$25 Amazon/PayPal -Red, White & Blue Event-WW-Ends 7/7

Hi everybody--it is officially summertime and this weekend is the 4th of July. The perfect timing for another giveaway put together by Lisa of Planet Weidknecht and Bonnie of LeahSay’s Views. As always they have done a marvelous job and have my thanks!

I generally hide out in my apartment on July 4th weekend-I am not a fan of "bombs bursting in air" or on the roads!! Francis Scott Keye wrote what became our National Anthem in 1814. I think this is a good time to remember the words

The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics
By Francis Scott Key 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I actually copied and pasted the above from the USA flag site (I know the first stanza by heart--but the rest?) And if someone could please explain why tears start in my eyes every time I read, hear or sing this song-I would truly appreciate knowing. As an aside I would like to mention that peoples of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths actually worship the same God. It is in the prophets and their teachings that they differ!!

Now on to the giveaway--Miki's Hope will be giving away a $25.00 Amazon GC or PayPal to one lucky reader. But there are others participating in this hop as well (you can find a linky list below the giveaway form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Each of the participating bloggers will be hosting their own giveaway with a minimum value of $25.
Please visit the bloggers listed in the linky below and enter for a chance to win each of the prizes!

All opinions expressed are my own honest opinions. For more information please check my Disclosure Statement. Our giveaways are in no way sponsored or promoted by Facebook.