Fruitful Freedom-Filled Friday

My memories of the Fourth of July growing up...

I love the memories of homemade ice cream on the Fourth of July …watching my mother and her mother carefully working together to makethe custard, painstakingly straining it through cheese-cloth to remove the lumps, and the tantalizing smell of the cream, sugar and vanilla… I remember how cold it was sitting on the top of the old freezer while the grown-ups turned the crank… I remember sneaking a taste of the rock salt while anticipating the sweet taste of the vanilla ice cream… I remember the luscious taste and smell of bright red strawberries, their tartness just waiting to combine with the sweet cream… I remember the breeze coming through the screen on my grandparents' back porch as we all sat anticipating and wondering when the ice cream would finally be hard enough to eat…

I remember the big golf tournament at our local country club which my father and both grandfathers played in every year on the 4th and how proud I was the many times my dad won (we were from a small town, but to me he was as great as Jack Nicklaus!!) … I remember the smell of barbeque made by the American Legion volunteers (who had stayed up all night smoking the meat) and how wonderful it tasted with its tangy vinegar-based sauce…

Most of all, there is such a tenderness about those memories because they all center around family and friends, most of whom are not still with me …but of course the memories of them and those precious times are permanently in my heart.

I am thankful for the freedoms we have in our wonderful land. I pray that our nation would collectively turn its heart back toward the God of our forefathers and that we would again experience the true freedom that is only found in Christ. I wish you a blessed Fourth and pray you'll be surrounded by those who are precious to you!