I Love Independence Day Parades.

"Remember Who You Are!"

You know, the small town kind with marching bands, tractors, antique cars, horses and floats. It was a lot of fun watching the kids scramble to pick up the thrown candy by people on the floats and from the cars. Then we attended the local TEA Party Rally on the grounds of the county court house. The rally was great. Then we went to a great meal at the home of some special friends of ours -hamburgers, beans, red, white and blue  jello salad–The whole works! It was a good day.

Two things concerned me about this otherwise wonderful day.

As I was watching the parade, people in the cars and on the floats were calling out, “Happy 4th of July.”  You know, every other country has a 4th of July, too. It’s just another day on the calendar. Our call should be, “Happy Independence Day!” We need to know what we are celebrating and why. It’s not just a day off from work, a parade and a picnic.

Remember who you are.

Our town is small, about 25,000, but people did an outstanding job with the floats in the parade. They were top-notch. One float had a Revolutionary War/ Colonial Period theme. All the people on the float were dressed in colonial period clothes. You know, the long dresses with bonnets, men’s breeches and three-cornered hats. It was great. Out in front of the float, two young men, dressed in traditional colonial costumes, carried flags and lead the way.

As the float was passing by, a little girl about 8 or 9 years old ran up to the adult she was with, saying, “Why are those people dresssed like that?’

The woman answered, “Because they’re stupid.”

Just as she said that, a man on the float, who was also dressed in a colonial period costume, loudly called out,”Remember who you are!”

I wept for that little girl… And the rest of us too.

That’s my prayer. “Lord, help us remember who we are.”

As homeschoolers we are always looking for those teachable moments. The adult in this little girl’s life missed a very valuable opportunity to tell her about true freedom, standing up for what you believe in, understanding about true freedom in Christ.The sad thing is I’m sure the adult didn’t know who she was either.

We need to remember and we need to learn.

History is not just a list of dates and facts. History is His Story. History tells us about the lives of people who made a difference, who took a stand, who made mistakes, who persevered because it was the right thing to do.

So how do we find out who we are?

First, we need to have a personal relationship with the living God and his Son, Jesus. When you belong to Him, He will live His life through you and teach you who you are in Him.

Next, we need to seek Truth. We need to read biographies of the Founders of our country. We need to study about the difference between a Constitutional Republic and a Democracy. They are not the same. Our country was set up as a Constitutional Republic, but the majority of our people have never heard those words, let alone know what they mean.

Ask God to put people into your family’s life that are also Truth seekers. Study and learn as a family. Make American history come alive for you and your children. Ask questions; allow your children to ask questions. It’s important.

I wish you a belated “Happy Independence Day!”