Happy Independence Day!

Let's celebrate and be thankful for our independence and so much more!

Red

White

and Blue from my garden to you!

God bless your Fourth of July!

Cowpies and Firecrackers

    Fireworks made cheap and abundant entertainment for husband Hank when he was a boy, shortly after the close of World War II when wartime prohibitions ended.

    Here’s one of his stories:

    “Cousin John and I would ride our bikes to the nearest fireworks stand and compete to see who could buy the most fireworks for five dollars. That usually meant large packages of medium-sized firecrackers. Then we’d cooperate in finding different and interesting ways to enjoy our purchases.

    “We liked to place an empty two pound coffee can upside down over a firecracker with the fuse sticking out. We’d light the fuse with a punk and when the firecracker exploded, we watched the can fly eight to ten feet into the air. With each explosion, the bottom of the can pushed out a little more, until the can was rounded on the bottom like a bowl.

    “John, Aunt Myra, Uncle Bing, and cousins Jean and Judy lived in a little house on Grandpa Husby’s place. Grandpa had about two acres of pasture for his cows. July brought plenty of fresh grass, and with all that fresh grass for feed, the cows produced an abundance of cow pies.

    “So John and I thought, why not put a firecracker in a fresh cow pie, light it and run? We’d be far away when the cow pie exploded. This worked fine. We whooped and laughed at the mayhem we were creating.

    “John had just lit one more firecracker and turned to run when a charley horse seized him. He grabbed his leg and yowled. Fortunately, his back was to the cow pie. Ka-blam! The firecracker exploded. The cow pie splattered all over John. I bent double, laughing.

    “As John limped up to their house with me as moral support, Aunt Myra met us at the back door and handed out a fresh set of clothes to her son. She said, “You’re not coming in here until you clean up.” She pointed to the outside water hose.

    “I helped by hosing his back. When John was clean as possible under the circumstances, he changed his clothes in the outhouse, which was attached to the back porch.

    “John and I found something else to do for the rest of the afternoon.”

A Great Fourth of July Celebration

It's a Grand Old Flag!

The most patriotic thing we can do is be the church. Pastor Lyle Coblentz


Traveling to Oregon on the 4th of July weekend, we stopped Sunday morning at Hank’s former church near Vancouver, Washington. We were in plenty of time for the service, but the doors were locked, the parking lot empty. Had services been cancelled?

No, out back on the green acres the church calls “Barefoot Park”, we saw cars and people, and a big white tent. A double row of American flags lined a winding drive, with safety-vested young people directing the cars filling the grassy “parking lot.”

We joined people streaming along a path lined with small American flags to a big tent filled with men, women, and children sporting the red, white and blue.There were 4th of July shirts, vests, ties, even hats. Ushers wore saucer-sized buttons striped in those colors. Old friends greeted us with enthusiasm.

The singing began, patriotic music we’ve sung and loved since grade school: America, My Country Tis of Thee, an acapella rendition of It’s a Grand Old Flag belted out with perfect timing by the ten-year-old granddaughter of our friends the Thompsons. Two elderly gentlemen in flag print shirts posted the flags. As they proceeded down the aisle, people spontaneously stood and placed their hands over their hearts. We repeated the salute together, then a soloist sang the national anthem in a clear, strong voice. Goose bumps!

A dramatic reading honored the branches of military service. As the choir sang the songs associated with each branch, audience members stood in honor of people serving or who did serve in army, navy, coast guard, marines, or air force.

After a heartfelt prayer for America, the pastor spoke about what the Christian’s response to government, whether government is good or less-than-ideal, should be.

According to I Timothy 2:1, 2, we should:
    1. Recognize government as a divine institution
    2. Give everyone what you owe them
    3. Pray for government officials at least as much as we complain about them.


Afterward, the men set up tables, the women set out the food, and all the people stayed for a good old-fashioned 4th of July picnic. It made me think of the truth of the pastor’s introductory words that morning: "The most patriotic thing we can do is be the church."

A Prayer for Our Country

Courtesy of PD Photo.org

One way we can honor those who sacrificed their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to give us the freedoms we enjoy in the United States of America is by invoking God's help for ourselves and those who endeavor to lead our nation today. We prayed this prayer in church yesterday. It was written by Brett Johnson, our minister of music.
 
The Lord’s Prayer for Our Nation  - © July 2011

People: Our Father, who art in heaven,

Leader: How high are your ways above our ways. We pray today that the earthly ways of our nation would be informed by your heavenly ways.


People: Hallowed be Thy name.

Leader: May you be honored in the decisions made by our national leaders and by the manner in which those decisions are made. Instead of a posture of arrogance that can come with the drug of absolute power, may our country’s leadership reflect a posture of humility before you, aware of the awesome responsibility you have entrusted to them.

People: Thy Kingdom come.

Leader: May the designs and plans of our earthly republic mirror those of your divine Kingdom. May our cultural values become the values of your Kingdom, our collective desires, the desires of your heart.


People: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Leader: May our leaders, even unknowingly, accomplish your will in the difficult decisions they make.


People: Give us this day our daily bread.

Leader: We are so grateful for how you have so generously blessed our nation with prosperity. But these are hard economic times for so many in our nation. We do pray that you would use hardship to draw people to you, and as an opportunity for your Body, the Church, to be your hands and feet of justice and compassion to its neighbors within this great land.

At the same time, we recognize that even in our hardest economic climate we are among the most prosperous and wealthiest people on earth. Even in our lean years, give us deep generosity for the true poor of our world and an accurate perspective of relative wealth.


People: Forgive us our debts.

Leader: Forgive us for how easily we turn away from those who are truly destitute across the earth, those whom you called us to care for. Forgive us for how easily we turn to materialism and greed to feed our spiritual hunger. Forgive us for the many systemic sins which plague our culture, from a self-obsessed financial system to a lust- and- violence-fueled entertainment industry.


People: Forgive us as we forgive our debtors.

Leader: Make us a compassionate nation which is working to accomplish good things in individual lives, cultures and national futures all around this globe. Make us a nation less feared for its military might than honored and respected for its humanitarian investment.


People: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Leader: Guard our leaders from the corruption that power can bring to the human heart. Make them men and women of integrity who are able to rise above the petty battles of vengeance and blind political loyalty that our system of government can make them prone to face.

Make them people of depth and purpose who desire your will for their own lives and for the country that you have called them to lead.


All Together: On behalf of our nation, we pray all these things to you, for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.