Photo Credit: John Williams
Last year, I wrote about July 4 here.
Just want to wish you all a happy and safe celebration of our Independence Day, you Americans out there.
On this rainy morning, we will still push through with preparations for a family cook-out later in the afternoon. 
Lee Greenwood’s renditions of “God Bless the USA” will be viewed on YouTube and sung at parades and baseball games around our country. [The one in the YouTube below shows Greenwood singing at the World Series at Yankee Stadium just weeks after the WTC bombings of 9/11.]
Patriotism is a costly thing. Freedom, even costlier. We, like many other nations around the world, have lost many of our young men and women in wars…fought for all sorts of reasons.
Today, we will see our flag displayed more than any other time of the year. Hopefully, today, it won’t be at half-mast. So many losses in recent years that have kept us from flying her at full-mast.
Photo Credit: Jason Miller
Whatever our politics or our passports, today is a day to be grateful for all the sacrifices that went into making this nation…and hopefully we will strive to protect the freedoms fought for by so many others. My hope also is that we can still strive to be a nation that does good, not just inside its own borders but around the world.
As I think of our family and friends all over, both here and abroad, may we not forget what is at stake…on this day, and every day.
For today, we who can spend the 4th together, will count both our blessings that we richly enjoy and the costs incurred that make such a day possible. We look ahead to what we bring to making this nation what it can be still.
Let freedom ring and God bless this country we lift up to Him. To God be the glory!
Celebrating Who We Are Becoming – Strategic Monk – Greg Richardson
YouTube Video – Top 10 American Independence Day Facts
YouTube Video – Soussa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever – “The President’s Own” Marine Corp Band
YouTube Video – The Star-Spangled Banner – lyrics, vocals & beautiful pictures
