Hello again, everyone. I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July yesterday. I know I sure did. You know, my sister and I were talking about how even though COVID-19 has wrecked a lot of plans and normal routines, it has also been the reason we have been able to try new things- maybe even start new traditions.
Yesterday, we went with friends on their sailboat out onto Lake Michigan. If you’ve ever been on a sailboat, you know it’s a much different experience than your standard pontoon or speed boat ride. There’s a lot of preparation you have to do to get the sail up and catch the wind. Our friends like to teach Leah (my sister) and I how to be a real crew member haha. So I got to drive the sailboat, and Leah got to go up near the front to straighten the sail out. I’ve also discovered that I get seasick (or what I correlate to as motion sickness) because it happens all the time in almost every kind of vehicle. So that’s a good time.
Then after the boat ride, we came home and had salmon for dinner (I guess we were still in water mode then patriotic mode haha), went ice cream hunting (turns out Oberweis is the only ice cream place open after 10pm on the 4th of July), and then drove around the northwest side of Chicago looking for fireworks (since all firework shows were canceled). It was actually a lot of fun having our dad drive quickly down the side streets that us girls would say ‘I hear it over there!’ We discovered some very talented homeowners, and others who probably would have benefited from watching the ‘how to’ Youtube tutorial.
I was proud to see so many homes with 4th of July displays, flags and red, white and blue lights. Every time I saw a huge American flag flying on someone’s property I couldn’t help but smile. If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout COVID-19 (besides that God is in total control- but that’s a conversation for another day) it’s that anyone living in the United States lives a life of more privilege than we understand. And I’m not blaming anyone because I’m in this clump, too. It’s what we were born into and (by the grace of God) it’s all we know.
This 4th of July felt different for many reasons. Some were definitely good (the boat, ice cream and chasing fireworks) but some were also disappointing. I think of my old boss, who bravely fought in a past war to protect our freedom and almost lost his life doing so. He could have been one of the total 1,125,014 soldiers who lost their life in a war protecting the freedoms that we selfishly and unknowingly enjoy today. Yes you saw that number right. 1,125,014. And that’s only soldiers. A lot of innocent civilians lost their lives, too. And do you think that was fair? They weren’t even fighting.
People can disagree with me all they want, but it doesn't change the fact of how sad it makes me when people metaphorically spit on the United States and complain when they don’t know how good they have it. It’s been proven that even the poorest person in our country is considered wealthy in some of the third world countries. I wish I could say a personal thank you and apology to every soldier, doctor, and civilian who lost their life in the last 244 years of the United States due to the pride of defending our country. Some of these soldiers gave up their dreams of having a family, watching their children grow up, and going places they always dreamt of because they saw something worth fighting for. And it’s because of them that we have everything at our fingertips. We can pray to whoever we want to. We have a right for our voices to be heard- I don’t think people realize that having your voice heard is a privilege. They died so we could enjoy these things. And people today are ungratefully spitting on those soldiers’s graves. They have no idea what they have.
I don’t want to get in a political debate with anyone, I’m just sharing in my space how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that of all the places in the world, He chose for me to live and grow up here. What country doesn’t make mistakes? We live in a fallen world. But I think there’s a reason why there are people risking their lives just to come and make a life in our country. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and mine is that I am proud to be an American.
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