One of my favourite book series is the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read them over and over growing up, brought them to England with us and pick them up every once in awhile. Last year when we were still in the UK, I picked up Little Town on the Prairie again. The Fourth of July really stood out and I made a mental note to include it in our celebration the next year. Living in the UK has given me a new appreciation and perspective of the land that I call home- the USA. Here are Laura's thoughts as the little town celebrates by reading the Declaration of Independence and singing 'My Country Tis of Thee':
The crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock still. Suddenly she had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America's king.
She thought: Americans won't obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn't anyone else who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.
Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. that is what it means to be free. It means, you have to be good. "Our father's God, author of liberty-" The laws of Nature and of Nature's God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God's law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free.
This really resonates with me, I feel the responsibility of living in this country and want to be righteous and obedient to my father's God- so that my kids, and their kids can continue to be free. There are lots of people who will say that living in the USA is all about making choices- choices to do whatever that person feels like doing at the moment. With Laura I say that living in the Good ole USA, we have to make ourselves be good!
New July 4 traditions this year- go to Wal-mart 3 different times, drive to Payson to get out of the heat, get caught in a rainstorm! It was actually a really fun day. We loved Payson, stopped at a little community carnival there. Then we drove north to do some hiking, which turned out to be really nice. With the kids we really pushed ourselves and went, oh, almost 1/2 mile. It was rough but we made it. The smell of the trees as the rain was pattering down was gorgeous! Paul and Jane rocked the hiking backpack! We made a stop for some icees, and decided to head home for fireworks in our driveway. Josh and Melo came over, and we all ended up in the bed of Paul's and Josh's truck driving down to the south gate on Miramar in search of fireworks we saw in the sky. Came home and CJL did some fireworks in the street. Beautiful memories in the gorgeous state of Arizona this year!
