2024 Year In Review and 2025 Look Ahead

2024 Year in Review and 2025 Look Ahead

We finished the year very strong in 2024

Several of the longer term goals we had set for ourselves in the early years of our organization were accomplished in 2024.  It is so refreshing to have moved from the idea of securing the blessings of liberty to actually securing them.  One thing people of faith understand is that we are all becoming something through what we do, and how we live, demonstrating what we are becoming through action and results.  We all LIVE our values every day and those values are reflected in our actions, accomplishments and achievements.  We all hope and pray those values reflect our Lord and Savior properly.   We now have to set our sights higher and farther as we continue to grow and prosper.

The meaning in our lives is of course centered on that LOVE of life and our growth on that journey.  We put away childish things as we grow up and learn to LIVE & LOVE, if we embrace it honestly and with humility.  The meaning and purpose of our lives emerges and we must stop from time to time to reflect on what that means to each and every one of us.  

The fall Holiday Season in America starts with the harvest and the time we set aside to be Thankful.  Just as the father of our great country wrote in 1789 about setting aside a time of Thanksgiving to the almighty for bringing us through the revolutionary battles that followed our Declaration of Independence. We were all to be thankful for the deliverance of the American people and the creation of a Constitutional Republic built on the foundations of the Declaration in 1776.  We paused to honor the sacrifices that were made and to reflect on our blessings and where they come from. https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789

 The constitution was designed and written to protect those God given rights reflected in the Holy Writ to secure those Blessings of Liberty. Our motto became E Pluribus unum, a wonderful latin phrase depicting the individual and the collective simultaneously.  A collection of individuals working together for a common cause.  In this case the common cause was the most beautiful and honorable thing that we must continue to cherish, uphold and protect, which is the Liberty of the Christian Ethic.  Liberty and Freedom are synonymous. In the 1599 Geneva Bible it is translated as Liberty, in the New International Version it is translated as freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). 

That same Thanksgiving proclamation that was made by George Washington was reflected in the triumph of 2024 and what appeared to be a people united again for freedom and turning back towards Christ. The only hope of restoring our lands and the promise and the spirit of 1776 (2 Corinthians 3:16).   It was so refreshing to talk to folks this fall after the elections and the relief that E Pluribus Unum still exists and Americans still yearn to be free.  It was as if a great spell had been broken and a great peace of mind had begun to return to our land.  We all know this instinctively and we find ourselves at the end of a new beginning that could be a great restoration of common sense and return to first principles in 2025. We also know that after the Holidays we will have to roll up our sleeves and get to work restoring that common sense to each and every one of us in common cause. 

It is in this spirit of Thanksgiving I start this year’s newsletter.  Let us not forget that the word holiday at its center is the root word HOLY.  Merry Christmas is a time where the hope of the world is born and becomes flesh for us all.  These first principles of Thanksgiving are also reflected in the renewal of the New Year.  The entire holiday season in our country is both Tradition and Heritage.  It is a time of Humility (Thanksgiving), it is a time of Hope, Love and Peace. A time where we all reflect and reconcile to the Most High God the source of all creation.

Let us all take stock, reconcile and reflect on resolutions for 2025 in that spirit of unity and purpose.  Let us all continue to pause, again and again, that we may be refreshed in that hopeful spirit that carries us throughout the year and our lives. Starting the first day of each week in Church that centers us on that which is most important. 

Here is a short list of 2024 Accomplishments for your perusal:   

- In April 2024 we teamed together on Prop 47 reform to get Prop 36 on the ballot in November.  We saw this as a great opportunity in our community to unify together on this fundamental Law & Order issue.  We went door to door talking with our neighbors and even stood in front of stores gathering and engaging folks to capture signatures for Prop 36.  This proved to be a very important moment building our grass roots organization. We helped to deliver the positive results of Prop 36 passing across our state so we could reverse course in 2025 and restore Law & Order in our communities.  Link Here: https://www.ourblessingsofliberty.org/news/blessings-collects-signatures-for-prop-47-reform/

- May 2024 Spring Festival Downtown Porterville.  We set up an information booth at the Spring Festival and met a lot of great people in our community celebrating downtown with food, family and fellowship. We fully supported Alexandra Macedo and actively campaigned for her locally introducing her to everyone at the event.  Our booth was featured in the Porterville Recorder representing Alexandra. It was a great turnout even though it was rescheduled due to weather. Downtown Porterville has a huge potential for rebirth where folks can gather and celebrate our patriotic city which is central to our identity and small town roots. Alexandra went on to win her race resoundingly and we are very proud of her energy and strong American and Family values.  We plan to be at the spring festival again this year in April. You might see one of our team riding a cool “Yellow Cab” racing bike mingling with folks up and down main street USA.  

- July 2024 was the formal launch of “La Gente” a grass roots committee centered on the American Spirit & Values that unite us all.  The Event was held at Veterans Park and well attended despite the heat.  We the People are the change and the phrase La Gente reflects that same sentiment which is as American as apple pie. Link Here: https://www.recorderonline.com/news/la-gente-holds-hot-dogs-and-handshakes/article_bcc0a54c-4069-11ef-a1dd-7338761965f3.htm

- Saturday, Aug. 17: American Legion’s Post 20 - Veterans Car and Motorcycle Show at Veterans Memorial Building.  We had our booth alongside the indoor vendor market and had the pleasure of being part of the 1st annual event.  There was a very good turnout and we really enjoyed the time supporting the American Legion. Our information booth was a great success and we hope to do this again in support of our veterans. 

- In the fall campaign we were very successful in networking across the county and supporting a number of great candidates and initiatives.  We had strong county wide outreach developing partnerships that deployed resources for local races.  Money and resources that had previously gone upwards to state and national candidates was redirected to local races making a big difference across our entire county.  This networking and action played a significant role in changing 3 seats on the Porterville City Council for example.  We created an election integrity committee and hosted a half dozen local organizations in the run up to the 2024 Campaigns and the fall elections.  The Election Integrity committee promoted non-partisan voter registration and educated many folks on the election rules and processes. 

- Awards Banquet in 2024 – Family and Friends Celebration.  We held a Family and Friends event in November to celebrate all of our friends and family in our grass roots efforts.  We hosted nearly a 100 people and had a wonderful evening recognizing our accomplishments and our individual achievements in 2024.  There were a wide variety of awards for outstanding performances in and around our community that fueled the teamwork and led to meaningful change. There are many strong leaders in our local community. As we grow we will continue to help folks with the tools and resources to get more engaged transforming our community. Together we continue to make positive change for everyone locally from Clubs, Non-Profits, Local Boards and Churches all focused on local leadership and community engagement. For those of you that attended we had a great time celebrating our victories and showcasing the great leadership success recognition of results.

- City of Porterville TCRTA outcomes. We finished the year with great results in our efforts to challenge the TCRTA inefficiencies in Porterville. Restoring the local transit was years in the making and our voices in the city council chambers for more than 2 years were pivotal in the change and the outcome. The mass transit model never fit our community and eventually we reversed the direction restoring local control. Transparency was the vehicle calling out waste from broken down equipment and low ridership showing that the mass transit model was too expensive and did not serve the community well. Pointing out the obvious waste was very effective.  Millions were wasted but we were able to recover significant money and value by returning to a local model that better serves the community.

We have achieved many things in the past few years culminating in the 2024 Election Results.  There is much more to be done to restore leadership throughout our city, county, state & country.  We must continue to develop and grow our faithful grass roots leadership organization. We are hopeful that we can continue to attract strong leaders to the cause and work in lock step restoring strong leadership throughout our communities at all levels.  The Christian Ethic is paramount in protecting our freedom through good stewardship.  Securing the Blessings of Liberty has always been the mission and the goal to restore first principles.  Please continue to help us grow our organization in the coming year so we can continue to restore America’s promise and those blessings for the next generation.  Please share this newsletter and our success with others so we can unite together in our love of God & Country that is the true spirit of 1776 in our great nation.

In our Spring Newsletter I elucidated to a mnemonic. Leading, by Inspiring others living our Values being Engaged in the fight as L.I.V.E. A great acronym and very fitting for 2024 alongside the core of L.O.V.E – Living Our Values Everyday.  Another excellent reflection of action is L.I.V.E – Leading, with Integrity, Values and Empowerment.  During the process of restoring common sense we have found these mnemonic devices to be very helpful in keeping us grounded and on task.  These tenets have proved helpful in our grass roots organization working to secure the Blessings of Liberty. 

We are planning on starting a new committee in 2025 centered around liberty and developing local leadership. We are planning to have quarterly meetings so there will be some dates forthcoming where we can get together and discuss local issues as well as county, state and national issues that may align with our local conversations. Our plan is to spend time educating on issues. We would like to bring in guest speakers to enhance our meetings and inspire others to action. We are excited about the prospect of networking and growing our reach while we raise money and engage local causes. If you are already on the newsletter we will be sending more updates.  Please share this with family and friends and invite them to check us out and help us to grow our grass roots presence so we can continue to restore common sense, build up our community and deliver meaningful results for our families and our future.

https://www.ourblessingsofliberty.org/

Dated: January 6th In the Year of Our Lord 2025.