unfortunately some of your union bosses don’t understand this, and they don’t care if union members have to be laid off. No, they want to protect their own power, and if that means forcing a governor to lay off union workers, then so be it; they’ve proven that is fine with them. But that’s not real solidarity! Real solidarity means coming together for the common good. This Tea Party movement is real solidarity! Well, I am in Madison today because this is where real courage and real integrity can be found. Courage is your governor and your legislators standing strong in the face of death threats and thug tactics. Courage is you all standing strong with them! You saw the forces aligned against fiscal reform. You saw the obstruction and the destruction. You saw these violent rent-a-mobs trash your capital and vandalize businesses.  Madison, you held your ground. Your governor did the right thing. And you won. Your beautiful state won. And you know what – people still have their jobs because of it! That’s courage. And that’s integrity. And that’s something that’s sorely missing in the Beltway today. Because let me tell you what isn’t courageous: It’s politicians promising the American voters that, as we drown in $14.5 trillion debt, that they’re going to cut $100 billion out of this year’s budget. But then they cave on that and they reduce it down to $61 billion after they get elected. Then they get in there and they strike a deal and decide, nah, they will reduce that down to $38 billion. And then after some politics-as-usual and accounting gimmicks, we find out it’s not $38 billion in cuts. You know that $38 billion – we don’t have it; we’re borrowing it. We borrow from foreign countries to give to foreign countries, and that’s insanity. We find out it’s not even $38 billion; it’s less than $1 billion in real cuts. Folks, that $352 million in real cuts – that’s no more than the federal government is going to spend in the time it takes us to hold this rally today! That is not courage; that’s capitulation! Now, there’s a lesson here for the Beltway politicos, something they need to understand; the lesson comes from here in Madison. So, our lesson is to the GOP establishment first. And yeah, I’ll take on the GOP establishment. What more can they say about us, you know?  So, to the GOP establishment: if you stand on the platform, if you stand by your pledges, we will stand with you. We will fight with you, GOP. We have your back. Together we will win because America will win!  We didn’t elect you just to re-arrange the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. We didn’t elect you to just stand back and watch Obama re-distribute those deck chairs. What we need is for you to stand up, GOP, and fight. Maybe I should ask some of the Badger women’s hockey team—those champions—maybe I should ask them if we should be suggesting to GOP leaders they need to learn how to fight like a girl! And speaking of President Obama, I think we ought to pay tribute to him today at this Tax Day Tea Party because really he’s the inspiration for why we’re here today.  That’s right. The Tea Party Movement wouldn’t exist without Barack Obama.  You see, Candidate Obama didn’t have a record while he was in office; but President Obama certainly has a record, and that’s why we’re here. And hey, media, it’s not inciting violence and it’s not hateful rhetoric to call someone out on their record, so that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to do it to be clear. That’s right: we’re here, we’re clear, get used to it!  Candidate Obama promised to be fiscally responsible. He promised to cut the deficit; but President Obama tripled it!  Candidate Obama promised that fiscal responsibility; but President Obama flushed a trillion dollars down the drain on a useless “stimulus” package and then he bragged about the jobs he “created” in congressional districts that don’t even exist! That’s right; on this, White House, you lie. The only thing that trillion-dollar travesty stimulated was a debt-crisis and a Tea Party!  Now, the left’s irresponsible and radical policies awakened a sleeping America so that we understood finally what it was that we were about to lose. We were about to lose the blessings of liberty and prosperity. They caused the working men and women of this country to get up off their sofas, to come down from the deer stand, get out of the duck blind, and hit the streets, come to the town halls, and finally to the ballot box. And Tea Party Americans won an electoral victory of historic proportions last November. We the people, we rose up and we decisively rejected the left’s big government agenda. We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. And we are unwilling to pay for it.  But what was the president’s reaction to this mandate for fiscal sanity?  Less than 90 days after the election, in his State of the Union address, President Obama told us, nah, the era of big government is here to stay, and we’re going to pay for it whether we want to or not. Instead of reducing spending, they’re going to “Win The Future” by “investing” more of your hard-earned money in some cockamamie harebrained ideas like more solar shingles, more really fast trains – some things that venture capitalists will tell you are non-starters. We’re flat broke, but he thinks these solar shingles and really fast trains will magically save us. So now he’s shouting “all aboard” his bullet train to bankruptcy. "Win The Future"? W.T.F. is about right.  And when Wisconsin’s own Paul Ryan presented a plan for fiscal reform, what was Obama’s response? He demonized the voices of responsibility with class warfare and with fearmongering. And I say personally to our president: Hey, parent to parent, Barack Obama, for shame for you to suggest that the heart of the commonsense conservative movement would do anything to harm our esteemed elders, to harm our children with Down syndrome, to harm those most in need. No, see, in our book, you prioritize appropriately and those who need the help will get the help. The only way we do that is to be wise and prudent and to budget according to the right priorities.  Now, our president isn’t leading, he’s punting on this debt crisis. The only future Barack Obama is trying to win is his own re-election! He’s willing to mortgage your children’s future to ensure his own. And that is not the audacity of hope. That’s cynicism!  Piling more debt onto our children and grandchildren is not courage. No, that’s cowardice!  But did you notice when he gave that polarizing speech last week there was a little gem in the speech. Maybe you missed it. But he spoke about the social contract and the “social compact.” Well, Mr. President, the most basic tenet in that social compact is adhering to the consent of the governed. That would be “We the People.” President Obama, you do not have our consent. You didn’t have it in November. And you certainly don’t have it now. You willfully ignored the will of the American people.  You ignored it when you rammed through Obamacare.  You ignored it when you drove up the debt to $14.5 trillion.  You ignored it when you misrepresented your deficit spending.  You ignored it when you proposed massive tax increases on the middle class and our job creators.  You ignored is when you went to bat for government-funded abortions and yet you threw our brave men and women in uniform under the bus, Mr. Commander in Chief.  You ignored it when you got us into a third war for fuzzy and inconsistent reasons, a third war that we cannot afford.  You ignore it when you apologize for America while you bow and kowtow to our enemies, and you snub our allies like Israel.  And you ignore when you manipulate the U.S. oil supply. You cut off oil development here and then you hypocritically praise foreign countries for their drilling.  And when hardworking families are hit with $4 and $5 a gallon gas and your skyrocketing energy and food prices as you set out to fundamentally transform America, you ignore our concerns and you tell us we just better get used to it.  Well, Mr. President, we’re not going to get used to it. Not now. Not ever. You ignored us in 2010. But you cannot ignore us in 2012.  Mr. President, you and your cohorts threw all the hatred and all the violence you could at these good folks in Madison, Wisconsin. But you lost here.  And Madison, you defended the 2010 electoral mandate. You are heroes, you are patriots, and when the history of this Tea Party Movement is written, what you accomplished here will not be forgotten.  Your historic stand brought down the curtain on the last election. And the 2012 election begins here.  We will take the courage and the integrity that you showed all of America. We will take it and we will win back our country!  God has shed His grace on thee, America. We will not squander what we have.  We will fight for America! And it starts here in Madison, Wisconsin!   It starts here! It starts now! What better place than the state that hosts the Super Bowl champs, to call out the liberal left and let them know: Mr. President, game on!  God bless you, Wisconsin, and God bless America!

   It's finally here!! "The Undefeated" debuts in theatres on Friday, July 15th? Do you have your tickets? Get your tickets to "The Undefeated" http://theundefeated.cinedigm.com/tickets.html ____________________________________________________________________ June 10, 2011 Lights. Camera. You Betcha!  A new documentary film by Stephen K. Bannon illuminates Governor Sarah Palin's political achievements, and possibly her future. "The Undefeated" will hit AMC theaters soon in Dallas, Denver, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Atlanta, Orange County, Phoenix, Houston, Indianapolis and Kansas City. "I haven't seen the final product," Governor Palin wrote on her Facebook and Twitter feeds, "but I sure liked the sneak peek and rough cut." The former GOP Vice Presidential candidate added she was "looking forward to seeing the finished film and really appreciate [director] Steve Bannon sharing it with us all." Visit the official website for the "The Undefeated" and vote to see the film in your area! Follow "The Undefeated" on Facebook and Twitter. ___________________________________________________________________ Editor's Note: When I hear the word "undefeated", the following Bible verses come to mind. Be encouraged Governor Palin. There are more of us than there are of them. Ps 34:7 - The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.Is 41:13 (NIV) - For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.Deu 31:6 (NIV) - Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.Ps 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. Jer 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 2 Tim. 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.Ps. 27:1 - The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?2 Cor. 2:14 - Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:37 - Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.GAME ON!!