Just Another Day of Freedom

We are free because of the BRAVE and we are thankful to all who have served to protect our freedom and to those men and women who made the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE by giving their lives for us!  WE HONOR YOU!!  Thank you for valuing us and the generations to come by your willingness to lay down your life for your country.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  1 John 3:16

Today, we arrived at the Spring Arbor Memorial Day Parade late and the roads were closed to get to the place where we always meet up with friends and family.  So, we needed to walk almost the whole length of the parade route rather quickly.  As we were walking I developed two blisters on the top of my toes where my sandals were rubbing against them and the blisters popped and bled by the time we reached our destination.  ( I know this is a gross story, but I am going somewhere with it and I promise no pics of my toes.) I was in a little discomfort due to my poor choice of footwear, but was able to obtain band-aids and take care of my issues...sometimes, the way I feel about my circumstances...I later learn is such a contrast to the reality outside of myself, so I started thinking about what our servicemen and women have endured...the painful and horrifying walks they have taken...the agonizing time away from families...the blood, sweat and tears (hate to use a cliche for that because of the magnitude of the suffering, but those things are more than "cliche true" in this case)...  Anyway, what I have begun to realize is that, most of the time, real freedom can only be bought with blood.  

We promise not to take our days of freedom for granted!  There really is no such thing as "Just another day" of freedom....freedom is only free to us because someone else bought it and handed, well really gifted, it to us....they, in essence, paid it forward. We know there may be a time where we are called to pay it forward for someone else and I pray that we are ready and willing should that be necessary, but while we are enjoying the benefits of our freedom...walking down a street lined with friends and smiling faces....collecting candy and waving at the people that float by....trying out new dessert recipes for our families to enjoy at the picnics....we promise to be grateful!

THANK YOU!