Independence Day

The day after the kids and I got back from Bald Head Island, my husband learned of a crisis at their facility in Boulder, CO.  Within an hour, he had plane tickets and a rental car reservation, and he was home packing for another trip and another week away from the family.  In addition to still grieving new milestones in our country's epic celebration of sexual immorality, I grieved his departure.

It was helpful for the kids and me to view his trip as super hero work.While we missed him so much, we could not begrudge him for leaving, for we know his priorities are in the right place. He honors God by using the gifts and abilities God has given him to serve his employer and to provide for us. When he's home, he's fully engaged, forever "saving the day" and helping our family thrive. So, while he may not be wearing a superhero suit or have super powers (his left arm his still in a sling), he is a super hero indeed in our eyes.

He spent the entire week working with the very folks who are leaders in this movement toward reverse discrimination, abandonment of the Constitution, and the celebration of moral depravity in America.  It was a somber week indeed.  Yet, we know America is the last bulwark of freedom in the world. While we see those freedoms and our foundation slipping, we will celebrate the freedoms we have had which our brave forefathers and courageous military have fought so valiantly to protect.  And we know that ultimately, the only true freedom that matters is found in Christ (Romans 8:2), and no one can ever take that away from us.  In fact, the more people and governments try to remove that freedom by persecuting us, the more the church grows. These momentary defeats are part of the battle, but our King wins in the end.

Our neighborhood hosted a potluck cookout in our cul-de-sac on the day before Independence Day.  I took the kids without my husband, and they had lots of fun with their younger neighbors.  Several of the girls had been choreographing dances while waiting at the bus stop, so they gave us quite a performance while my daughter served as "screen bouncer" to keep the little ones from walking behind it and casting shadows on the screen.  The father of one of the girls went to great effort to make a screen and stage curtains for their debut.

The boys played games while the moms chatted. I grilled our family's burgers that night and realized that in all my 42 years, that was the first time I had ever cooked anything on an outdoor grill by myself, for this southern gal always thought grills were for guys.

My husband flew back on Saturday, so we hoped he would get home in time for one of the area's fireworks displays. We waited and waited.  After a fight broke out on his airplane with at least seven passengers pulled from the plane by police officers who took statements and charged some with physical assault (the tiff was over seat assignments, y'all), we  began to doubt he would make it home in time for fireworks. He got here just in time!

Here is my traditional fireworks collage showing some of my favorite fireworks from the show.  The kids still like the happy face fireworks the best, but I never got a good picture of that one.