Proud to be an American!

I have baby fingerprint smudges on the back sliding glass door as she stands against it watching her daddy grill.

There's homemade ice cream base chilling in the fridge.

I'm busy chopping celery and onion to put into potato salad.

A little kitten has adopted us... And our older daughter has adopted her right back, beginning to assume responsibility over the care of this kitten.

Between our home and the one next door, there runs a ditch with two places to cross - one near the street where it flattens out, and the other toward the back where an earthen bridge appears. Our daughter, the three girls next door and the two behind us use that going back and forth.

Last night, the father of the three girls invited their friends over to watch him set off the fireworks he'd bought, leading to a fabulous technicolor display amidst little girl squeals and giggles. I stood on our porch thinking, "This is exactly the type of place I wanted to raise my children."

This morning, we attended worship. It still bothers me to see the American flag fly in church - that whole separation of church and state thing, and I don't want our church to co-opt its will to that of the state in any way, as cautioned by Dietrict Bonhoeffer some 70-80 years or so ago.

I have all these things - fingerprints on glass, food in the fridge, safety in our neighborhood and church - BY GOD! By the grace of God and the sacrifices of so many brave men and women over the last 234 years, I have freedom to work, to live and to worship as I see fit. I praise God for all the ways that God has blessed me, and I thank God for allowing me to be born an American.

My prayer is that God will keep us free through the next two years and that the President will repent of his evil ways, even going so far as to step down. What is your prayer for America?