Freedom's Never Free

My 3-day weekend started early when we received an interoffice memo saying that our company was going to have an "Independence Day Early Dismissal." In honor of our country's independence, they were letting us go home early! So my mini-vacation started early Thursday afternoon. Which worked out perfectly, because my parents had just arrived in town. We got to spend the afternoon together before we had dinner with my boss and his wife.

Friday we did some shopping, and I was able to get a few things for my trip to Seattle/Victoria! It was so great to spend time with my parents; and it was really great to have a day off from work. Somehow, I have lived here for over a year now and have not taken my parents to Sprinkles. So they got to experience the cupcake yumminess this weekend! I tried to get them to show me their most excited faces...well, this is the best I got:

I guess they don't appreciate it as much as I do. Oh well. At least Sasha enjoyed her doggie cupcake!

Friday night, we made our way over to Kaboom Town. The festivities were less than a mile away from my apartment, so we were able to walk over to see the fireworks. Unfortunately, I was too mesmerized to snap any shots of the actual fireworks, but they were really awesome!

Yesterday, we went to see Transformers: Rise of the Fallen, ate ice cream, and just hung out as a family. The golf course next to my apartment had a Fourth of July celebration, so we were able to enjoy more fireworks, right in my backyard!

It was such a great weekend, and I really enjoyed having my parents here. But I wouldn't want to go without remembering the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much so that I can have fun weekends like this with my family. I cannot forget those who have fought bravely to both secure and protect my freedoms. So to those soldiers and their families who have sacrificed...thank you.

But even more than that, I cannot forget the freedom that I experience in knowing my God and Savior Jesus Christ. He paid the ultimate sacrifice, so that I can have freedom in Him. I could never do justice to either sacrifice by the words I write, but I think that Phillips, Craig, and Dean put it beautifully:

Standing on a hillside

Where the river meets the sea

White crosses without number

Line the fields of peace

And each one a silent witness

Staring back at me

Every cross a story

Of another place in time

Where young men thought it worthy

To give their life for mine

And for the sake of honor

Left their dreams behind

And for the price they paid

I'm forever in their debt

Their memory will not die

'Cause I will not forget

I will stand and hold my head up high

I will dedicate my life

To the glory of the ones who had to die

I will live, live what I believe

If for no one else but me

I will remember

That freedom's never free

It was on another hillside

Outside the city gates

The battle lines were drawn

As soldiers took their place

The Father watched in silence

As a cross was raised

With freedom drawing closer

He took His final breath

He drank our cup of guilt

And took the sting from death

Heaven's Finest Soldier

clothed in human flesh

And for the price He paid

I'm forever in His debt

The cross will never die

'Cause I will not forget

I will stand and hold my head up high

I will dedicate my life

To the glory of the One who had to die

I will live, live what I believe

If for no one else but me

To remember that

Freedom's Never Free