I spent over six hours yesterday trying to get this post written, but kept running into technical glitches that I couldn’t fix – mainly trying to embed the YouTube video mentioned below – you’ve got to watch it! Because it’s so important, I’m going to give you the links to check out the information yourself. Please do!

Freedom’s never free; the cost is paid in blood.

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.
Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell…

The above picture is of Arlington National Cemetery and the Wreaths Across America project started in 1992 by a company in a small Maine town. Please check out this site for more information about the project and most especially watch the stirring YouTube video found about halfway down the page. Make sure you have your sound turned on.

Wreaths Across America (please check out this site):

Inspired at the early age of 12 years old when, as a Bangor Daily News paper boy, Morrill Worcester won a trip to the Nation’s Capital. It was a trip he would never forget, and Arlington National Cemetery made an indelible impression on him.

In later life, he recognized that his success as a businessman was in large part, due to the values of this Nation and the Veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

These wreaths – some 5,000 – are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He’s done this since 1992.

The price that has been paid for our freedom is what gives us the freedom to chose to homeschool our children, to worship when and where we want without fear, to even criticize those in public office.

Much blood has been shed to make our country free, to keep our country free. No mater what your personal feelings about the war are, as I write this, as you read this, there are men and women on the other side of the world ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for us – you, me and our children.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Ronald Reagan
40th United States President (1911 – 2004)

Let us never get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget those who have spilled and are spilling their life’s blood because of their love for this country. Teach your children the value of freedom. Teach them that freedom is never free! (The VA has put together a curriculum for K-12 if you would like to do more.)

Lord God, thank you for all the men and women who have sacrificed their lives that we might live in freedom. Thank you for those who even now are serving their country so far from home. Bless them please, Lord, and their families this Christmas season. Allow them to find peace and contentment in You, as they are apart from those they love.

And Father, please pour out a special measure of your comfort and grace upon those families whose loved ones have made the ultimate sacrifice by the giving of their lives that we might live free. May we never take that for granted. Show us ways to give back to them, at least in some small measure, for all they’ve sacrificed for us.

Lord, thank you most of all for Jesus, the One whose birth so many of us celebrate this Christmas season. Amidst the hustle and bustle, remind us often and deeply that the only reason He was born was so that He could die. And that in the sacrificial spilling of His perfect blood, He purchased the ultimate Freedom, forgiveness of sin, freely available to all who receive Him. In His Name, Amen.

Lastly, meditate upon these words from the Phillips, Craig & Dean song, Freedom’s Never Free:

Standing on a hillside
Where the river meets the sea
White crosses without number
Line the fields of peace

And each one a silent witness
Staring back at me
Every cross a story
Of another place in time
Where young men thought it worthy
To give their life for mine
And for the sake of honor
Left their dreams behind

And for the price they paid
I’m forever in their debt
Their memory will not die
‘Cause I will not forget

I will stand and hold my head up high
I will dedicate my life
To the glory of the ones who had to die
I will live, live what I believe
If for no one else but me
I will remember
That freedom’s never free

It was on another hillside
Outside the city gates
The battle lines were drawn
As soldiers took their place

The Father watched in silence
As a cross was raised
With freedom drawing closer
He took His final breath
He drank our cup of guilt
And took the sting from death

Heaven’s Finest Soldier
clothed in human flesh
And for the price He paid
I’m forever in His debt
The cross will never die
‘Cause I will not forget

I will stand and hold my head up high
I will dedicate my life
To the glory of the One who had to die
I will live, live what I believe
If for no one else but me
To remember that
Freedom’s Never Free

I will walk free
I will stay free
I will live free
I will die free!

Press on!

Sue

This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 10:38 am and is filed under Life Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.