P is for... {Thankful Thursday}

I feel like I need to start today with a bit of an apology.  I haven't been getting around to visiting as many bloggers as I really want to.  We have less than three weeks till the end of the semester at my college, and that means paper, tests, and projects are all coming due here really soon.  I've barely had time to get posts out every day... but I HAVE posted every day!  And for that, I am thankful.  I'm also thankful for those of you who stick around and visit regularly, for those who comment, and for the two people who just told me in the last couple days that they often read the scribbles I put out here.  That means more than you will ever know.

I'm also thankful that today's letter is P, because that's so much easier than "J" for coming up with words!  Today I am thankful for...

peace, even in the midst of this busy, stressful week...and in the midst of the evil that we have witnessed this week.
prayer, by which I can talk to my God and Father whenever I need and want to.
patriotism, which has been displayed by so many people this week, despite the tragedy in Boston and, now, the one in Waco, Texas.
princess--who I am as a daughter of the King of Kings.  What a gift.
my mom, Paula--the most wonderful mom a girl could ask for.  We're better friends now than we've ever been, she is always there for me, and she's taught me so much: especially what it means to love God and love my husband.  I love you, Mom.
pink and purple--two of my favorite colors.  yellow's the other.  I love how God created this world with color.  It would be so dull if everything was in black-and-white!
people--again, a dull world if no one lived in it.  Life is made interesting by the humanity with whom we interact every day.
pancakes, peas, pineapple, potatoes, pistachios, pumpkin, and whatever food begins with P!  I'm thankful for all that we have to eat.  (Also, I made roasted sweet potatoes last week, and they were amazing.)

What about you?  What are you thankful for this week?  Anything that begins with P?


Linking with: black tag diaries, The Fontenot Four, lovely little whimsy, There's Just One Mommy

Faith and Freedom

from last year's Fourth

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." -John 8: 34-36

That freedom is what means the most to me.  Jesus Christ, by his life, death, and resurrection, has set me free forever from my slavery to sin.  As a result, I am now a child of my heavenly Father, and I have the promise of eternal life.

This freedom is one that will never be taken from me.  It will never be altered by human laws.  It will never change based on human whim.  It will never have conditions placed upon it.  It is mine, given to me by God, and I can trust that completely.

I live in a country where we treasure our freedoms.  We have fought hard and many have died to keep those freedoms we hold dear.  A day is coming when we won't have all those freedoms that so many worked so hard to earn and keep.  These human freedoms are the kind that won't always be guaranteed.  They are freedoms we may have to fight, once again, to have.  These are not freedoms I trust.

I am thankful for them.  They help make my life what it is.  God has used the laws of this country for good, and he will continue to do so.  Today I celebrate all the good that America is.

But I will never forget the perfection that is my God.

Lift every voice and sing

Till earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of liberty.

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun

Of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.

-"Lift Every Voice and Sing," stanza 1, James Weldon Johnson