Not another Hallmark card

I'm planning our 4Th of July, Independence Day for the United States.

We are having homemade hamburgers (with handmade patties), fries and maybe a little ice cream for dessert. I bought some sparklers so let's cross our fingers that we all still have our fingers when it's all over. We also bought some red, white and blue decorations to cheer up the porch.

The thing is, during all of this planning and festooning, I started feeling a little guilty.

There are men and women on the front lines, away from their kids, sleeping in tents, or on the ground, or in a dusty ditch, or unable to sleep anywhere. Some of them are wounded, recovering in hospitals or at home relearning how to walk, if they are able to walk at all.

All the while, I am trying to decide what kind of hamburger buns we should have. Sounds a little pathetic, doesn't it?

So I thought about it. I want us to celebrate but I don't want to take for granted the people who are literally, at this moment, making the celebration possible.

I want them all to know how thankful I am.

Not a Hallmark kind of thankful.

Not a let's all sing Lee Greenwood for the 500Th time so we can feel all warm and fuzzy and patriotic inside and move on to our daily routines July 5Th.

Nope. Not that kind of thankful.

I want all of the soldiers, active and retired, to know how truly grateful I am for them. So I will do for them what matters most.

I will pray for them and for their families.

When someone makes ignorant, misguided remarks about how the military of this country is spoiled or pampered, I will proudly speak up for all the men and women who sacrifice daily for our freedom to make ignorant, misguided remarks.

I will vote responsibly.

I will stand in respect, hat off, hand on my heart, when I hear the National Anthem play.

And I will join in. And know all the words.

I will teach my daughter about Christian civic duty.

I will show my thanks by cherishing the freedoms we still hold dear to our hearts...

Freedom to worship anywhere I choose without fearing death.

Freedom to express myself, even on the Internet.

Freedom to walk down the street to visit a neighbor without fear of a car bomb.

Freedom to be a Stay-At-Home-Mom or a doctor or a dentist or a plumber, or whatever I dream.

Freedom to own a Bible.

Freedom to do the small, everyday things that we take for granted...

A warm slice of apple pie or a cold wedge of watermelon.

Grilling hamburgers out back while savoring the smell of my neighbor's BBQ ribs next door.

Feeling warm and fuzzy when I hear Lee Greenwood or I sing the national anthem.

Seeing my child's face in the light of sparklers at dusk.

The little things that bring me happiness in the midst of freedom.

To all of the soldiers across the sea who are defending our freedom today and everyday, we thank you and we pray that you are safe. We'll keep the pie warm, the watermelon cold, and Old Glory waving proudly until you come home.

God Bless you.