"Freedom is not free"

Iris and I went to visit Jonny, Johnny, and Diana around a month ago at Washington D.C, where we haven't visited for years. We arrived near midnight, and we headed off towards the monuments, which were absolutely beautiful at night.





Johnny, ever the tour guide, showed us the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the World War II Memorial (which, tragically, the lights were turned off for). What really stuck with me was the quote "Freedom is not free" etched on the wall of the Korean War Memorial.

I can't help but remember Jesus who set us free not only from the evil tyranny of funny-dressed Brits, but from the slavery and bondage of sin, that we should never be enslaved to it again. Many times, we take our freedom from sin for granted, not thinking twice about the significant of liberation from sin and assuming eternal life as a right that we all deserve to have. We forget that our relationship with God and our freedom from sin did not come freely, and that God paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

The freedom - 
Romans 6:22,23

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 8:36

If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. 

The price - 
1 Peter 2:23,24

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

So on the day that we remember the men and women that gave their lives for our country and everything that she represents, let's remember the One who died to right humanity with God, the only one who can truly set us free and give us real freedom from all the evil of the world. 

Also, I love America! USA! USA!

How I celebrated July 4th: 
For all those interested, after we chilled at Tim's house, we went to Pier Village for the Oceanfest fireworks. Traffic sucked, but it was pretty worth it in the end because of all the fun people in the car and the fireworks were so close we could smell the smoke! The fireworks were actually being shot only maybe one hundred feet from us. Every time the "weeping willow" fireworks were shot, I got scared that the ashes would burn some poor people sitting too close to the shore. Aside from hanging out, the one thing that I loved the most of the night was hearing the awe of the kids all around me. As we grow up, we often get desensitized to the amazing things in the world, and it was nice to hear kids who are still genuinely captivated by the wonder of beautiful exploding flames in the sky.

Android Tip #1681 - Don't take videos sideways because you will never be able to rotate them back, especially if the files are too big to transfer to your computer via email. Taking 50MB of video sideways is never a good idea.



Playing with firecrackers outside of Tim's house. Audio required.


Yes, I screamed. The firecracker hit me! Don't judge me.