A glorious Fourth of July to you!

 

I hope that each of you Americans reading this will have a glorious Fourth of July celebrating the birthday of our beloved country! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or church family, whether you are here on US soil or elsewhere, whether you're enjoying a picnic, a parade, or fireworks, I hope that each of you will take a moment sometime throughout the day to thank God for the land He has blessed us to be able to live in. Our country has many serious problems and flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live and has many blessings which we often take for granted. Whenever I think of "America the Beautiful" these words come to my mind:

"America! America!

God mend thine every flaw.

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!"

Truly, God is the only One who can mend our flaws -- but we have to want that to happen and we need to beseech God that it will happen. 

Regarding the phrase "confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law" I'm reminded that as citizens we are often somewhat confused concerning the balance between liberty and self-control. Our land offers us many freedoms, yet we take them for granted and many times do not see the need to exercise self-control or self-restraint in any area of life. We want what we want, when we want it, and then when we meet the inevitable consequences of our lack of self-control, we expect our government to take care of us.

Let's take time today to beseech God to help us "mend our flaws" as a nation, to ask for wisdom in exercising our freedoms, and to thank Him for the privilege of living in this land.

Mr. T is involved with an Independence Day parade this morning, and this afternoon we will enjoy a simple cookout with family and good friends.  The weather sounds promising too.

Have a wonderful Independence Day, everyone!

A glorious Independence Day to you!

  

This is pretty much a re-post from 2021, but my thoughts are still the same, so I am posting it again.)

I hope that each of you Americans reading this will have a glorious Fourth of July celebrating the birthday of our beloved country! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or church family, whether you are here on US soil or elsewhere, whether you're enjoying a picnic, a parade, fireworks, or possibly even a meaningful visit to a cemetery, I hope that each of you will take a moment sometime throughout the day to thank God for the land He has blessed us to be able to live in. Our country has many serious problems and flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live and we enjoy many blessings here which we often take for granted. The wonderful song "America the Beautiful" includes these powerful words:

"America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"

I've often been reminded -- and it happens again whenever we sing this song -- that truly, God is the only One who can mend our flaws.  But we have to want that to happen and we need to beseech God that it will happen. I've often thought, too,  how so many of our citizens are so confused concerning the balance between liberty and self-control. Our land offers us many freedoms, yet we take them for granted and many times do not see the need to exercise self-control or self-restraint in any area of life. We want what we want, when we want it, and then when we meet the inevitable consequences of our lack of self-control, we expect our government to take care of us.

 Our flaws have never been more obvious, it seems, and never have I been more aware of how fragile our liberties are and how easily they can be snatched away.  Let's take time today to beseech God to help us "mend our flaws" as a nation, and to thank Him for the privilege of living in this land.

Today I'm also sharing a few links to previous Fourth of July posts that might be fun or encouraging reads on this meaningful day.

From 2019: Independence Day Medley

From 2018: Praying for our country

From 2017: July 4 Hodgepodge

From 2016: This Land is Our Land

 And then there is this one: Faith Like Fireworks, by Rachel Wojo

Just one sentence from Rachel (but you'll want to read the whole post!): "As Christians, we must not be afraid to shine God’s light into the night sky, revealing the beauty of the Gospel to a dark world."

Hope you'll enjoy these thoughts!  Happy Fourth of July!

A glorious Independence Day to you!

 

(This is pretty much a re-post from 2021, but my thoughts are still the same, so I am posting it again.)

I hope that each of you Americans reading this will have a glorious Fourth of July celebrating the birthday of our beloved country! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or church family, whether you are here on US soil or elsewhere, whether you're enjoying a picnic, a parade, fireworks, or possibly even a meaningful visit to a cemetery, I hope that each of you will take a moment sometime throughout the day to thank God for the land He has blessed us to be able to live in. Our country has many serious problems and flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live and we enjoy many blessings here which we often take for granted. The wonderful song "America the Beautiful" includes these powerful words:

"America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"

I've often been reminded -- and it happened again when we sang this in church Sunday morning -- that truly, God is the only One who can mend our flaws.  But we have to want that to happen and we need to beseech God that it will happen. I've often thought, too,  how so many of our citizens are so confused concerning the balance between liberty and self-control. Our land offers us many freedoms, yet we take them for granted and many times do not see the need to exercise self-control or self-restraint in any area of life. We want what we want, when we want it, and then when we meet the inevitable consequences of our lack of self-control, we expect our government to take care of us.

 Our flaws have never been more obvious, it seems, and never have I been more aware of how fragile our liberties are and how easily they can be snatched away.  Let's take time today to beseech God to help us "mend our flaws" as a nation, and to thank Him for the privilege of living in this land.

Today I'm also sharing a few links to previous Fourth of July posts that might be fun or encouraging reads on this meaningful day.

From 2019: Independence Day Medley

From 2018: Praying for our country

From 2017: July 4 Hodgepodge

From 2016: This Land is Our Land

Hope you'll enjoy them!

A Blessed Independence Day to You!

 

 (This is pretty much a re-post from last year, but my thoughts are still the same, so I am posting it again.)

I hope that each of you Americans reading this will have a glorious Fourth of July celebrating the birthday of our beloved country! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or church family, whether you are here on US soil or elsewhere, whether you're enjoying a picnic, a parade, fireworks, or possibly even a meaningful visit to a cemetery, I hope that each of you will take a moment sometime throughout the day to thank God for the land He has blessed us to be able to live in. Our country has many serious problems and flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live and we enjoy many blessings here which we often take for granted. The wonderful song "America the Beautiful" includes these powerful words:

"America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"

I've often been reminded -- and it happened again when we sang this in church this morning -- that truly, God is the only One who can mend our flaws -- but we have to want that to happen and we need to beseech God that it will happen. I've often thought, too,  how so many of our citizens are so confused concerning the balance between liberty and self-control. Our land offers us many freedoms, yet we take them for granted and many times do not see the need to exercise self-control or self-restraint in any area of life. We want what we want, when we want it, and then when we meet the inevitable consequences of our lack of self-control, we expect our government to take care of us.

 Our flaws have never been more obvious, it seems, and never have I been more aware of how fragile our liberties are and how easily they can be snatched away.  Let's take time today to beseech God to help us "mend our flaws" as a nation, and to thank Him for the privilege of living in this land.

Today I'm also sharing a few links to previous Fourth of July posts that might be fun or encouraging reads on this meaningful day.

From 2019: Independence Day Medley

From 2018: Praying for our country

From 2017: July 4 Hodgepodge

From 2016: This Land is Our Land

Hope you'll enjoy them!

A glorious Fourth of July to you!

I hope that each of you Americans reading this will have a glorious Fourth of July celebrating the birthday of our beloved country! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or church family, whether you are here on US soil or elsewhere, whether you're enjoying a picnic, a parade, fireworks, or possibly even a meaningful visit to a cemetery, I hope that each of you will take a moment sometime throughout the day to thank God for the land He has blessed us to be able to live in. Our country has many serious problems and flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live and has many blessings which we often take for granted. The wonderful song "America the Beautiful" includes these powerful words:

"America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"

I've often been reminded that truly, God is the only One who can mend our flaws -- but we have to want that to happen and we need to beseech God that it will happen. I've often thought, too,  how so many of our citizens are so confused concerning the balance between liberty and self-control. Our land offers us many freedoms, yet we take them for granted and many times do not see the need to exercise self-control or self-restraint in any area of life. We want what we want, when we want it, and then when we meet the inevitable consequences of our lack of self-control, we expect our government to take care of us.

 Our flaws have never been more obvious, it seems, and never have I been more aware of how fragile our liberties are and how easily they can be snatched away.  Let's take time today to beseech God to help us "mend our flaws" as a nation, and to thank Him for the privilege of living in this land.

Today I'm also sharing a few links to previous Fourth of July posts that might be fun or encouraging reads today.

From 2019: Independence Day Medley

From 2018: Praying for our country

From 2017: July 4 Hodgepodge

From 2016: This Land is Our Land

Hope you'll enjoy them!

Last night, we arrived home from our vacation.  This morning, I read this from Rachel Wojo: Faith Like Fireworks.  The photo with Rachel's post reminded me of something fun that we did on our last evening in Nevada with the grandkids: we all lit sparklers and stood in a circle waving them into the darkness until they went out.  As Rachel points out, "As Christians, we must not be afraid to shine God’s light into the night sky, revealing the beauty of the Gospel to a dark world."  It truly seems as if our world has never been darker, so let's be sure we are faithfully shining God's light into the darkness.

Happy Independence Day to all of you!

A blessed and glorious Fourth of July to you!

Lovely photo and graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

 (If you think this post seems a little familiar,  as if you've seen it before -- well, you probably have.  Nearly all of it.  I've updated it just a little.  This was last year's Independence Day post, and it seems even more appropriate today.)

From 2019: We're wishing all of you a most blessed and glorious Fourth of July!  I spent a busy few hours in the kitchen while Mr. T worked on his woodpile. Then we headed off to a favorite picnic spot by a river.  But we are near the lakes, you say.  Yes, yes we are.  But no local in their right mind would be trying to picnic anywhere near a lake today.  Hordes of people!  We enjoyed our time by a rushing river instead, with only one other family at a picnic table nearby.  They told us they'd been planning to go to the state park, but weren't able to get in (those hordes of people again) so they decided to go exploring and found this nice spot with picnic tables beside the river.

Taken at the riverside picnic spot last Saturday.  The water was rushing much more that day.

May we all take time to thank the Lord today for the blessings that are ours living in a free country, and to pray for those brave and committed men and women who are serving right now to protect our land and keep our nation free.  May we take a moment to pray for our country, so deeply divided and so much in need of the healing that only God can truly bring.

Do you pray for our nation regularly?  I take some time every Thursday to pray for some specific requests -- very appropriate as the Fourth of July is on Thursday this year!  (Of course, I pray for America on other days too when the news is particularly bad or there is an urgent need.)

I begin by thanking God for the blessing of living in a free country.  I thank Him for the freedom to worship, the freedom to share my faith with others, the privilege of voting, and the privilege of living in a country with so many natural resources, such natural beauty, and a high standard of living.    I then pray for our president and other leaders, our men and women in the military, our judges and courts, and my state and governor.

The printed page you see across the bottom of my prayer journal is from a pdf titled How to Pray for America.  It's a free download at Revive Our Hearts, and I have found it very helpful in praying for our country as a whole.  If you are not in the habit of praying for America, may I encourage you to do so?

Later today we will be attending a Fourth of July gathering at the home of friends.  There will be food, fellowship, and very likely fireworks as well.  Hope all of you will also enjoy a blessed day celebrating with family or friends!  Happy Fourth of July!

Independence Day Medley

Meaningful graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

So it's Wednesday again, and time for the Wednesday Medley hosted by Terri at Your Friend from Florida.  Appropriately enough, this week's questions center on Independence Day, which we'll be celebrating tomorrow, July 4. Why not head on over to Terri's and get the the questions to answer on your own blog?   Here goes:

1.  Please share a favorite July 4th memory with us.

One year we were in Elko, Nevada, with our daughter and husband on July 4th. (There were no children yet at that time.)  I wrote an account of our day here: A special Fourth of July memory.  If you don't have time to click over and read, here is one of the highlights of that day:

"In the evening, we went to the home of friends for a cookout. We enjoyed a bountiful meal in their beautifully landscaped back yard, from which we could later have a wonderful view of the fireworks being set off at the fairgrounds. But for us, the highlight of the evening was when they brought out a "Happy Birthday America" flag cake complete with candles, and the entire group joined in singing "Happy Birthday" to our country before enjoying cake, ice cream, and s'mores. What a meaningful moment!"

2.  How do you plan to spend tomorrow?  If you are working, will you celebrate later?

Not sure yet.  We usually celebrate at a late-afternoon picnic with friends, and I think that will be happening again this year.  The earlier part of the day will hold other activities, but I'm not sure what yet.  The photo below is from last year's picnic and was shamelessly borrowed from my daughter.

Photo by Carrie at Life on a Back Road

3.  Is there a favorite food always reserved for your 4th of July celebration?

I'm pretty pathetic, I guess.   Just any summer picnic food will work for us; no food just reserved for the Fourth.

4.  In Florida, you can buy all kinds of fireworks, including some that fly high and burst into pretty cascades.  Are fireworks legal in your state/community and does anyone you know put on a display for your neighborhood?

Yes, they are legal here and yes, folks in our neighborhood often put on a fireworks display.  Not just for the Fourth; they seem to do displays for the end of school, New Year's Eve, family members' birthdays, and more.   

The folks we usually spend the Fourth with generally put on a fireworks display over a pond in their yard.  Very pretty!  We probably won't be staying until dark, though, as Mr. T has to work the next day.  Again, the  photo below was taken by my daughter (and rudely borrowed by me) and is from last year's party.

Photo by Carrie at Life on a Back Road

5.  Do you have a favorite movie that you always watch sometime during the 4th of July?

Never thought of doing such a thing.  We're usually outdoors.

6.  Share something from your week, please.

I've been busy writing and scheduling posts for  Christmas in July over at my Christmas blog, Mrs. T's Christmas Kitchen.  Link is in sidebar.  I hope you'll visit!

A blessed and glorious Fourth of July to you!

Lovely photo and graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

Wishing all of you a most blessed and glorious Fourth of July!

May we all take time to thank the Lord today for the blessings that are ours living in a free country, and to pray for those brave and committed men and women who are serving right now to protect our land and keep our nation free.  May we take a moment to pray for our country, so deeply divided and so much in need of the healing that only God can truly bring.

Do you pray for our nation regularly?  I take some time every Thursday to pray for some specific requests.  (Of course, I pray for America on other days too when the news is particularly bad or there is an urgent need.)

I begin by thanking God for the blessing of living in a free country.  I thank Him for the freedom to worship, the freedom to share my faith with others, the privilege of voting, and the privilege of living in a country with so many natural resources and such natural beauty.    I then pray for our president and other leaders, our men and women in the military, our judges and courts, and my state and governor.

The printed page you see across the bottom of my prayer journal is from a pdf titled How to Pray for America.  It's a free download at Revive Our Hearts, and I have found it very helpful in praying for our country as a whole.  If you are not in the habit of praying for America, may I encourage you to do so?

Later today we will be attending a Fourth of July gathering at the home of friends.  There will be food, fellowship, and very likely fireworks as well.  Hope all of you will also enjoy a blessed day celebrating with family or friends!  Happy Fourth of July!

July 5 Hodgepodge

 Wednesday again, and Joyce is kindly hosting the Hodgepodge over at From This Side of the Pond.  Joyce asks the questions; bloggers copy, paste, and answer them on their own blogs.  On to this week's questions!

1. When and where were the best fireworks you've ever seen? 

I've seen fireworks in a lot of different places, because for years my hubby's vacation time was always the week of the Fourth and was our only time to travel.  We saw fabulous Fourth of July and Canada Day fireworks in various locations. 

I took the photo at top last night at a Fourth of July party we traditionally attend, at the home of my husband's boss.  They always have wonderful fireworks and I felt fortunate to capture this with my Kindle and no expertise whatever.  These backyard fireworks are the best to me because they are shared with friends and family in a beautiful place.

One year we watched the fireworks in Elko, NV from the back yard of friends and that was a very special time and great fireworks as well.  Our hosts brought out a beautiful cake decorated in red, white and blue and we all sang Happy Birthday to America!

Speaking of fireworks...do you know your hot buttons? The things people can say and/or do to set you off? When was the last time someone pushed one of your hot buttons?


 I know that being easily irritated is one of my character flaws, so it's something I pray about frequently.  I know that God doesn't want me to have a short fuse.

"He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly."  (Proverbs 14:17a)

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."  (James 1:19)

 That said, things that can really irritate me are: gossip; inattentiveness; lack of courtesy -- things like that.
                                                            
 2. Have you hosted any outdoor summer parties this year? Attended any? What makes for a great outdoor party?

We have not hosted any outdoor summer parties yet this year, but we still might.

 Yes, we enjoyed a wonderful outdoor graduation party for a girl in our church in June; we had our church 4th of July picnic this past Sunday afternoon; and then last evening attended the Fourth of July picnic and fireworks at the home of friends.

 I think a great outdoor party includes as few flying insects as possible and has both sun and shade available, with seating in both areas.  There is plenty of good food (potlucks are the best!) and ice cold water and non-alcoholic beverages.  There's good fellowship and conversation, with old and new friends and maybe some family as well.  If the evening ends with a campfire or fireworks, even better.

3. What does freedom mean to you?

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."  (Romans 8:1-2)

🌿🌿🌿

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."  (John 8:36)

🌿🌿🌿

"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)

🌿🌿🌿

I can't say it any better than that!

4. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy month...what annoys you most about people's cell phone habits?

Talking (or worse, texting) while driving even when it is against the law.  I also find it annoying (or maybe more sad) that people seem to be looking at their screens every waking moment and respond instantly to incessant beeps and chirps.
 

5. What's your current summer anthem?

A hymn has been going through my mind a lot this past week:

"When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, May Jesus Christ be praised!"

 
6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Summer in New Hampshire is simply glorious.  Fall is my favorite season, but New Hampshire on a perfect summer day -- blue sky, puffy clouds, sunshine, low humidity, and just enough breeze to keep things comfortable -- is beautiful and -- simply glorious.

A glorious Fourth to you!

This lovely vintage image is courtesy of Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

From our home to yours comes a wish for a glorious, celebratory Fourth of July 2017!

Our day is off to a great start as Mr. T went out early to kayak on a quiet lake,

while I did some baking for a 4th of July cookout we'll attend this evening. 

 Photo and recipe from Five Heart Home

I'm making two of these Peanut Butter Cookie S’mores Pizzas.  You can read here:  S’mores Pizza about changes that I've made in this recipe to make it work with the pans I have.  I'm planning to slice it and serve on round trays rather than on the pizza pans it baked on.

Later, I'm also going to make this Texas Confetti Rice Salad to take along as a main dish.

Currently, Mr.T  is setting up our new above-ground pool (the liner for the old one was in tatters, and it was going to be more cost-effective to get a new pool -- inflatable, this time).  A free day means time to set it up.  I'm occupied with kitchen pursuits, laundry, and other tasks.

We anticipate a wonderful time with friends at today's gathering.  It's a glorious day weather-wise, too!

May we all take a moment sometime today to thank God for the freedoms that He has blessed us with in this beautiful country.  Let's never take them for granted!

"If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope that all of my readers will enjoy a great day of celebrating the Glorious Fourth with family and/or friends!  We will be attending a 4th of July picnic later in the day, with fireworks to follow in the evening. 

For something a little different today, I am going to share the July 4 page from my summer devotional book for kids, This Land is Our Land.  This book has a patriotic theme and also allows kids to "visit" each state of the USA to learn a few interesting facts about each one.  So here's today's page:

 "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)

It's the Fourth of July -- America's Independence Day!  On this day, we celebrate the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  This important paper was signed on July 4, 1776, and it declared our country to be free and independent from being ruled by England. Because our independence was won by way of war with England, we celebrate with fireworks, which remind us of gunfire and "bombs bursting in air" as our national anthem says. 
 
We are thinking today about the state of Michigan, and it’s a great place to celebrate July 4th. One of the neatest places to celebrate is on Mackinac Island, where they have an Old Fashioned Fourth of July.  An old Revolutionary War fort is on this island. At the fort, there will be military demonstrations, gun salutes, and patriotic music all day long.  

At 10 a.m., every 4th of July, there is a stone-skipping tournament on Mackinac Island. This year is the 48th one. You can watch this interesting contest or even skip stones yourself. If you get hungry, there will be an All-American Picnic served on the Fort Mackinac parade ground. The food will be served by the Grand Hotel and will include barbecued ribs, grilled chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, salads, and desserts. At dusk, you will be able to watch spectacular fireworks over the Round Island Lighthouse. What a wonderful way to celebrate our country’s independence!
 
Our verse today is a good reminder that as Christians, we have been set free from sin. How were we set free? We were set free from sin by the death of Jesus on the cross. He paid the price for our sins, but it cost Him His life. Are we thankful and grateful to Jesus for dying so that we could be free? If we are, we will want to live in a way that pleases Him. We will not want to get tangled up with our old sins again.

* Thank Jesus for dying on the cross for you. Thank Him that he has made you free from sin.  Ask God to help you live in ways that please Him and are a good testimony to others.  Ask Him to help you not to get tangled up with your old sins. *

Hope you have enjoyed this somewhat different post.  Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July!

Image courtesy Vintage Holiday Crafts.com

Mr. T and I would like to wish all of our friends a glorious Independence Day!  It is rainy and dreary here, but is the weather predicted to clear later today.  We are headed to a Fourth of July picnic this afternoon with friends and family, where we're sure to have good cheer and fine fellowship regardless of the weather.  We hope that you and your families will have a wonderful Fourth of July celebrating our country's independence!  We are so blessed to live in this country!

A Glorious Fourth to you!

Mr. T and I would like to wish all of my readers and friends a very glorious Fourth of July!

It is very, very hot and sticky here today.  Our day has been different so far and spent more in serving than in celebrating ... but we are thankful for the opportunities God gives us to do both!  We didn't get to any parades ... in fact, we avoided one in a town where we were helping a friend move into a downtown apartment!  Prior to that we did grocery shopping for my dad and ourselves; after the move -- our friend treated us to ice cream! -- we went back to my dad's where Mr. T installed his window air conditioner.  After lunch, Mr. T mowed our lawn while I did some cooking for the evening meal for my dad.

This evening we're invited to a Fourth of July gathering at the home of friends, with fireworks to follow.

Happy Fourth of July to you!!!

Happy Fourth of July!

Image Courtesy of VintageHolidayCrafts. com

 I trust that all of you are having a blessed Independence Day as we celebrate America's 236th birthday!

Mr. T and I began the day by going out to breakfast with friends at one of our favorite diners.  Our friends are from Wisconsin, visiting family here in New England.  What a treat it was to be able to spend a little time with them ... I think it had been 9 or 10 years since we saw them last, although we have been in touch by phone and email.

Now Mr. T is off leading visiting family members on a hike of his ancestral acres.  Later, we hope to attend a church picnic we've been invited to.  We enjoyed our neighbors' fireworks last evening, so we can cross that off our list.  I hope that each of you has a wonderful Fourth of July!

A fun craft for kids

Last week my granddaughters (8 and 10) were here and looking for a project to do. We adapted this pattern for a Patriotic Candle Jar quite a bit -- in fact, the cutting/gluing technique was probably the only thing that we really used. The girls each made one, using all manner of red, white and blue fabric.

Here is one:

And here is the other:

And here's how they look on my summer tablecloth:

Fun and festive!

Happy Fourth of July!

Image courtesy Vintage Holiday Crafts.com

I hope that each of you Americans reading this will have a glorious Fourth of July celebrating the birthday of our beloved country! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or church family, whether you are here on US soil or elsewhere, whether you're enjoying a picnic, a parade, or fireworks, I hope that each of you will take a moment sometime throughout the day to thank God for the land He has blessed us to be able to live in. Our country has many serious problems and flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live and has many blessings which we often take for granted. Yesterday as we sang "America the Beautiful" in church and came to these words:

"America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"

I found myself being reminded that truly, God is the only One who can mend our flaws -- but we have to want that to happen and we need to beseech God that it will happen. I was thinking, too, how so many of our citizens are so confused concerning the balance between liberty and self-control. Our land offers us many freedoms, yet we take them for granted and many times do not see the need to exercise self-control or self-restraint in any area of life. We want what we want, when we want it, and then when we meet the inevitable consequences of our lack of self-control, we expect our government to take care of us.

Let's take time today to beseech God to help us "mend our flaws" as a nation, and to thank Him for the privilege of living in this land.

We have no special plans for the day other than getting some outdoor tasks done around home and possibly spending some time with extended family. But we started celebrating early!

On Thursday my granddaughters baked patriotic cookies using a Stars & Stripes Funfetti ® cake mix, and we frosted them with white frosting and red, white and blue sprinkles.

And we enjoyed strawberry shortcake for dessert on Saturday night, complete with star-shaped shortcakes and real whipped cream! (Five of my grandchildren, my daughter and I had gone strawberry picking on Friday.)

Then on Sunday we enjoyed a church picnic after the morning service. I took along Baked Beans,
a Red, White & Blue Pasta Salad,

(Photo by Taste of Home)

a strawberry pie

(Photo by Taste of Home)

and a Red, White and Blue Berry Pie. Mmmm-mm!

(Photo by Taste of Home)

Sunday night, Mr. T and I had a little campfire with our granddaughters and enjoyed sparklers and toasted marshmallows.

So whatever we do today, we have already had lots of celebratory fun.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

A Special Fourth of July Memory

In July 2005, we were blessed to be in Elko, Nevada visiting our daughter and son-in-law. We had a truly special day on July 4th. My daughter called last evening while we were out and left a message telling us something of their plans for today. That triggered the memory of our own special Fourth of July with them, so I went back and looked at what I'd written in my journal about that day. I thought I would share some of it here.

We began the day by going out to breakfast at a wonderful place called the Coffee Mug. Breakfast was delicious. My son-in-law and I both ordered the "Pancake Sandwich" which included 3 pancakes, 2 eggs any way, and sausage or bacon. It was only $4.25! My daughter had a Mexican omelet and Mr. T had the "sink omelet" which included everything but the kitchen sink. It was a fabulous way to start our day. We love going out for breakfast!

Then we went back to our daughter & son-in-law's apartment where the guys did some work on projects. Mr. T helped Clay build a tea rack to hold boxes of tea. He had made one for me years ago, and so they cut and measured and built another one now. They also installed some shelves for spices on the inside of the pantry door.

Meanwhile, Jo and I worked on sorting out some things in their storage area in the basement. After we had been working there quite awhile, we were interrupted by a lot of noise and yelling in the basement. When we looked, we found the guys stomping through the basement in a protest march. They were carrying signs they'd made out of cardboard boxes -- with slogans such as "Forced Labor on Independence Day!" and "Feed the Slaves!" Needless to say, we quickly took action to feed them.

We had a wonderful day as we spent time with some of their friends and church family throughout the day. In the evening, we went to the home of friends for a cookout. We enjoyed a bountiful meal in their beautifully landscaped back yard, from which we could later have a wonderful view of the fireworks being set off at the fairgrounds. But for us, the highlight of the evening was when they brought out a "Happy Birthday America" flag cake complete with candles, and the entire group joined in singing "Happy Birthday" to our country before enjoying cake, ice cream, and s'mores. What a meaningful moment! And how blessed we are to have such truly marvelous memories!

Our Fourth of July

Our day was low-key this year -- no parades, no fireworks -- but we enjoyed the day all the same. My mom has been hospitalized and came home Monday, so we've been pretty busy and a bit stressed.


Here's how we celebrated:

We started the day by going for an early-morning walk -- something we can't ordinarily fit into our schedule. Then we puttered around -- me doing some cooking, setting the table, etc. and hubby doing some outdoor tasks -- until our kids and their families came over following the parade.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch together -- grilled hamburgers/hot dogs, potato salad, tossed salad, corn -- and then a fabulous patriotic dessert, some marshmallow pops for the kids, and watermelon.

The cousins enjoyed playing together and all of the guys were good sports about helping them play croquet, frisbee, blowing bubbles, and even splashing in our partially filled pool.

After everyone left, we worked on a few projects of our own. Later, after a supper of cookout leftovers, we went for an evening walk. After dark, our neighbors set off fireworks and we enjoyed them from our porch.

And that was our day! Hope everyone else had a glorious 4th!