Memorial Day weekend

 

beautiful graphic from Little Birdie Blessings

 

 I hope that all of you have enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, even though it may have rained much of the time as it did here in New Hampshire.

However we celebrated, I hope that each of us took some time to remember those who have given their lives that we might live in freedom, and that we were able to convey to the children in our lives just what this holiday is really all about.  I trust that each of us also took some time to pray for those brave men and women who are currently serving our country, some in very hard and dangerous places.  We owe them much gratitude for their service to America.

Our own weekend was wonderful.  Friday morning, our dear young friends Sam and Jennifer,  along with their boys, joined us for brunch.  This was quite an unexpected treat.  Jennifer, who is planning a home birth and is very close to delivery, needed to have an ultrasound, and it ended up being at the hospital in our town.  What could work out better than for them to join us for brunch afterward?  We made two different varieties of Sheet Pan Pancakes, and served them with maple syrup, berry sauce, fruit salad, and bacon.

 Saturday morning,  Mr. T took part in the weekly flag wave along with other local patriots.  In the afternoon, he took his 95-year-old mom to visit two local cemeteries and place flowers on the graves of family members.

 Sunday was, of course, church, with each of us teaching Sunday School and enjoying a blessed day with God's people -- a privilege we don't take for granted as much as we might have prior to the "pandemic".

And then Monday was a blessed time with family and friends as we hosted a hot dog roast at our little cottage.  The photo below is from last year, but things looked much the same.

 

Others contributed food as well and we had quite a feast with baked beans, salads, chips, deviled eggs, and then strawberry-rhubarb pie and, later, s'mores to round out the day.  It is a joy and blessing to us to watch our little camp coming to life again -- in truth, more lively than I ever remember it being.  With our friend Cyndy's guitar, and granddaughter Julia's violin, we enjoyed glorious music together, singing the marvelous truths of God's Word.

I have shared this quote before.  Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said,

 "Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." 

This seems as if it has never been more true.   The men and women who gave up so much, and in many cases, their very lives, for the cause of freedom, are such an inspiration,  and we owe them much.  I have been reading Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation Speaks, and it has been such a challenge to be reminded of all that so many young people gave up during World War ll.

We should never take our freedom for granted, though many have, and right at this moment in time it feels as if we have never been closer to losing those freedoms.  Let's not ever forget that people paid for our liberty with their lives.  This way of life that we have so long enjoyed -- this privilege of living "a quiet and peaceable life" -- is due to their sacrifice and God's grace.   Let's be sure that we are showing our appreciation to our veterans,  thanking God for the freedoms we still enjoy, exercising the liberties that remain, and praying faithfully for our nation and leaders.