The Price Of Freedom | Joy For The Journey — Carol McLeod Ministries | Find Joy in Your Everyday Life

I have always been an “All-American” girl.  

I simply and honestly just love America. 

I know that America is not perfect – and yet I love it still.

I know that sometimes our leaders get it wrong and sometimes they get it right.

And yet … I love America still.

I cry every time that a US Olympic athlete steps to the podium … has a medal placed  around his or her neck … and then stands at attention as our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner”  is played for the world to hear. 

Wow! Just wow!

My heart swells with patriotic pride when I hear a baseball ump say, “Play Ball” … and the crowd roars in anticipation … and during the seventh-inn stretch the crowd joins in a rousing chorus of “Take Me Out To the Ball Game!”

I smile with All-American enthusiasm every time I see an American flag hanging 

from someone’s front porch on an ordinary street in an ordinary town.

My eyes well up with emotion when I recall George Washington at Valley Forge leading young men in the frigid temperatures of winter to fight for our infant nation.

My heart pounds out of my chest as I hear Patrick Henry declaring across the centuries, “Give me liberty or give me death!” 

And when I picture that old North Boston church … I begin to weep … just weep … because I know what comes next.

My heart constricts with zealous joy when I see a little boy salute Old Glory …  or when I observe a veteran, weathered with age, who still painfully stands to his feet for the national anthem.

What else makes me proud to be an American?

I’m so glad you asked …

When I hear the lyrics to “God Bless America!”

When I see a red, white and blue ANYTHING!

And when the brilliant fireworks explode in the midnight blue sky to the rhythm of the unforgettable 1812 Overture.

But this year on the Fourth of July, I am especially praying for, and weeping with the mothers and fathers who have lost their sons and daughters in service to our great nation.

Who prepares a mother that her little boy, who loved frogs … ate grilled cheese sandwiches every day for a decade … and was the high school football quarterback … will grow up to be a young man who is shot on a battlefield far from home?

What can possibly comfort the heart of a parent who receives a visit from a high-ranking government official informing them that the little girl, whom they loved more than life itself, will never come home again?  

She will never again dance down the stairs in her pink nightgown … or make her grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe … or ask her dad for his advice.

Today … I am praying for those moms and for those dads.

I am praying for the parents who live in uncertainty … for the moms who wonder if their sons and daughters are safe today.  

America means many things to those who live upon its soil. 

It means the Freedom of Religion … the Freedom of Speech … and the pursuit of happiness.

America is the majestic Grand Canyon … the utter dependency of Old Faithful … and it is the sun-drenched Gulf Coast.  

America is the lazy Mississippi River … the towering Redwood Forest … and sunflowers splashed across the Great Plains.

America.  The Land of the Free.  The Home of the Brave.

I love freedom.  I love it so much that it hurts.  

I love reading my Bible … and owning a home … and boldly giving my opinion on social media.

I love preaching the Gospel … and choosing how to educate my children … and fighting for the rights of the unborn.

But do I love America enough to give my son or daughter?  

Do I value freedom enough to grieve for a child the rest of my life?  Do I?

And so, this weekend, while you celebrate with waving flags … cheering at parades …  and exclaiming at fireworks … I want to ask you to remember and to pray.

While you eat your hot dogs and watermelon … remember the homes that are quiet this Fourth of July because nothing tastes good any more.

While you watch your children splash in the pool and while you hand out popsicles to the neighborhood kids … pray for the parents whose hearts are empty and who wonder if they will ever smile again.

And when you think about America and all that it means to you … ask yourself what you would be willing to sacrifice so that you can continue to live in freedom.

This year, on the Fourth of July 2021, I am grateful for men like Abe Lincoln who stood up for righteousness and then wept with parents who gave their sons for freedom’s cause.

I am deeply thankful for the heroic leadership of General Eisenhower… Audie Murphy … and John F. Kennedy.

But, in my heart, I am praying for parents like Jim and Julie Webb whose wonderful son, Jeff, died in active duty to our great nation. Jeff was a lively little boy who grew up in our church. I’ll never forget the poem he wrote for his mom one Mother’s Day titled, “My Mom is a Rose”.

I am praying for my college friend, Scoti Springfield Domeij, whose brave son, Kristoffer Domeij, will never come home again. He had a hero’s heart.

I wonder what their homes look like … and sound like … and feel like … this day.

God bless you all … and God Bless America.

“O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness, And ev’ry gain divine!”

Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!