Well, I'm posting this on the day after the anniversary of our country's birth, but I wanted to take some time to post this weekend to recognize the speciality of the occasion. Although we have separate holidays to recognize our veterans on Veteran's Day and those who died for our American freedoms on Memorial Day, Independence Day is a great time to remember and honor them as well as our active military. It is because of these men and women that we have the freedoms we do, and I am so thankful for their service.
But even more than that I thank the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we might be free from sin. Through Him we are free from the power of sin and will one day be free from the presence of sin.
I heard this quote recently by Glenn Sasscer, found it in a Memorial Day post on his blog, and posted it on my Facebook because it is so true and relevant to our lives and this holiday.
John 15:13 tells us, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” For this, we know there have only been two friends who have died on our behalf: the American Soldier and Jesus Christ. The American Soldier died so we may have physical freedom; Jesus Christ died so we may have spiritual freedom. The American Soldier died so we may be free of the tyranny of men; Jesus Christ died so we may be free from the tyranny of evil. And, just as many Americans need to be reminded of the sacrifice of the American Soldier, so should they be reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Below are a couple of songs we sang at church last week for our patriotic musical. (We sang the choral arrangements, however.) They blessed me so much as we sang them in the morning services. We had an extremely powerful service with all the music along with the message shared by former Sen. David Fowler. You can listen/watch the message here.
Because of the Brave
This next song is particularly poignant as it not only remembers those who have died for our American freedoms, but focuses on the One who gave His life for our spiritual freedom. Warning: If you have little ones it is graphic with the crucifixion scene.
Freedom's Never Free
As a Christian, I am very proud of our American heritage and the foundations on which our country was built. The secularism that has filtered in to this great country over the years does not want to recognize that America is in fact a Christian nation. In fact, many don't want Christianity to have a place at all in the decision-making of laws or to have any part of our great country. I encourage you to check out We the People Ministries to learn more about our Christian heritage with complete sources and quotes in context of what our founding fathers said and meant. I am proud that a friend of mine and his brother have started this website with articles, links, and other resources.
In addition, Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned arts and crafts store chain, put out an entire page in our local newspaper yesterday dedicated to quotes from our founding fathers and early leaders on various topics related to life in America. If you receive the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and haven't seen it you can find it on page A4.
So, how did we spend our Independence Day? Friday afternoon I took Joshua to have his hair cut. On our way home he fell asleep in the car at 2:00. This is not like him, but I chalked it up to him being overly tired due to not having had a nap the previous day. When we arrived home Darrin noticed he felt warm, but he figured it was due to riding in the car. Joshua took a good nap, but about 15-30 minutes after he awoke he had crawled up in my lap and cuddled with me for a solid 30 minutes. I knew something must be wrong for him to be acting this way. Joshua naturally has a warm forehead, so I don't generally jump to checking his temperature if he feels warm, but since he was acting rather lethargic I checked it to discover it was 103.6! I called the nurse, and about 30 minutes later when I still hadn't heard back from the nurse, and with the holiday approaching, Darrin encouraged me to go on ahead and take him to the new after-hours pediatric office.
No one was at the clinic, so we were in and out in just over 30 minutes. The physician's assistant felt strongly that since the fever was his only symptom that it was most likely a virus, but after a strep test they discovered a faint positive. We had caught it early. Joshua has not been on the antibiotic for 48 hours yet, but his fever is gone, so it appears he is no longer contagious, although we are keeping him home today for precaution.
Yesterday Joshua felt pretty good as long as his fever was being treated and his temperature was down. We had to cancel our plans with my parents for lunch, and I had been hoping Darrin would take us to Coolidge Park for the symphony concert and fireworks this year, but we had to cancel that as well. Instead Darrin grilled out for us and then we took the kids outside to play for a while. That evening I made ribs for the first time (not too bad for a first attempt, but definitely not as good as Sticky Fingers), we watched "A Capitol Fourth" on T.V., then we went outside to shoot off some Roman candles and such. Joshua was scared and wanted to be held the whole time, and Rebekah liked watching from a distance. The kids were not interested in sparklers, so Darrin did just one. A couple of our neighbors shot off real fireworks in their yard. Although the trees hid them some it was fun enjoying them as well. Rebekah really liked them a lot. Neither of the kids had seen fireworks in real life before (Darrin hates to fight the crowds at such places, so we've not been), and I think it will be fun for them if we can do it next year.
So, although we were not able to spend the day with my parents or enjoy the concert and professional fireworks, we made the most of our day and enjoyed it as a family.
As a Christian, I am very proud of our American heritage and the foundations on which our country was built. The secularism that has filtered in to this great country over the years does not want to recognize that America is in fact a Christian nation. In fact, many don't want Christianity to have a place at all in the decision-making of laws or to have any part of our great country. I encourage you to check out We the People Ministries to learn more about our Christian heritage with complete sources and quotes in context of what our founding fathers said and meant. I am proud that a friend of mine and his brother have started this website with articles, links, and other resources.
In addition, Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned arts and crafts store chain, put out an entire page in our local newspaper yesterday dedicated to quotes from our founding fathers and early leaders on various topics related to life in America. If you receive the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and haven't seen it you can find it on page A4.
So, how did we spend our Independence Day? Friday afternoon I took Joshua to have his hair cut. On our way home he fell asleep in the car at 2:00. This is not like him, but I chalked it up to him being overly tired due to not having had a nap the previous day. When we arrived home Darrin noticed he felt warm, but he figured it was due to riding in the car. Joshua took a good nap, but about 15-30 minutes after he awoke he had crawled up in my lap and cuddled with me for a solid 30 minutes. I knew something must be wrong for him to be acting this way. Joshua naturally has a warm forehead, so I don't generally jump to checking his temperature if he feels warm, but since he was acting rather lethargic I checked it to discover it was 103.6! I called the nurse, and about 30 minutes later when I still hadn't heard back from the nurse, and with the holiday approaching, Darrin encouraged me to go on ahead and take him to the new after-hours pediatric office.
No one was at the clinic, so we were in and out in just over 30 minutes. The physician's assistant felt strongly that since the fever was his only symptom that it was most likely a virus, but after a strep test they discovered a faint positive. We had caught it early. Joshua has not been on the antibiotic for 48 hours yet, but his fever is gone, so it appears he is no longer contagious, although we are keeping him home today for precaution.
Yesterday Joshua felt pretty good as long as his fever was being treated and his temperature was down. We had to cancel our plans with my parents for lunch, and I had been hoping Darrin would take us to Coolidge Park for the symphony concert and fireworks this year, but we had to cancel that as well. Instead Darrin grilled out for us and then we took the kids outside to play for a while. That evening I made ribs for the first time (not too bad for a first attempt, but definitely not as good as Sticky Fingers), we watched "A Capitol Fourth" on T.V., then we went outside to shoot off some Roman candles and such. Joshua was scared and wanted to be held the whole time, and Rebekah liked watching from a distance. The kids were not interested in sparklers, so Darrin did just one. A couple of our neighbors shot off real fireworks in their yard. Although the trees hid them some it was fun enjoying them as well. Rebekah really liked them a lot. Neither of the kids had seen fireworks in real life before (Darrin hates to fight the crowds at such places, so we've not been), and I think it will be fun for them if we can do it next year.
So, although we were not able to spend the day with my parents or enjoy the concert and professional fireworks, we made the most of our day and enjoyed it as a family.
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