Today … I am praying for those moms and for those dads. 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. 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? 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? When I see a red, white and blue ANYTHINGĪnd when the fireworks explode to the rhythm of the 1812 Overture.īut 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. When I hear the lyrics to “ God Bless America!” What else makes me proud to be an American? 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. My heart pounds out of my chest as I hear Patrick Henry declaring across the centuries, “Give me liberty or give me death!”Īnd when I picture that old North Boston church… I begin to weep … just weep … because I know what comes next. 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. I smile with All-American enthusiasm every time I see an American flag hanging from someone’s front porch. My heart swells with patriotic pride when I hear a baseball ump say, “ Play Ball” and the crowd roars in anticipation. I cry every time 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 is played for the world to hear. I know that sometimes our leaders get it wrong and sometimes they get it right. I know that America is not perfect – and yet I love it still. I have always been an “All-American” girl.
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