Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Inspiration: Freedom

     Happy Fourth of July. It's Independence Day here in the US, and we've got a busy day of picnics, parades, games, and fireworks planned. And since Independence day this year coincides with the Thursday's Children linkup, I want to take a minute to say how thankful I am for the freedom I enjoy in the good old US of A.

     Do I agree with every single decision my country has made? Nope. Would I ever want to be in charge of making these decisions myself? Not a chance.

     Lots of people today lament the direction our country appears to be heading. But do you know what? The United States is still a great place to live. We have top notch doctors who saved my son's life after his traumatic birth experience. My family and I have a roof over our head, meaningful employment, and the freedom to educate our sons at home (or at the library, museum, park, or zoo as the case may be on any particular day).

     I can go to church on Sunday, or any other day of the week, and never once has our service been interrupted by uniformed policemen or angry mobs. My kids and I can pray over our McDonald's ice cream cones and nobody's going to arrest us.

     Unfortunately, people around the globe are suffering horrendous human rights abuses. Religious freedom is thrown out the window to government-sponsored intolerance. Every day pastors and laymen and women are throw in jail just for speaking out about what they believe.

     Today, I am inspired by freedom. And I'm writing about it too. My novels are inspired by the true stories of courageous believers who risk their lives just to meet with other believers or own a Bible.

     Their stories might not get told in their respective countries. I'm going to make sure they get told in mine.

Book Love: Check out The Beloved Daughter, my debut novel highlighting religious persecution and human rights abuses in North Korea.

Blog Love: The Thursday's Children blog hop is a chance for authors to write about what inspires them. Thanks again to Rhiann Wynn-Nolet and Kristina Perez for hosting.

Random Fact: My ideal Fourth of July celebration would include a cross-country trip to Massachusetts to hear the Boston Pops concert live.

11 comments:

  1. Love this post. Happy Independence Day, Alana!

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    1. Thanks, you too Dannie! Hope you enjoyed it!

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  2. I think one of my most "patriotic" moments was in 1997 when we were in Moscow getting our daughter's US Visa (we adopted her from an orphanage in the Ural region). The embassy, inside and outside, was packed with Russians, standing in line for hours in the hot July sun (it was in fact, the 5th), desperately hoping to get a visa to come to the US. For all its problems, I don't think any other country has as many people trying to get "in". We felt so fortunate, and I still do.

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    1. My husband also spent a fourth of July in Russia on a mission trip. Your experience sounds pretty unforgetable.

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  3. Great post! It's so easy to forget how much we have to be grateful for in this country.

    Disagreeing with our government from time to time is far from unpatriotic: it's the cornerstone this country was built on! Happy (belated) 4th!

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    1. So true! I saw a group of protestors that I disagreed with, and I actually got all choked up because I was so thankful that at least they COULD protest.

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  4. Hope you had a great 4th of July! Living in China and working as a journalist, I especially appreciate the First Amendment these days.

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    1. Kristina, I always wondered what you were doing in Hong Kong! I bet it does give really interesting insight into freedom of speech.

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  5. Great reminder of what is truly important. Hope you had a wonderful time at the concert.

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    1. Thanks! It was chilly and rainy, but we had a blast!

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  6. Nicely done. =0)

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