Thankful for Freedom

Birds chattering outside my open front door remind me that I live in a great place, and on this Independence Day morning, I feel extra grateful for the opportunity to work independent of a formal employer, making my living by writing fish stories from home and traveling to many wonderful places in search of story material. In many countries, such opportunities would not exist.

I'm also thankful for our home-school, where prayer is permitted, God's Word is central, education occurs around the clock and the calendar, and pocketknives are viewed as tools, not weapons. I believe it's my Biblical responsibility to teach my children, and I'm grateful for the freedom to do so legally.

I'm thankful too that my wife and I can pray together in the morning, and that my family can attend church, talk about the scriptures at the dinner table and sing hymns together -- all without fear of legal persecution. We'll talk about those freedoms together today as we celebrate Independence Day. Let us never take such things for granted.