“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Mercy
compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power
This does not come naturally to me. I do not naturally show mercy when “offended” by my husband or by my children.
But Christ calls us to be merciful. And God our Father sets the example for us to follow.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
My husband and I enjoyed a Pops concert last night on Independence Mall.
While I could blog about how wonderful–and rare–it is to get a “date” with just the two of us, today I’m reflecting on our country’s past and the men who sacrificed to give us the America we often take for granted today. We as Americans have privileges, even “rights,” that are still unheard of in many parts of the world.
I’ve always been intensely patriotic. I love our history. I love reading our Founding Fathers’ writings and learning of the sacrifices they made so that we could be free. I love patriotic music too. . . I’ll listen occasionally at home. But there’s something extra-special about sitting on the mall in front of Independence Hall, listening to a reading of the Declaration of Independence. We need to be reminded from time to time of our past and how we became a free country.
It’s amazing to listen to this document signaling the beginning of a world power which, for at least two centuries, would seek freedom (rather than oppression) for people around the globe. I just got chills sitting there, thinking back two hundred years. What was it like for those men to stand where I stood–two hundred years ago?
The oppression they must have felt from England as they sought freedom to live, work, and worship as they desired. The calculated risks they were taking for themselves, their families, their colonies in defying their king and beginning a war. . . Their writings make it obvious that they did not enter lightly into those decisions, but passionately believed the risks had to be taken.
So as the orchestra played on a gorgeous summer evening some 233 years later, I sat in front of Independence Hall, imagining the signers themselves walking these streets . . . What a different world it was. What an amazing world it became!
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. . .
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States. . .
Every time I hear the last line of the Declaration, my eyes well with tears, because these men were risking everything.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
As that line was read, the orchestra began playing contemplatively–“America the Beautiful,” and while no one was singing, I could hear the words in my mind:
O beautiful for heroes prov’d
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.
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Read more July 4th celebration stories at:
Umm, I wouldn’t quite go that far! 🙂
But since they gave me a free sample, I figured I would share the ad with the rest of you!
Mara asked for animal crackers after dinner. She was really excited about it.
And you could see the wheels turning in her little mind, as she added, “Then. . . some milk shaked up!” She meant pudding.
Before I had Mara, I had no idea what I was looking for in a stroller. I knew I wanted a Graco Travel System–lots of friends that said good things about those–but I didn’t realize the variety of features within those parameters, and I didn’t know which features to look for. I ended up buying a Graco “Travel System” second-hand for $100: this included the carseat, two bases, and the stroller. It sounded like a good deal–only used about five months for one child. Compared to buying all those items new, it sounded like a great deal!
But it wasn’t.
One of the stroller wheels “shimmies” [is that a word?] whenever I walk any faster than a stroll. The carseat (having gone through three children now) is seriously on it’s last leg!
But my biggest complaints are–well, BIG ones!
The stroller is HUGE! Massive! Cumbersome! Unwieldy! It takes up the entire trunk, and you have to put it in just right, or it doesn’t fit. When the stroller is in my trunk, hardly anything else fits.
My other big complaint is the “large” basket under the stroller–while indeed large–is basically inaccessible (I didn’t know I would need to pay extra for accessibility!–I assumed that came with.) But none of my diaper bags (big or small) ever fit in the basket, so if I was going someplace, I would take the things I needed out of the diaper bag, and put them in the basket! When I got back to my car, I would take them out of the basket and put them back in the diaper bag! (How inconvenient and counterproductive!)
I did like the parent tray (two cup holders and a place to set your keys and cell phone). But quite frankly, that was about it.
After using that stroller for two kids, I decided, “NO MORE!”
Last week a mom of twins passed on to me a stroller that she hardly used. It looks brand new! (Understandably, since it’s a single stroller, and she had twins! She hardly ever went out with just one!)
At first, I wasn’t thrilled, because the sun shade was missing and there was no cup holder. (Where will I put my coffee when I’m at the mall?! LOL!) But the mom who gave it to me had left some of her stuff in the stroller and when I contacted her about that, she said when I brought her things back, she would give me the sunshade which she just found in the basement!
I looked on Gracobaby.com and found that I can order a replacement cup holder from Graco for $6! I’m so pumped!!!!
This stroller folds compactly, like an umbrella stroller! and yet it still holds the infant carseat. (How did they manage that?! There will still be room for groceries in my trunk!!!)
Plus, my diaper bag fits easily in the basket, and I can even unzip it, while it’s in the stroller basket! Amazing!!
This stroller overall is in much better shape than my old stroller, having been hardly used.
I’m so excited about this stroller that I want to plan an outing, me and one child, just so I can use it!
Anyway. . . here is the AMAZING stroller! Hopefully I will feel the same after I’ve taken it to the mall once or twice. 🙂