I can’t believe how lucky we are to be born in a country like ours. Imagine waking up one morning, and you are in a hut with mosquitoes buzzing around your head. You hear about Jesus, but you are not allowed to worship Him because you would be killed. The government won’t help you or your family in any way. You eat tiny morsels for breakfast, or you may not eat at all. You walk three miles just to get water. Yes, we live in a wonderful country, and sometimes we take that for granted.

Freedom takes many forms. Freedom can be the right to openly speak your mind. Freedom can be the feeling you get when you escape the pain that comes with abuse and neglect. Freedom can be living the way God wants you to live. Freedom can be the ability to decide how you will live your life. Freedom can be having the option to be creative and express yourself. Freedom is special, and I will always be grateful for it.

As we approach the celebration of our nation’s birthday and are making plans for family fun outings, we, as parents, need to on purpose bring up conversations about how we are blessed to live in a free society and how that freedom came about.

Share some facts and information about how the Declaration of Independence was created and what our founding fathers did to establish a country of freedom that we are privileged to live in today. Remind your children how blessed we are to be living in a free country. We, as parents, should talk about the beginnings of our country and how we came about to be a free nation.

Children love getting another year older and can’t wait until the day comes that they can be free to make their own decisions and do as they please – be free. Ask yourself and your children, “What does freedom mean to you, to me?”

Freedom and peace – we all want it; we all seek it; we all desire to have both, whether it is the freedoms we experience in the United States as a whole or in our individual lives. We celebrate the fact we have freedoms that many people in other countries only dream to have.

We share a strong admiration for women and men who serve our country to defend our freedoms and leave their families to ensure we don’t lose our freedoms as we know it today. Just as much admiration and appreciation is given to those spouses who stay at home and keep the home front running and await their love ones return home. Talk about what families give up when one parent is in the military and why they are serving – to uphold our freedoms.

In our own children’s lives, we desire for them to have the freedoms we had when we were growing up. An older woman tells that as a child she felt free to roam the woods behind her house and climb the trees out in those woods without fear of harm.

Today, we know our children have almost lost that freedom. Parents have lost their peace of mind that their children will be safe if left alone outside to roam and play without adult supervision.

Imagine being the mother of a child who was speaking up for an issue that would help his or her classmates, only to have a bounty put on his or her head because of it. That is what happened to Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl. Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban because she was speaking up for girls in her country to be able to go to school and get an education. Share what happened to Malala; she didn’t live in a free country.

Help your children to see the freedoms we have and not take them for granted. In spite of the danger, Malala’s dad supported her and celebrated her in a country that did not celebrate the female gender as they do their males.

Malala and her dad took the liberty to push for freedoms for the females in their society, freedoms they had not had.

During the first days of July 1776, a new nation, the United States of America, was about to be born. The Continental Congress was considering one of the most historical events of all time.

If we look back in history, we find that during the war with Britain, the American Congress frequently declared Days of Fasting and Prayer to ask God for His help in their struggle for freedom. They asked for the consideration of Congress to order 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland or elsewhere to be sent to the States of the Union. They felt it necessary for all patriots in the struggle for Liberty to have a Bible to read. Let it not be the opposite in our lives that we have so many to read but don’t take the time to open them.

One of the first acts of Congress was to appoint chaplains to open the meetings of Congress in prayer. One chaplain was the Rev. Patrick Allison, a Baptist, and the Rev. William White, an Episcopalian.

In other words, our founding fathers based our new country on God, the Bible and its teachings.

Today, we may find some of our freedoms slipping away, but we still have more freedoms than the other parts of the world.

Even with the freedoms we experience in the United States today, we may not feel at peace, and we may not feel we are free in many ways. We may feel imprisoned by the circumstances that surround us. How do we break the “bars of life” that imprison us? What price would you pay to be free, to feel peace in your soul? How do you teach your children to have true “inner” peace?

It is a fact that freedom and peace come at a high price. The fact is, our soul has been bought and paid for –with a life. Jesus Christ gave His life so we could live eternally with Him after we leave this life, that is, if we put our faith and trust in Him. He gave up his freedoms so we could have eternal life, free from condemnation.

Trust in Jesus Christ, also, brings peace. The Bible describes that peace as “peace that passes all understanding.” How can a person go through a very trying time and feel at peace? Jesus Christ gives that kind of peace. He frees us to live beyond our circumstances. He frees our very souls and gives peace where there is turmoil, tranquility where there is chaos. Jesus stepped out of the norm of His society and reached out to women. Women were important to Him (as all people are – men, women, old and young, children).

Trust in Him equals freedom. With Him, we gain freedom from worry, freedom from stressing out. We choose to gain the freedom to love when love is not returned. We gain the freedom to forgive where there has been hurt. We gain the freedom to encourage others when we are being discouraged.

True freedom, true peace cannot be found in any roles or status in life – our chosen profession, making a high salary or being famous and world renown. We are truly free to be who we were made to be when we experience the love of Jesus Christ and put our faith and trust in Him. This is where women, men, children can truly find freedom and peace.

So while teaching about our nation and the freedoms it provides, teach your children about the freedom Jesus Christ brings.

Celebrate! Celebrate with your families, your children; celebrate all the freedoms we have, those we can have both inside and out.

A fun way to teach children about American history is to get the free DVD that explains it all.

Go to: www.freemilitarydvd.com.