Happy Independence Day!

We just had another celebration of our Independence as a nation. What a great time to reflect on how great it is to be born in this country. I often tell my girls how great it is to be born during this time and in this country. What if you were born in the Dark Ages or in the 1700's? (hint: no running water, flushing toilets, sanitation, and what about the uncomfortable hot clothes you would have worn? Freedom? What freedom?)

What if you were born ON the Mayflower? What if you were born a slave? Can you imagine if you were born, for example, in Iraq? What would your life have been like? Kind of a frightening thought isn't it?

With so much political (not to mention moral) controversy it is easy to focus on the negative things. There are plenty of them. We could look at how sad & horrifying it is to know that we kill our own children before they are born, we could look at how ungrateful some are in this country for the sacrifices that men and women are making every day to protect us. What about people being "offended" at every turn? How about people arguing about the Pledge of Allegiance, the 10 Commandments, the Founding Father's original intent? We could even look at the fact that there is an argument being made for burning the flag. This wonderful symbol of freedom that men and women have died fighting under can be attacked? It must break the hearts of our brave Veterans.

These are all sad things but we must focus on the good or we could really become negative about this great land. As a homeschooling family one of the first things that comes to mind is that we have the freedom to educate our children as we believe is best for them. We get to use our God given right and responsibility to educate our own children. Thank God for that! There are places in this world where you do not have that freedom. We also have the freedom to try to make changes in this land. There are places in this world that you do not have the right to go to church, any church you want to go to. Having a Bible is a crime in some parts of the world. Speaking out against political leaders is not allowed in some places. It is easy when you try to come up with a very big list of reasons why America is the Greatest Country in the World!

My own list looks like this. America is great because I can homeschool my children, my family and I can attend any church I want, we can vote, my children are free to speak the truth, we can study the Word of God, we can even go anywhere we want at any time. Thank you God, for so many that are willing to fight for our freedom so that we don't have to fight. There is so much to be thankful for and I could only put a small dent in it if I tried. The Pilgrims that came to this land so long ago were in search of a place with religious freedom not freedom from religion.

Now for a little side journey: A great book on this subject (it is for children but I love it too!) is "Stories of the Pilgrims". I learned so much about the Pilgrims from that book. It was such an eye opener.

Our Founding Fathers were truly wonderful Christian (Godly) men. They understood the importance of freedom, sacrifice, morals, liberty, and Biblical principles. Thank God for America and Happy Independence Day America!

~Mom