We celebrated New Year's Eve in a large hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa.  It was a melancholy night.  We were excited to be in the middle of the Iowa Caucus happenings but some of us had left behind loved ones who we had never been away from on a New Year's Eve.  We were looking forward to 2012 with hope that each of us could make a difference some way, some how.  We were also concerned that 2012 could be the year that a free American republic would cease to exist.

As I looked around the room, I wondered if indeed we could make a difference.  "Who are we to think we can do anything to change the course of this nation?"-- those were the thoughts in my head as we engaged in conversations and planned our calendars for the next few days.

I looked around the table that had been set up in our room so we could work from it.  

There was a young man only married one year who has recently become engaged in our mission.  He was soaking in all that we were talking about and at the age of 24, he realized the enormous work that needs to be done to save the country and he was finding the best way to use his talents on its behalf.  

There was a wonderful couple who have been together for nearly 40 years and have participated in this movement with their labors and their finances.  They are individual free spirits yet can't seem to take their eyes off each other as one talks and the other listens deeply.  They are so in love and their love seem to overflow in the room to the rest of us.  

Another couple sat side by side working on their computers trying to find information, stating facts seriously and then laughing to let off steam of the stresses of personal hurts and concerns in their lives since the husband lost his job more than a year ago.  They have thrown themselves into this movement at a time when they could have sat home and worried about their situation.  They chose to do what they could by facing their giants and using their voices and the time they now had.

Another member of our team uses  laughter and comedic statements to keep us all light hearted yet the next instance she is deep into the soul of a person because her faith sends here there like a magnet when she sees a hurt.  Her faith is her guide and she wants to share her Father with them.  She is black and white with her statements and convinced about life because she knows the one who made us all.  

And then there was the quiet soul who listens intently and waits for just the right moment to speak.  When he does, people listen to this wise young man who loves Liberty more than anything else in his life.  He soaks in the Constitution and believes it is the one true answer to America's problems.  He kept us glued to his thoughts and then later in the evening as the ball was waiting to drop in NYC, he made us laugh with his antics that had quietly surfaced while we were striking the keyboards of Apple computers.  

Sitting next to me was a dear friend who has thrown herself into this movement and has traveled the country to help and encourage others who want to be a part of this tea party movement.  She is wise, thoughtful, strong, convicted and has a wonderful sense of humor too.  She works day and night with an attitude of joy even though her personal life also has been affected by her husband's loss of his job.  He was home caring for their dogs while she traveled to Iowa to do what she could and be a voice for those who had none.

And there I sat among these patriots who had become an extension of my family in the past few years.  We did not know each other in 2008.  Not one of us knew the other back then.  I knew that God had gifted me with their friendship and they were filling a void of being away from my husband and my mother in law who has cancer and has been given a death sentence by the doctors for her life to end in 2012.  Two doctors told us that in the last 10 days and we are holding on to the hope that only comes from our heavenly father.  Our hope is that they are wrong and God will show them who is boss and who will make that decision.  I also know that many nay-sayers say America will die in 2012 too and I may not be able to do much about cancer in my mother, but I can do what I can to save the land that I love.   It may not be much, but I'll give it my all for the sake of my children and grandchildren.  They deserve to live in America where Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is the normal way of life.  Too many patriots who have gone before are expecting each of us to stand up and speak up to keep this American-Liberty-thing going.

When 2012 finally showed up on our hotel room TV, we hugged each other and it felt right.  We were not family but we were a part of the American family we knew we were connected in a big way.

The one who was wise and quietly spoke and then made us laugh with his antics - then made us cry with his sharing of the following video "What can one mad do alone?"  As I watched the video and looked around at the room of my American family, I realized each of them had made a decision to do what they could.  We had come together as a group but each individual had made a personal decision first.

What can one man do alone?  It's up to you to make that decision for yourself.  No one can make it for you and each of you can do something.  Just make a decision because it starts there.

Today is Day One of 2012 -- spend some time reflecting on your talents, your passions, and your desires to serve your country.  Then put it to paper alongside your New Year's Resolutions and make a statement:  As one man alone, I will do this in 2012 to help my country.  

Then do it.  No time left to think anymore.  It's time for action.

Happy New Year dear American family members.  I hope 2012 will find us celebrating victory for One Nation Under God next year at this same time.