I grew up knowing that we were lucky. We were lucky to live in a place where we are free to be. Free to speak. Free to worship. Free to disagree. Free to participate in the greatest experiment in government history has ever known. We are free to pursue our dreams.
What do I want to teach my three kids about the Fourth of July? That hot dogs and potato salad and lemonade taste better in summer than winter? That because something happened in this country in 1776, we get the day off of work? That it's a good time to buy a mattress because of the 4th of July sales going on? This may all be true, but it isn't all.
The rest is that a hell of a lot of people risked their lives and their families lives and all they possessed and cared about because they saw a chance to make a country that was even better than the one they came from. The rest is that people died to create these United States of America where it really is the land of the free. The rest is that even with all our setbacks, mistakes, problems and uncertain future, more people want to live here from other lands than anywhere else in the world.
And it remains the only nation built on the principle that our rights derive from OUR CREATOR and not from a committee, government or dictator. We were founded largely by men and women who feared the God of the Bible, The Most High, the Creator of heaven and earth. They felt accountable and rightly responsible to this highest Power and most Holy Lord. They knew what they did mattered because they will stand before Him someday and give an account. They knew He designed them, made them, and died for them.
A perfect nation? Not. A faultless people? Not us. A mistake-free system? No way. And an idiot-free bunch of representatives? Don't even start.
But I will tell you that when my husband and I go to that little town in Wisconsin once a year and attend their 4th of July festivities, we are not there for the hotdogs. We aren't even there for the fireworks. We gladly and proudly sit and listen and enjoy the town band play all the patriotic songs. We recite the great Pledge of Allegiance, and we watch their parade of men and women in uniforms -- of all kinds -- who fought and fight for our freedom. We stand up with quiet reverence and respect for the soldiers, past and present who make this freedom a reality. I ask my children to stand up when they march by with their guns and their flags "because these people fought for you."
And they might think it's a little corny. They may even think it's old-fashioned. They know that it's emotional, because there are a lot of service people on my side of the family. And it's emotional because each year, the older vets get fewer and fewer, and the ones who do make it, stoop over a little more and walk a little slower. And their uniforms are a little worse for wear. They survived -- sometimes unspeakable horrors -- so that this great nation could be protected. They gave -- their healthy bodies, and youth and sometimes their sanity -- so that I could sit here and type this without fear of being imprisoned or tortured. They answered -- when the call came to go and sign up, risk life, dreams, and plans and do a good service for their country.
So if my kids grow up and think this is just another day off, then I have failed to teach them. I have failed to pass on to them what my parents have passed on to me. And I have failed to help them understand that even with everything considered, we still live in the best nation on the face of this earth.
And we are still lucky.
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