Tuesday 4......Fourth of July

It's time again for Tuesday 4 hosted by Anne from Cottage by the sea. Published each week in memory of Toni Taddeo, it's original author.We keep Toni Taddeo's original idea alive here with 4 questions each week.  

Let's talk about Independence Day this week. 

1. In previous times every family read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights on July 4 to keep in mind the huge price paid by a minority of patriots  for freedom and liberty. What do you think about this tradition? Well, to be honest, I never knew that was a tradition, and I'll be even more honest that the last time I read either was in HS. I just googled them both and since I'm being honest, as I read, I thought, I cannot understand this one bit. I've always struggled with comprehending and focusing on how things were written "back then". So I suppose if someone were to accurately paraphrase it, I could see reading it each year. But this certainly gave me some food for though. I hope you will institute it and value it.  It is so important.

2. Fresh made lemonade was a huge deal in the Midwest when Laura Ingalls Wilder was a young girl. It was a very special treat. Every family brought a dish to the town celebration. What foods and drinks will you have on this important day? We are staying home tonight, just my hubby and I. I made us hamburgers...that's it. I know, not very exciting. If we were going somewhere I'd probably bring some type of salad or other side dish. I loved watching Little House on the Prairie and I love homemade lemonade.

3. Will you be watching fireworks.. a great American tradition on this day?  We watched our neighbors light off theirs on Saturday. I may stay up and see if anyone else lights any, though we live on a private road with each house having 1-3 acres so I'm not sure. We didn't get any invites this year and we babysat grandkids so didn't really feel up to inviting anyone up here. Our daughters did invite us to an event their church was doing, but I babysat yesterday and today and just felt like I needed to get some things done around here. I do love a good fireworks show though. They are deeply rooted in the American tradition . 

4.  Will your flag be out?   Do you own one? I don't own a flag...we've never had a great place to put one. A few people on our road have them. I love them, and at the same time I don't feel like I need to have one to be patriotic or have a heart and love for our country.

 Quick 4th fact: Did you know that the term Commander in Chief cannot be used except in times of Congressionally declared war? A president has no authority over the military until then.  I didn't know this. Very interesting.

For almost 20 years, my hubby and I were youth pastors. When our oldest daughter was 6 months old we started doing 4th of July fundraisers...so every year for about 16 years for an entire week leading up to the 4th we either directed traffic and had a snack booth or we were selling fireworks. When we stopped youth pastoring, our girls still continued running them (since my oldest daughter and her hubby are the youth pastors now) and or working at them...though they are so versed in how these things work, they could run them with their eyes closed. When they were really small I mostly ran errands, brought food and we often housed some youth who would be helping for the week. As they got older, they wanted to hang out with us. It was always the biggest fundraiser the youth group did. They loved it and have such awesome memories.    

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin