A Free Country

Happy Independence Day!

I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude this morning as I thought about how much I love this country and the freedoms we enjoy.

But then I immediately had a pang of fear that some of those hard won freedoms might be in jeopardy.

Ever since the Supreme Court ruling last week, I've been hearing some unsettling possibilities about how things might change in our country as a result - scary things I'd never considered before. I won't go into details here because a) that's not the purpose of this post and b) this is a happy blog so I'll probably never address them here.

But I'm realizing how often I take my First Amendment freedoms for granted. The thought of losing them is a sobering thought. Maybe sobering isn't the right word. Terrifying is more accurate. I hope that next year, 5 years from now, even next century, we are still free. Free to speak, worship and assemble how we choose.

Despite these uncertainties, today in my little corner of the world was a beautiful day. We enjoyed some of our small town festivities, did a little shopping and watched the hometown fireworks display that was "choreographed" to several patriotic themed songs broadcast by a local country station.

So today, I'm grateful for the country I live in. You can be sure that I'll be praying like crazy that our leaders will make wise decisions so that my children and I can continue to enjoy the freedoms that make America a pretty great place to be.

One of Jeff's fancy red, white and blue buttermilk pancakes this morning.

Sadie is showing off the corn that's much taller than "knee high by the fourth of July!"
For the record, there are several fields around town where the corn is even taller than this!