Today is Memorial Day. This holiday has kind of expanded for me over the years because of all the war events I've learned of that have a direct bearing on myself and my family. Only this morning I received an email from my mother in law about one of her prison peers who witnessed brutality in a POW camp in China in WWII. Mom was fortunate. As an underage POW in that war God shielded her from that. Last night we talked to Dennis in Afghanistan. Seven thousand six hundred and eighty miles hasn't changed a thing between us. He still picks on Becky as bad as any biological brother. We heard from our Antoine who grew up on the coast of Normandy in view of the D-Day landings. His grandfather fought in the Resistance. My own dad is a veteran who served in post WWII Germany.

We have a lot to be thankful for that we still have freedom to openly worship in this country. It is not so in most of the world and who knows how much longer we may do so here. Most people think of freedom in terms of where to go and what to do, but true freedom means so much more - it has to do with what you think and believe and ultimately what kind of person you are. The secular world is ok with people being kind, compassionate and giving, but not ok with Jesus Christ who makes true freedom, freedom from sin, possible.

Our celebration is quiet this year. It's been a pivotal weekend for us with Beck's graduation. The service was precious. Cindy came with a huge surprise, their cousin Ryan from Phoenix. Our Jamie's shower for baby Olivia was yesterday and Rachael dropped by for a shower late in the day. Ya, that was odd but we were glad to see her. Hearing from Dennis and Antoine was icing on the cake. And today I painted for the first time in over 18 years. It felt good, and it felt right.

I'm glad for Memorial Day. While I know it's the official "grill out" beginning of summer, and we'll do that, it's also a time to pause, think about things past and thank God He's in control of the future.