It’s been one of those summers . . . you know the one where you’ve been working on a BIG project for months, and then suddenly you look at the calendar and realize it’s not June anymore and tomorrow is the 4th of July?!!!

I’ve been working on a big youth conference for the youth in my church, ages 14-18, on a daily basis since December. The work actually began 2 ½ years ago, but it got serious in December. We took them to a camp in the mountains for three days, and did 19 reenactments from the scriptures. There were about 340 kids and close to 170 adults.

My job? I’m the costume lady. I have 135 costumes that we dress the youth up in to do the reenactments. After each one, they meet in their assigned tribe and “Liken” what they learned in the scripture story to their lives today.

I don’t think I’ve gotten to bed before 4:30 a.m. for the past two months. So to say I’ve been running on fumes since we got home is an understatement! I love the strength of our youth, and wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. All the time, effort and sacrifice is worth it to see their testimonies of the Savior grow by leaps and bounds. It was well worth it!

Summer is flying by, and now it’s time to refocus on all the things I’ve been neglecting. I realized on Sunday I hadn’t done much to plan for the 4th of July. I didn’t have one decoration up, and embarrassing as it is to admit, one of my Christmas trees is still up! I’m either six months late, or six months early, so maybe I’ll just choose to be early and leave it where it is! After a day of visiting with Ron’s 95-year-old mom on Monday, I came home and thought long and hard about how tired I’ve been, and was it really worth putting any decorations up for just one day? If you know me very well, you know I don’t just put my decorations up for a few days, and I generally put up a lot. I like to enjoy them for the entire month of that specific holiday . . . I also remembered an account I discovered on Instagram the other day @whyiloveamerica1 and suddenly felt ashamed of myself.

I have always been patriotic, and feel so greatly blessed to live in this great country! I remember how I felt after returning home from Romania when we adopted our second daughter, Errin back in 1991. When I stepped off that airplane I understood why people kiss the ground when they arrive back in the United States of America after being gone for a long time. I vowed then to NEVER take my freedom and blessings for granted ever again!! And yet, here I am 32 years later thinking I’m too tired to put my decorations out.

It is never too late to decorate and celebrate the FREEDOM we enjoy. The blessing to worship God however we please, the freedom to attend church each Sunday, the opportunity to go to the mountains for 3-4 days with the youth in our church and learn more about the stories we know and love from the scriptures, to go anywhere we want, anytime we want with no questions asked. The sacrifices our founding fathers made in our behalf to enjoy the luxuries we do today are things we too often take for granted.

You can see from the pictures here in this post that I did indeed decorate, and I’m so glad I did! I found some fun new decorations I had ordered last year that didn’t arrive in time to put out, so it was a fun surprise to add them this year and change things up a little from how I usually decorate for July. I even got my bunting out on my front porch, and it looks proud and happy as well!

When we stop and realize how blessed we truly are to live in the United States of America, in spite of the issues our nation is facing, we are still better off than most countries in the world! It’s time to focus on the things that bring LIGHT into our lives.

It’s ok to have differing perceptions and opinions, it doesn’t mean one person or group is right or wrong, it just means we are different! And isn’t it a wonderful thing that we aren’t all the same flavor of vanilla ice cream? It’s our differences that make us unique - giving the opportunity to learn and grow together as one united country, with God’s blessing, indivisible, with justice and LIGHT for all who seek it!

Whatever decorations you have, whether your house is lit up like the Empire State Building, or you only have a hand-made flag taped in your window lovingly colored by your five year old with crayons, put them out! Let’s make the choice to show our love and gratitude for the safety and freedom we enjoy every day and night!

I hope you have a LIGHT filled Independence Day, and not just from the fireworks you set off in your front driveway!

Love Ya, Les :)

Faith

Why I Love America!