America the Beautiful

Lately Brad and I have been feeling really patriotic. We started watching the movie series "John Adams" on Netflix and we can't stop, we have to watch every episode! We've been learning so much about our nation's history and the sacrifices that our founding fathers made for our country. After almost every episode we have a conversation about how grateful we are for those men, and for the hardships that they endured because of their vision for the future of a free country.

I'm grateful for the men and women who are still making great sacrifices to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. It takes a special kind of person to give up all the comforts at home to ensure that the rest of us never have to. I always get teary at the end of the song "America the Beautiful" where it says

Oh beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life

Although I don't serve in the military, I try to be a good citizen. I could be a little better at obeying the speed limit, but today I did my part and voted. It took a bit of extra time to study and decide who the best candidate was and what the issues were, but it was worth it. Did you know that, according to msnbc.com, only 61.6 percent of eligible voters actually voted in the 2008 Presidential election. And that was the highest rate since 1968. 61 percent! There are other countries where people are literally risking their lives to vote or they can't even vote at all, but we can go to a precinct in our neighborhood, use a touch screen, or even vote by mail, and cast our ballot without worrying about persecution.

When I came home from Ukraine I remember the guy from customs stamping my passport and saying "Welcome home!" I had only been gone like 4 and a half months but still my heart skipped a beat and a tear came to my eye, it was music to my ears! Brad said he felt the same about coming home from Brazil, there may or may not have been some kissing of the ground on his part.

Of course, we're not without or problems, but I'm thankful to be American.