🚨 Warning to all my foreign friends – I am about to go full-bore, all guns blazing, obnoxious American. 🚨 I’m PROUD of this country, and I sure ain’t gonna be shy in showing it. 🚨

This is definitely one of the most historic events I’ve been privileged to experience – and one of the happiest too (blasts “Celebrate Good Times” to get everyone in the mood). America is 250 years old today, which isn’t old by world standards, but it sure is a milestone! It’s incredible that a country formed by scrappy little rebels has not only lasted this long, but become the most influential nation on earth. God has blessed this country and made her great. 💕

America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

attr. Alexis de Tocqueville

I don’t deny that America has problems, because she has many – many and troubling ones, because a large percentage of our population have turned their backs on God. But I’m not going to complain about that today, because too many people are complaining. And this is a day to CELEBRATE.

I’m not going to talk politics, though I believe America is at a turning point right now – big things are happening that will either lift this country up or destroy it. Politics are corrupt, depressing, and divisive – and this is a day to CELEBRATE.

And we have much to celebrate! We celebrate the goodness of God, who has brought us through at least five major wars (and many smaller ones) since the beginning of our history. And we’ve never lost those wars, you know – not really truly lost in the actual fighting.

We’ve kept our independence for 250 years, even when things looked desperate and we didn’t have much strength to back up our word. But thanks to God, we succeeded: we secured independence from the most powerful nation in the world at the time (Britain); protected our sailors from Britain again in the war of 1812; fought Barbary pirates (early 1800s terrorists), Mexican bandits (Santa Anna, Pancho Villa and the like), and Spanish tyrants (the Spanish-American War); survived a brutal war between brothers and the difficult, divided times that followed; sent our men to Europe twice (and of course, North Africa and the Pacific) to defend freedom there; fought Communists in Korea, Vietnam, Granada, and wherever else they showed their little heads; and we’ve continued to fight for freedom of people all around the world to the present day.

America has always wanted to explore. The exploration and settlement of the West is a unique and incredible story, filled with intrepid risk-takers and pioneers. Later, we joined the space race and became the first (and only!) nation to put men on the moon.

We still have free speech in America; the police can’t break into your house and arrest you for speaking the truth (or even an honest opinion) online. We have the right to assemble peacefully, the right to worship God, the right to move and travel and trade freely. We have the right to do research for ourselves and vote for the candidate we believe will best represent and serve us.

The fighting, the exploration, the rights – they all have one thing in common: FREEDOM. We fight for freedom, we love the freedom of exploring, we value our individual freedoms. America has always been the land of the free.

And the image that comes to mind like a refrain is a nautical one — a small story about a big ship, and a refugee, and a sailor. It was back in the early eighties, at the height of the boat people. And the sailor was hard at work on the carrier Midway, which was patrolling the South China Sea. The sailor, like most American servicemen, was young, smart, and fiercely observant. The crew spied on the horizon a leaky little boat. And crammed inside were refugees from Indochina hoping to get to America. The Midway sent a small launch to bring them to the ship and safety. As the refugees made their way through the choppy seas, one spied the sailor on deck, and stood up, and called out to him. He yelled, “Hello, American sailor. Hello, freedom man.”

Ronald Reagan

We are free because of the brave: the ones who stood toe-to-toe with tyrants, the ones who faced down death, the ones who carved a nation out of a wilderness. And the ones who had a quieter bravery: those who gave their loved ones to fight, who prayed long and hard for our country and the wisdom to guide her, who agonized over policy decisions that would affect not just the nation but the world.

We are free and we are great because we were founded on Christian principles. Not all of our Founding Fathers were Christians, but they acknowledged and respected the role of God in guiding a nation. They prayed much over the forming of this young country, and many of the cornerstones of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are based on Bible principles. God gives rights, not man; God gives us our freedoms; and God, whom he honored at the founding of our nation, has blessed and kept us for 250 years. He deserves our praise and gratitude.

…them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

I Samuel 2:30

So yes, I’m going to give thanks and celebrate, because it’s an amazing time to be alive. We’re planning to go downtown for the Independence Day parade, and maybe we’ll stay for some of the activities at the State Capitol. Maybe I’ll do my hair in Victory Rolls and wear the war correspondent’s uniform I just bought. Whatever we do, I’m looking forward to it, because this is my second favorite holiday in the year.

Stay safe, don’t get sunburned or make yourself sick eating chips, and most of all HAVE FUN and THANK GOD!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! 🫡😎🥳🤠🦅🎆🎇🧨🎊🎶🎺🍔🌭🍧🌹🪂🌎🗽❤️🤍💙✝️