fighting for you and for me - for this country.

i feel incapable to say the right thing on fourth of july sometimes. the same feeling overwhelms me on memorial day and veterans day. awkward. incapable. inadequate, i guess. what do you say when so many have and are offering their lives so that my family can live in this country we freely call home? thank you just doesn't quite seem sufficient enough. but thank you is really all i have.

thank you that my daughter can wake up and watch saturday morning cartoons without fear.

thank you that my husband can wake up and make waffles in freedom and fill our safe house with the sweet aroma.

thank you that we can leave our house and drive away with real no risk. even with our hair freely flapping in the breeze, if we'd like.

thank you that we can go to the grocery store, the mall, the bank and the park with hardly a care in the world. thank you for reminding us that we need to care just a little bit more.

thank you that i can freely surf the web. freely join in worship. freely hug my family. freely walk my streets.

thank you that i can rest my head and comfortably fall asleep each and every night. sometimes even in the middle of the day.

thank you for fighting for me. thank you for sacrificing for me. thank you for standing up and giving your life...*gulp, for me .

may the Lord bless and keep you as you fight in a foreign land. as you miss your families. as you rise above your surroundings. may He let His face shine upon you as you work hard, sweat, toil and march for something much bigger than i could understand.

you are in my prayers.

today is to celebrate you and this great country you fight for and serve. may the celebrations extend past today and may we always remember. happy fourth!