It was an awesome sight to see. The beautiful flags just flapping in the sunshine and morning wind as I drove into water aerobics to the Fulda Pool this past week. Thank you, to whoever is responsible for putting up all of the flags to celebrate our country’s freedom and independence. My heart and mind is always full of gratitude when I see a flag flying free and high. What a great reminder of our heritage and a solemn cause to think of all of the men and women who gave sacrifices to keep our country free.
I smile also when I see the flag because it reminds me of my mom. Her birthday is June 14th which is also known as Flag Day in our country. She told me when she was a little girl and saw all of the flags flying on June 14th, she really thought they had put the flags up just for her birthday! As she grew up and married a soldier, of course she knew the real reasons for flying our United States Flag. Just such a great cause for celebration for all of us.
Even though July 4th is past for another year, it is still fresh in our memories. Whether you celebrated with family or friends, or quietly spent the day at home, I pray that you remembered our country’s liberty with pride and thankfulness. We are so fortunate to live in a place that allows us to live and move and speak with freedom.
We certainly do not live in a perfect land. We have flaws and problems, some which there seem to be no answers to cure. But as we ponder the generations before us who toiled to make America what it is today, we must be thankful. Through sweat and tears, vision and virtue, America grew to become freedom’s powerful champion. We’ve been called the greatest country in the world.
From our humble beginnings, there were those who wanted to destroy our quest for freedom. Patriots put country above themselves to protect us. And on it went as soldiers from every branch of the military sacrificed their blood and their health to keep our land and our people free and safe. We have new generations now who have taken up the cause of liberty and justice in our world. Men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day, so we can walk safely down our streets, can look with wonder at the trees or flowers of our land, or quietly and casually can have visits over our backyard fences with our neighbors.
Reflect on the following words today as you see our majestic flag in your mind’s eye. Let your thankfulness spill out into your words, actions, and thoughts as you spend time with family and those who live in your corner of the world. God bless you as we move forward into another year of being Americans. In the land of the free….and the home of the brave.
The Star Spangled Banner
Oh, say….Can you see
by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed
at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming.
And the rocket’s red glare,
the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner
yet wave
O’er the land of the free
and the home of the brave?
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