Freedom...

This morning I was a bit out of ideas on what to blog about.  I could blog about Christmas vacation and how chaotic the house can get.  But who cares, unless you are a mom with a bunch of kids, dishes, laundry and a count down to back to school.  I could blog about anticipating date night with the hubby tonight, but if the kids read the blog, they will become nauseated.  So I do what any good wife would do, I sent a message on Skype to John and asked him for a topic. 

John: what does freedom mean?

My first thought was oh great, how can I make lighthearted on the subject of something I feel so strongly about, our freedom.

After a good soak in the tub the image in church last Sunday came to mind.  As I’ve been blogging about, we are a family looking for a church home that fits our spiritual needs.  A friend of mine, who is also looking for a new place to worship, recommended the church we visited last Sunday.  Remember the post about the children being mooned by the man in front of them?

The sermon was amazing, the kids did not spend their hour drawing pictures and I even caught them flipping from Bible book to book keeping up with the scripture lesson.  This was exciting news for this mom who is worried that finding a new church will be harder on the kids then on us.

As excited as I was to hear the word and see the kids laughing at the preachers jokes AND using their Bibles during church I was more caught at the image of the young soldier, home on leave, in full uniform with his young sister hanging tightly onto his arm.  This young man could not be older then nineteen or twenty and as he sat there on the front pew, proudly wearing his marine uniform I was reminded of how lucky I am to live in America. I have the freedom to worship publicly, any denomination I decide, with my family the morning after celebrating the birth of my Lord.    If I so decided I could worship, Buddha, Muhammad, or a can of Country Time Lemonade.  Here in America, we are given this amazing gift of freedom and I pray that we all thank each and every soldier we see and their families for the sacrifice they give. Whether we are Republicans, Democrats, Christians or atheists, we enjoy freedom because of those who are willing to fight for us.  I pray that the war ends and that we do not see another one, but until that time comes, I pray for those who have given their lives, lost loved ones and continue to serve our amazing country.  God bless you!