Sheri Prescott, Grace Family Church South Tampa

“Freedom isn’t free, but it’s worth fighting for.”

These words went round and round in my thoughts, as I quietly rocked my baby girl through the night.

She was having a hard time sleeping and honestly, so was I.

She was teething and I was praying.

My husband was fighting a war in Iraq, where he’d been deployed for 10-months and we had at least 5-more-months till we would be reunited on a parade field at Fort Hood, Texas.

As a young military wife, I felt the honor that so many of us feel. We get to be part of something bigger than our small sacrifices. Something that will keep our babies and future generation free. 

Free to worship.

Free to walk into a Bible teaching, Jesus following church on a Thursday morning for a Bible study.

Free to choose the kind of education that fits our family best.

Free to have Christian radio playing in my car.

Free to choose a doctor when someone gets sick.

Free to protect our family.

And although it’s America’s 247th birthday, I believe our founding “mothers” as I like to call them, felt the same. Honored to stand alongside their husbands, sacrificing their part for the freedom we enjoy today. 

In preparation for the 4th-of-July, my kids and I often snuggle up to read our favorite patriotic books, but this year I also read a biography on Martha Washington, our country’s 1st First-Lady, by Patricia Brady. Before Martha’s husband became our 1st president, General George Washington, fought for our freedom (and lead our country to declare its independence) for 8 and a-half-years, before coming home to his wife and family. Makes my 15-months look pretty small. Martha endured long, cold winters, danger from enemies in her own town, unimaginable uncertainty, her own hands serving sick and wounded soldiers, all 4 of her precious children died much too young, and she herself outlived her hero, her best friend, her husband, George.

“I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” ~ Martha Washington

As my son likes to say, “I wish I had a time-machine”, and could go back to sit on Martha’s front porch for tea. Listening to her stories and thanking her for the part she played so I could enjoy a BBQ, fireworks, water-balloon-fights, and ice-cream- face-kisses from those I love on Independence Day 2023.

No, freedom isn’t free, but it’s always worth fighting for!