Happy...what day is it again?

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."  Galatians 5:1

Good morning, dear friends!

Photo: unsplash pixabay

Yes, I am still here!  I haven't written in a few days, but let me just say that there is light at the end of the tunnel!

This time next week we will be packing up and getting ready for the long drive down to camp.  The kids were too impatient last night and decided that the tents had to be aired out, with them sleeping inside of them.

Needless to say, Mom stayed inside the house.  I'm not quite ready for camp beds and mosquito netting...just yet.

It's the fourth of July here, just like it is in the US, so Happy Fourth, everyone!  But while it is Independance Day for my American friends, here it's just the fourth.  Yes, I will probably cookout today, if nothing else than for myself and the family, but the fireworks and the rest will have to wait until ten days from now.

(That's Bastille Day, for my American friends, the French "independance" day.)

Earlier this year, our family was watching a series of videos about the events of the American Revolution--I have to say it like that to my children, because the French had a Revolution, too--and I had one of those missionary mom stirrings.  As I watched the videos with my children, I was getting excited about the different steps leading up to American freedom from England.  Names, dates and places were mentioned that I shared with the kids, only to be given...blank stares in return.

My son had to memorize the year 1776...in his history class at school.  When I prepared him for the quiz, I expected him to already know the answer.  He didn't.  How on earth could he not know that American independance came in 1776?

Because, while he is American, he is not living in the U.S.  And his overly patriotic mom had not taught him this and many other important points of American history.

My children did not know the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

But they know two verses of the Marseillaise.

Hence the videos.

And...raising patriotic American kids outside of the U.S. is hard.

Living outside of the U.S. gives our family a unique perspective on America.  We love our country, and consider ourselves Americans first.  Our house becomes an American military zone during the Olympics (yes, I am a little crazy during the Olympics, especially during the summer ones.  I think I scare my children at times.) I was relieved when the French women's soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup recently, so that my loyalties did not have to be divided between cheering for them or cheering for the U.S.

(Go, team USA!)

At the same time, we have a love for France and its people, as well.  Thankfully so!  I think I should be happy to be here, especially since we are raising our family here!  And right now, I can't imagine living anywhere else.

While France may not be "the land of the free, and the home of the brave," I still want my adopted country to be...free.

The verse at the top of this blog reminds me that freedom...comes with a price, and a responsability.  And, while I am extremely grateful and indebted to our many military servicemen and servicewomen around the world, who are paying and have paid the ultimate price for these freedoms, there is a different kind of freedom and a different responsability that comes from God:

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."  (Galatians 5:1)

There is the freedom from God's wrath, from sin's bondage, from a life of destruction and from the torments of hell.  There was a price to be paid, that cost God His Son, that I could never pay.  Jesus bought my liberty, and then offered it freely to me.

There is the responsability now, to live a life that is pleasing to the One who made this sacrifice for me.

American's independance came July 4th, 1776.  My independance came much later, June 27, 1987, but it carries the far greater weight in my life, today.

So, happy birthday, America!  May she celebrate many more years in freedom!  Enjoy her celebration today, all my American friends and family!

May God help us all, to celebrate the freedoms that come from our independance...purchased by Jesus Christ on the cross.

This is why I celebrate the fourth in France here today.