This week we are celebrating freedom. I can't wait for the food and to watch the 4th of July Concert broadcast from Washington. I get goosebumps when I hear the patriotic music and then see the fireworks at the end. (I only like fireworks from a distance.) I'll be remembering past celebrations and thinking of extended family having a grand reunion in Southeast Georgia with the best food in the world. I'm grateful to live in the "home of the brave and the land of the free" and pray that more and more of us will be brave and that all might be free. Happy Birthday, America!

As Christians we are free! As Moses freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Jesus freed us from sin. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. But there is more to Christian freedom. We are free to be called the sons and daughters of God; we are free to be all that God intended for us to be. I am free to be me--you are free to be you as we are guided by God's word. This, above all, is the freedom I hold most dear.

Today we visited with my oncologist who uttered two words we wanted to hear: "cancer free." My CA125 is within normal range and the scans taken two weeks ago are, in his words, "better than okay." Freedom from cancer is an undeserved, unexplained gift from God. We celebrate this gift everyday.

Countless people have worked, given their lives so that our country could be free. The freedoms that we enjoy here did not come without cost. The freedom we have in Jesus only cost him; for us it was free. As the words of the Christmas sentiment say: He came to pay the price for a debt He did not owe. Freedom from cancer is an unanticipated miracle. We co-mingle our celebrations with our grateful hearts.

This week, count your freedoms, not sheep.

Blessings,
Pastor Margaret