I wrote the poem below on Sept. 11, 2001. My daughter Brittany and I were
watching Fox News coverage of the plane crash at the World Trade Center
and watched in disbelief as the second plane crashed into the second tower.
I was crying and I began to pray when I started hearing the lines that became
the poem below. As events unfolded the lines continued through the morning
and early afternoon. The ending came as an answer to my prayers that
evening. I feel the poem came from above and I just happened to be the
messenger. Please feel free to share it with your friends and loved ones. It
is posted at various 9/11 memorial sites. We will never forget.
God Bless the USA. God Bless Us All.
Jacki
The Day Our Nation Stopped To Pray - September 11, 2001
Today we watched in horror as Lower Manhattan rocked.
And we in this great nation stood and watched in shock.
Innocent victims on four separate planes had been flying here and there.
They were taken hostage, to be killed. We wonder "Who would dare?"
The World Trade Center Twin Towers was the first target.
At 8:45am, near the top, tower one took a direct hit.
Then with cameras rolling live before our eyes.
A second flight, the same outcome, we watch these people die.
Tower Two is hit lower. The explosion is unbelievable.
How could anyone hate so much? Is there really anyone that capable?
The madness is not over onto Washington and the Pentagon.
Another plane, full of people, being used as a bomb.
Back to the Twin Towers - tower two begins to sway.
A roar from the implosions as the buildings blown away
There are people jumping, falling metal and shards of glass.
Ash and paper fill the air as billowing smoke goes rushing past.
Policemen and firemen those sent to render aid.
Beneath the rubble of this tower, is where their bodies lay.
Back to the Pentagon, flames are coming from the south wall.
Calls coming in from the north end say they see smoke in the hall.
>From the pictures we can see a large and gaping hole.
Fires being fought, tears being shed, we wonder "Who is the foe?"
Back to tower one as it shudders beneath the weight.
Cries for help, more people jump, for them help comes too late.
Again we watch in horror, as tower one implodes.
How many were still inside? No one really knows.
Breaking news. We have confirmed a fourth flight has gone down.
It crashed in Pennsylvania. Speculation - it was DC bound.
"Today our nation saw evil." I hear President Bush say.
What should we do? He suggests we pray.
Today we lost Americans to terrorists from afar.
And the senselessness of their actions, will weight heavy on our
hearts.
The Statue of Liberty flame burns bright, our Flag still flies today
Today we are united. Today our nation stopped to pray.
As I get up from my knees and wipe away my tears.
The questions come but answers don't. Where do we go from here?
I ask God for the answers, as I look to Him above.
"Each and every one are safe. I surrounded them with Love"
"Angels were there with them, no one was left alone.
They are gathered here with me. Now Heaven is there home."
We sit and watch, trying to access, the events of this day.
The day Americans came together. The day our nation stopped to pray.
By: Jacki Smith
Contact : askjacki@gmail.com
Or phone 830-832-8011
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Happy Mother's Day - Twenty years later the legacy lives on
Twenty years ago I told my Mother Happy Mother's Day for the last time. It is really hard to believe it has been that long since she passed away. I honestly didn't know then how I was going to survive without her. Thank God I had two children. They were my everything when it felt like there was nothing. I buried myself in soccer games and school events. Weeks became months and then years and then all of a sudden the pain was not so noticeable.
Today I committed to walking 20,000 steps in honor of you Mom. The app says I did 21,829. I started in the Nature Preserve behind the house and collected shells on the beach at sunset to finish. I also had a Jim Beam and coke and toasted you (once is enough on that one). lol.
Today your memory flooded my thoughts and I just kept thinking I wish you were here to see all that you missed and somewhere along the way today I realized you were here. You live on in our hearts and will always be with us watching over us from heaven. Your legacy is intact and your memory is just as present today as it was back in 1996.
See when you are raised by Super Woman, like I was, there is a bar you are always trying to measure yourself up to. In my mind, my Mom was bigger than life, she had superpowers and she was Amazing at Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING! How do you compete? You don't. It would be pointless. Instead, I just focused on my kids, working my business and keeping a roof over our heads.
Over time I started to realize Mom (and Dad) missed a lot of our school and sports events because of work. Mom and Dad had a brick and mortar business, besides the Network Marketing business that Mom built, so we missed out on family dinners together most nights. Mom focused a lot of her time on her clients, which was great, but that also took time away from her and her family. And lets just say her goals with her health were not the best.
So over time I made some changes. I made sure I made it to school events and games. Because I built a Network Marketing business full-time I was able to watch my kids grow up and I was there when they got in from school. We were able to take trips and have that quality time together. I have learned it is okay to put me first...take care of my health, eat right, exercise, keep stress down, be a better role model for my kids. I've learned that kids pay more attentions to your actions than your words. So if you want to raise great kids you have to set the example for them and be a good role model as an adult.
I started seeing an Independent streak in my son Andy that reminded me of myself when I was a teenager. He was also very protective of his little sister Brittany, which so reminded of me of my Mom and how she was with her siblings. And Brittany took over the mischievous department after her Grandpa Hodge, Meme and myself.
I watched two kids find their way as teenagers, young adults, up through today. I see the lessons my Mom taught me coming through in them and I see myself as well. I see the two roles have merged into something even better. Now Brittany is a Mother herself and I see the new improved Mom that she is to Maddison and I am so proud of her. Her and my son-in-law Justin are such AMAZING parents. They take 100% responsibility for raising Maddison in a world surrounded by Love and Laughter everyday. I see it live with every visit and just like you, I also see it on their Facebook pics and posts. Maddison is almost always smiling or laughing and is so full of joy, she is contagious.
My Mother built by example a foundation for me grounded in honesty, integrity, hard work, perseverance, character, caring, nurturing, laughter, leadership, mentoring, fight for it with a little mischievous dare devil mixed in. To which I got to add my own bits and pieces and mix in a little adventure.
On this Mother's Day I can look at the legacy my Mom, Beverly (Hodge) Smith, and those before her started and I have continued and can pass the torch to Brittany and know she can create her own new and improved version for her family. And one day Andy might do the same.
My question for you is...What kind of example are you setting for those around you? Whether its your kids, grand kids, cousins, nieces or nephews, co-workers or neighbors doesn't matter your being watched...what characteristics are you instilling in those that are around you? What legacy are you creating for future generations? And where can you make improvements....
Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you and miss you.
And Happy Mother's Day to my daughter, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins and other family members and all the other mothers out there as well.
Jacki Smith
Today I committed to walking 20,000 steps in honor of you Mom. The app says I did 21,829. I started in the Nature Preserve behind the house and collected shells on the beach at sunset to finish. I also had a Jim Beam and coke and toasted you (once is enough on that one). lol.
Today your memory flooded my thoughts and I just kept thinking I wish you were here to see all that you missed and somewhere along the way today I realized you were here. You live on in our hearts and will always be with us watching over us from heaven. Your legacy is intact and your memory is just as present today as it was back in 1996.
See when you are raised by Super Woman, like I was, there is a bar you are always trying to measure yourself up to. In my mind, my Mom was bigger than life, she had superpowers and she was Amazing at Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING! How do you compete? You don't. It would be pointless. Instead, I just focused on my kids, working my business and keeping a roof over our heads.
Over time I started to realize Mom (and Dad) missed a lot of our school and sports events because of work. Mom and Dad had a brick and mortar business, besides the Network Marketing business that Mom built, so we missed out on family dinners together most nights. Mom focused a lot of her time on her clients, which was great, but that also took time away from her and her family. And lets just say her goals with her health were not the best.
So over time I made some changes. I made sure I made it to school events and games. Because I built a Network Marketing business full-time I was able to watch my kids grow up and I was there when they got in from school. We were able to take trips and have that quality time together. I have learned it is okay to put me first...take care of my health, eat right, exercise, keep stress down, be a better role model for my kids. I've learned that kids pay more attentions to your actions than your words. So if you want to raise great kids you have to set the example for them and be a good role model as an adult.
I started seeing an Independent streak in my son Andy that reminded me of myself when I was a teenager. He was also very protective of his little sister Brittany, which so reminded of me of my Mom and how she was with her siblings. And Brittany took over the mischievous department after her Grandpa Hodge, Meme and myself.
I watched two kids find their way as teenagers, young adults, up through today. I see the lessons my Mom taught me coming through in them and I see myself as well. I see the two roles have merged into something even better. Now Brittany is a Mother herself and I see the new improved Mom that she is to Maddison and I am so proud of her. Her and my son-in-law Justin are such AMAZING parents. They take 100% responsibility for raising Maddison in a world surrounded by Love and Laughter everyday. I see it live with every visit and just like you, I also see it on their Facebook pics and posts. Maddison is almost always smiling or laughing and is so full of joy, she is contagious.
My Mother built by example a foundation for me grounded in honesty, integrity, hard work, perseverance, character, caring, nurturing, laughter, leadership, mentoring, fight for it with a little mischievous dare devil mixed in. To which I got to add my own bits and pieces and mix in a little adventure.
On this Mother's Day I can look at the legacy my Mom, Beverly (Hodge) Smith, and those before her started and I have continued and can pass the torch to Brittany and know she can create her own new and improved version for her family. And one day Andy might do the same.
My question for you is...What kind of example are you setting for those around you? Whether its your kids, grand kids, cousins, nieces or nephews, co-workers or neighbors doesn't matter your being watched...what characteristics are you instilling in those that are around you? What legacy are you creating for future generations? And where can you make improvements....
Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you and miss you.
And Happy Mother's Day to my daughter, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins and other family members and all the other mothers out there as well.
Jacki Smith
Beverly Smith
Jacquette (Jacki) Smith
Meme with Andy & Brittany
Andy
Brittany
Justin & Brittany Wedding - our family
Maddison 2yo
Jacki, Maddison, Justin & Brittany
Sunday, May 8, 2016
What Is Your New Year's Resolution?
Okay by now most of you have had time to think about what you want in the year ahead. I mean that is what we do. We sit down and write out a list of all those things we want to change or want to achieve and then we work on them for a week, a month or maybe longer.
Proof of this is everywhere with people out there tweeting and posting about how the gym is full and the regulars are a little miffed at those fly by nights that are here today and gone tomorrow. In fact, they are betting on when the crowd at the gym will thin out. Will it be the first of February or the end. One poster was a little more optimistic and said April. That got plenty of LOL's and a yeah right from the group.
And it's not just getting in shape...our goal could be starting a business, recruiting more reps, making more money, losing weight, giving up our workaholic ways, taking a vacation, spending more time with family, volunteering or getting more involved with a charity or the community... the list goes on and on. So why is it we have the best of intentions one week and then they fade away a week or two later. It's called ACTION, WORK and COMMITMENT! Which are easy for a few days or weeks, but for the long haul... not so easy.
Life was so much easier when there were not as many distractions. Growing up in my parents days it was easier to focus, easier for them to set good examples for us. I Thank GOD for those days. They helped mold me to be the person I am today because of the example my parents set. If you wanted something you did the Work, you might not always Achieve it, but it didn't matter you kept on until you did. It didn't matter how long it took, you Persevered.
Now days we have made it easier and easier on kids so they would not have it as hard as we did. Not realizing what they are missing out on is the things in life that we have to work for so we will value them.
So what do you want to accomplish in the year ahead? What can stoke the fire in your belly enough to keep you focused until you Achieve the Results YOU Want and Deserve? Let me know and I will cheer you on.
Jacki
askjacki@gmail.com
Life was so much easier when there were not as many distractions. Growing up in my parents days it was easier to focus, easier for them to set good examples for us. I Thank GOD for those days. They helped mold me to be the person I am today because of the example my parents set. If you wanted something you did the Work, you might not always Achieve it, but it didn't matter you kept on until you did. It didn't matter how long it took, you Persevered.
Now days we have made it easier and easier on kids so they would not have it as hard as we did. Not realizing what they are missing out on is the things in life that we have to work for so we will value them.
So what do you want to accomplish in the year ahead? What can stoke the fire in your belly enough to keep you focused until you Achieve the Results YOU Want and Deserve? Let me know and I will cheer you on.
Jacki
askjacki@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Failure, Tragedy and Those Special People that Make a Difference
I have a confession to make. I made a commitment to start writing at least a couple of times a month and I have failed. I failed because every time I have come here to write...I read the last post I wrote to my Mother on Mother's Day last year and have become lost in the words and the emotions again and again. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get past the writers block that has stifled me. Then tragedy stepped in.
I met a new friend a month ago. She is in a new business I just got involved with. Her and her husband took time to meet up with me while on one of their trips to share ideas, knowledge and do some training with me....and it was just like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen in awhile. You know what I mean there are some people you are just drawn to and everybody else around them is as well. She reminded me of my Mother in so many ways. Last night we got word that while doing a presentation my new friend had collapsed from an aneurysm. She has had surgery and is in the hospital surrounded by family and friends whose lives she has touched. We are all praying for a complete recovery.
Then this morning my neighbor came over to let me know her Mother had passed away at the hospital during the night. I met their family when I was 5 years old when we moved in next door. My new friends and my old friends have both been touched by tragedy.
Here we are just before Mother's Day with two families lives being touched in ways we would not want to imagine. Coming together to pray, to love, to comfort, to share our faith...and one family to grieve. This has given me a REASON to write. It has given me a REASON to reach out to everyone and remind you to say I Love You to those you love, say I am Sorry and Forgive Me. Tell people they are Important to you, that they are Special, that they Make a Difference, that you couldn't have done it without them.
In life there are no guarantees... and sometimes no second chances to say what is in our hearts. Even though I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my Mother knew how important she was to me, how much I loved her and that I truly appreciated having her as my mom, friend and mentor and to be able to follow in her footsteps... I wish I could have told her over and over and over again everything that I had wrote in the blog that I posted in tribute to her last year. I know because that is what I have been doing all year... reading the tribute to the woman that had touched my life in so many ways. Whispering the words to the Mother that had helped to shape me into the woman that I am today. Crying out to the mentor who INSPIRED ME, who taught me to DREAM, to BELIEVE, and that Can't Never Could and told me and actually helped me to believe I Could Make a Difference in This World because she sure made a DIFFERENCE IN MINE.
And now here I am writing again...sharing a little piece of my life with each and everyone of you HOPING and PRAYING that Mother was right and we can Make a DIFFERENCE.
Blessings my Friends,
Jacki Smith
I met a new friend a month ago. She is in a new business I just got involved with. Her and her husband took time to meet up with me while on one of their trips to share ideas, knowledge and do some training with me....and it was just like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen in awhile. You know what I mean there are some people you are just drawn to and everybody else around them is as well. She reminded me of my Mother in so many ways. Last night we got word that while doing a presentation my new friend had collapsed from an aneurysm. She has had surgery and is in the hospital surrounded by family and friends whose lives she has touched. We are all praying for a complete recovery.
Then this morning my neighbor came over to let me know her Mother had passed away at the hospital during the night. I met their family when I was 5 years old when we moved in next door. My new friends and my old friends have both been touched by tragedy.
Here we are just before Mother's Day with two families lives being touched in ways we would not want to imagine. Coming together to pray, to love, to comfort, to share our faith...and one family to grieve. This has given me a REASON to write. It has given me a REASON to reach out to everyone and remind you to say I Love You to those you love, say I am Sorry and Forgive Me. Tell people they are Important to you, that they are Special, that they Make a Difference, that you couldn't have done it without them.
In life there are no guarantees... and sometimes no second chances to say what is in our hearts. Even though I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my Mother knew how important she was to me, how much I loved her and that I truly appreciated having her as my mom, friend and mentor and to be able to follow in her footsteps... I wish I could have told her over and over and over again everything that I had wrote in the blog that I posted in tribute to her last year. I know because that is what I have been doing all year... reading the tribute to the woman that had touched my life in so many ways. Whispering the words to the Mother that had helped to shape me into the woman that I am today. Crying out to the mentor who INSPIRED ME, who taught me to DREAM, to BELIEVE, and that Can't Never Could and told me and actually helped me to believe I Could Make a Difference in This World because she sure made a DIFFERENCE IN MINE.
And now here I am writing again...sharing a little piece of my life with each and everyone of you HOPING and PRAYING that Mother was right and we can Make a DIFFERENCE.
Blessings my Friends,
Jacki Smith
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mother's Day Super Woman
This Mother's Day I spent time with my daughter Nicole. We went shopping this weekend and had lunch together. Later this evening while talking to a girlfriend I started thinking about my Mother. She passed away Sept. 14, 1996 so it has been a long time since I have had a mother-daughter talk.
One thing I need to make clear here... I was raised by Super Woman. To say my Mom was multi-talented is an under statement. Here is a short list of some of her many talents.
One thing I need to make clear here... I was raised by Super Woman. To say my Mom was multi-talented is an under statement. Here is a short list of some of her many talents.
- The Most onery child that her 9 brothers and sisters ever met, you should hear the stories about the spiders and grasshoppers
- Owner and chef at her own restaurant
- Pastry Chef
- Rebuilt an engine in her car...more than once
- Owned and managed several Automotive Paint and Body Repair Shops
- Office Manager at a Funeral Home
- Make-up artist for dead people
- Record Holding Race Car Driver
- Strong Christian
- Gifted writer
- Wrote Gospel and Country Western Songs (One C and W song was recorded)
- Played the guitar and sang - you missed some great get togethers
- Certified Tax Accountant
- Owner Spurs and Spirits - Home of The Killer Burger
- Owner The Diet Shoppe - probably because of all those Killer Burgers
- Successful Network Marketer, Top 10 Money Earner - taught me everything she knew
- Breast and bone cancer fighter
- Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mom, Aunt, Step-mom, Meme (Grandma) and Great Grandma
- My best friend
- My Mentor
- Teacher...Taught all her kids we could do ANYTHING! She had all the answers.
- Super Woman...I could see the cape even if no one else could
I have done a great many things already in this life. The most important being a mom to two awesome children that have become wonderful well-rounded adults.
What I want to be is a friend people can call on, someone to lean on, a shoulder to cry on. A coach as well as cheerleader for those that need it. A leader that my Mom would be proud of, she did teach me. I want to make a difference in this world....one person at a time. I want to inspire people that need help believing and I want my Mother to know that not only do I Love and Miss My Best Friend....I want to Thank her for bringing me up the way she did. I could not be who I am today if it weren't for you.
I Love You Mom. Happy Mothers Day!
Jacki
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