It's important that we teach our children to show honor, respect and appreciation to the men and women who gave their all for our country.
1. Teach your children that our freedom is not free. It was paid for by noble men and women who sacrificed their lives for us.
2. Teach your children to say "thank you for serving our country and for making a difference so I could enjoy living in a free land."
3. Remind kids that Jesus paid the ultimate price so we could be free from the enemy of our souls. Jesus gave His life by dying on the cross so we be freed from the penalty of sin.
Today, I'd like to honor my grandfather. He fought in WW2 on the front lines. He did not know Jesus as His Savoir while in the military and he lived a lifestyle of heavy drinking. He had his nose broken at least 5 times in bar fights. Family events such as Christmas would often mean there was going to be a drunken fight in our family.
But that all changed when a man in our neighborhood saw how messed up and dysfunctional our family was. He was a follower of Jesus and so he came by to invite us to ride to church with him. At first, my grandparents said "no." But this man wouldn't give up. He kept coming and inviting us to come.
Finally, my grandmother said "Yes. I'll come with my son tomorrow to church if you'll pick us up."
Long story short...my grandmother kept coming and became a follower of Jesus. My dad also surrendered his life to Jesus and became a preacher of the Gospel. And when my father began preaching, my grandfather came to hear him. That day my grandfather gave his life to Christ and became a follower of Jesus. He served Jesus for 38 years until he passed away.
And so today, I honor my grandfather for serving his country and for opening his life to Jesus who gave him the true freedom that can only be found in Jesus.
Here are some pictures from our family of my grandfather and on another interesting note - a picture of my relative from generations ago - Francis Marion (1732-1795), one of the great partisan leaders of the American Revolutionary War, was known as the "Swamp Fox" because of his craftiness in eluding pursuers in the Carolina swamps and his brilliant guerrilla operations. If you've ever watched the movie "The Patriot" you will Francis portrayed in that movie.
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| Francis Marion |
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| My Grandfather - fought in the front lines of WW2 |
