Celebrating Freedom

The hot weather hasn't stopped us from having fun, so we didn't let that change for Independence Day! The morning of the fourth, some gentle thunderstorms brought some extreme humidity with them. So even though the day cleared up, the humidity took its toll on the kids. But they weren't about to miss out on our plans over that! We were invited to some friends' house for their annual Fourth of July celebration. There were lots of fun things to do and people to do them with!

The young teenagers played volleyball and badminton (which Vince was a part of, now that he's a teenager---that is just still weird!); the older teens were off in the background lighting off little explosives, and the little ones were running all over the place. Many of the families there were also homeschoolers and our kids all clicked really well with each other. Faith likes hanging out with kids her own age, but she really likes hanging out with Suzie. I can't say I blame here; Suzie is such an awesome teenager!

Aside from fun, we had some good food too. I made a patriotic fruit salad that was a nice summery treat. It was a pack of strawberries cut up, a pint of fresh blueberries, two chopped bananas, and 1 1/2 cups of vanilla yogurt. Gabie was grocery shopping with me when I bought the "blueblerries" (notice the extra "l" he puts in when he says it) and he had such a hard time waiting to eat them.

We found a good fishing hole right in town at the local lake and the kids have enjoyed giving fish a reason to do their own freedom celebration. (We just catch and release fish.) Faith's learning to put a worm on the hook and Vince has got his fishing thing down. Here's his biggest catch so far:

It seems Faith's and Gabie's bodies still haven't fully acclimated to the summer temps, as you can tell from this picture:

Faith can be out for 10 minutes and her whole face will turn bright pink. Gabie's does too and his hair gets all sweaty. Gabie also tends to get a little bored during fishing outings, so sometimes Mommy and Gabie stay home while the other kids go fishing with Daddy. Besides, Mommy likes her Gabie time with a quiet house once in a while!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Freedom Celebration. The morning after the fourth, we sang "I Am Free" at church. Some of you may know it. ("I am free to dance, I am free to live for you.") While we were singing it though, I found myself needing more. I asked the Lord what I'm free from, specifically. I'm sure not free from sin; I do so many things that I don't want to do and know I shouldn't do. Financially, the only way we could be more enslaved was if we had a mortgage; so financial freedom isn't there either. During my time in the Word that evening, I happen to read this: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life HAS SET YOU FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH." (Romans 8:1-2) When we have given our hearts to the Lord and accepted that he took our punishment for us, we are no longer set to receive the punishment required by God's law of death. So even though we may die temporarily on earth, we never really die because we will live forever with God. Basic ABC Christianity, but it was a good refresher for me on this Independence Day weekend.

John 8:36: So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."