We hear and sing these words all the time, but do we really think about what they mean? Most people in the United States of America never give these words a second thought. We often take our freedom. We do not see freedom as a God-given right for which others dream and for which people fight and die. However, my mother raised me to understand what these words meant.
My mother started out life as a child of privilege. Her family had a cook and a maid. Her father was a Korean government official before the Korean War.
My mother does not speak much about the war because of the painful memories. I do not know all, or even most, of what she endured. I cannot even imagine what her family lived through. When war broke out, her father had to go into hiding. Because he was a government official, he was wanted by the Communists. He lived in a hole in the ground and her brothers sneaked food to him when they could. I am sure it was worse than we could imagine.
By the end of the war, they had lost all their worldly possessions, but they had their lives and their freedom. Gone were the servants and all the luxuries. They had all survived. There were still a lot of restrictions in post-war South Korea. The government restricted travel, and they monitored speech.
Years later, my mother had a chance to come to the United States, where she met and married my father. This country afforded her more than she could imagine as a child growing up in a war-torn country, things we take for granted. She could do what she wanted, when she wanted.
My brother, sister, and I were born in this country. My mother raised us to love the United States and what it stood for. As a child, I did not fully appreciate what my mother had taught us about her life. As a homeschooling mom reading the Declaration of Independence to my children for the first time, it truly hit me what the signers of that Document gave up for us. They declared their freedom from a tyrant so that we might live in a free country. They risked their lives for a cause in which they believed.
I am so grateful, even with all the turmoil in our country now, that God allowed me to be born and live in this country. For now, we still have freedoms that most people cannot even imagine. When this country is all one knows, it is easy to take it for granted. It’s easy to not realize how fortunate we are that God inspired our founding fathers to take that leap.
I have seen my mother cry when “The Star Spangled Banner“ is sung. She is so grateful to live in a country so free. Just as my mother is thankful, we too should be grateful for our God-given rights and freedoms. We must work to protect those rights so that our children may also live in a free country where “land of the free, and the home of the brave” are not just empty words.
We still have the freedom to worship God, who sent His Son to die for our sins so that we could have FREEDOM from death.
My prayer is that all who read this have or will accept Him and be free. There is nothing like freedom through Christ.
From what types of bondage has Christ freed you?
Do your ancestors have similar stories of why they came to the U.S.?
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Toni, this is such a great reminder to not take what we have for granted. It’s difficult to process that people across the world do not have the same freedom of choice that we have. May we continue to pray for others around the world to be set free spiritually as well as physically.
Thank you Kristi. That was my goal. I will join you in your prayer.
Thank you for sharing such a powerful reminder that our freedom wasn’t free.
Thank you. I think that this message has gotten lost.
We are so blessed to live in this country. Thank you for your post and for reminding me of that.
Yes, we are blessed! Thank you for reading.
Being married to a Korean linguist that did so for the US Navy, I’m privy to what your mother – and her family – must have been through. Knowing and KNOWING though are two different things as you aptly pointed out. It hurts my heart when people think that I stand for the Pledge of Allegiance or the Star-Spangled Banner simply because of a flag or the name of my nation. As you have pointed out here, I stand for so much more. There is a story behind that flag. There is a story behind our nation. I stand for… Read more »
Your comment has brought tears to my eyes. If everyone could understand this our Nation would be in so much better shape. I’ve been surprised recently by the people who have no idea about what is happening in North Korea. Thank you for your comment.
What a powerful reminder – how blessed we are to live where we live!
We are truly blessed!
My grandfather, uncles, and dad served in the military so I was raised with a certain level of patriotism, but that pales to my understanding as a military wife. I know the cost of freedom because my husband has paid it. And I cry at patriotic songs because I see his sacrifice.
Thank you for your family’s service. I too cry at patriotic songs (imagine playing the piano at church and having to play them.) and reading the Declaration of Independence.
Thank you for sharing a reminder of what the holiday is all about. I believe we need to keep praying for our country, that we will all remain free. We should pray for others around the world that are experiencing persecution too.
Yes, we must pray for our Nation now more than ever.