A Star Spangled Week

It’s the week of July 4th and the perfect week to celebrate our country, our heritage and our freedom. If your neighborhood doesn’t already have a 4th of July Parade, I would encourage you to generate one. It’s easy. When we moved into a new neighborhood many years ago, we recognized that if a parade was going to happen it was up to us to get the ball rolling. We printed up simple fliers on special decorative paper, and invited all our neighbors to join in a neighborhood parade starting at our house on the morning of July 4th.

The response was tremendous! Kids, grandkids, parents and grandparents all gathered at our front driveway. We decorated our bicycles, played with sidewalk chalk and bubbles, enjoyed cookies and lemonade. When it was time to start the parade, I piped in some Star-Spangled music from a portable stereo. We slowly made our way down the street and back to our house again. Cooling off by running through the sprinklers is a great way to cap off the event. The parade was a great success as it brought together neighbors and allowed us to celebrate our nation’s independence. The parade became a tradition every year. Such joy and so easy to do!

As a family you can also build the week of 4th of July fun by serving red, white and blue food throughout the week. Consider colorful pancakes for breakfast (just add food coloring to the batter), enjoy blueberry, strawberry, and banana fruit salad, and make a red, white and blue cake using colored icing. I’m sure you can think of even more fun ways to eat red, white and blue.

Be sure to check out books at the library for the kids which teach about our country’s heritage. One of my favorite books is The Light and the Glory and From Sea to Shining Sea both by Marshall and Manuel. Excellent books which teach about our true beginnings as a nation.

Of course there are also wonderful riches about freedom found in God’s word. Read in Exodus about the freedom the Israelites experienced from Egypt. More importantly teach your kids about the freedom from sin which we experience through Christ. If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.
Happy 4th!