Sunday, July 3, 2011

Lessons in Freedom

This morning I asked the kids "Monday is a holiday, what holiday is it?"
"Independence Day!"  shouted Annie.
"What does that mean?  Independence from what?"  I asked.
"From Spain!"  Annie shouted again.

Well, I guess they don't teach that until at least 6th grade???  Of course when I said "England" and Randy said "Great Britain", that compounded the confusion.

When Randy starts a story by saying "When I was a child . . ."  it elicits unanimous groans from the kids.  Occasionally Charlie will ask if we can trap a wild bird and keep it in a cage as a pet.  Then Randy starts in ~ "When I was a child . . . my dad and I caught a couple of sparrows and kept them in a cage for a few days.  One day I decided it was not right to keep them in the cage, so I let them go.  Those two little birds did not fly away, instead they flew up in the sky over my head, chirping, singing and putting on an acrobatic show that I have never seen birds do before or since." 

This incident made such an impression on Randy ~ what true freedom means.  I wish I had a recording of "O America" that Randy sang in church this morning - but here is one of my favorite links for this song:

 
Happy 4th ~ and thank you to all who work for our freedoms.
Until next time. . .
Stephanie