Thoughts on the Fourth

"on the fourth"

Numbers 29:23

Well, this is going to be a short one.  We had a busier day than I anticipated.  There was the barbecue and the swimming with my folks, as anticipated.  Delicious and fun, thank you very much.

Then we saw some fireworks, and played three rounds of Pictionary.  Guys beat the girls; parents beat the kids, and artists beat the non-artists.  So everyone was on a winning team, at least for awhile, and we now know for certain that I am the worst artist in my family. 

It's okay; I have other strong qualities. 

But before I head off to bed, I wanted to share something neat I found out ~ there are words to John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" !  I had no idea! 

It's a reminder to me that whatever the world may think of us, and whatever mistakes we may have made, or may be making, as a nation, America is a country founded on right and honorable principles.  And most of us strive to uphold those.  

So I hope you enjoy, and I hope you are praising God for freedom and family, as I am.

Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand
A flag appears 'mid thunderous cheers,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom's shield and hope.
Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom's nation.

Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.

Let eagle shriek from lofty peak
The never-ending watchword of our land;
Let summer breeze waft through the trees
The echo of the chorus grand.
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and the right.
Sing out for Union and its might,
O patriotic sons.
Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation,
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom's nation.

Hurrah for the flag of the free.
May it wave as our standard forever
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with might endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray,
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.

~ "Give praise to the Lord,

proclaim His name;

make known among the nations

what He has done,

and proclaim that His name is exalted." ~

Isaiah 12:4

~