Happy Fourth of July!

Sometimes it is easy to overlook the blessings in our lives.  Negative messages bombard us every day:  violence,wars, poverty, hatred…  There are people who say they are ashamed to live in America, people who want to pick at every little fault.

But this Thankful Thursday, in honor of Independence Day, I want to look at the positives.

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My children live in a country where they can grow up to be doctors, teachers, engineers, taxi drivers… the list is endless.  No one will tell them what career path the have to follow.  They have the freedom to choose.  If my son wants to be a stay-at-home dad, he can do that.  If my daughter wants to try to drive race cars, no one will tell her she can’t just because she is female.

They have the freedom to love who they want to love, to marry or stay single.  It will be their choice.

Children.  No one will tell them how many children they are allowed to have.  The freedom to choose homeschool, public school, private…  The right to raise your children in the manner that is best for you and your family.

Princess dress at the park?  Sure.  And as she gets older, my daughter will still have the freedom to choose what she wears when she goes out.

I have the right to defend my children, a freedom I hope I never need to use, a freedom I hope never to lose.

Not only that, but we live in a country where we have the right to express ourselves.  Don’t like the President’s ideas?  You can speak up about it without fear of being thrown in prison.

I can not even begin to list the countless freedoms we enjoy every day.  And I am forever thankful to those who have chosen to stand up to defend those freedoms.

There will always be negatives in the world, but there are always more positives.

And that is definitely something to be thankful for this week.

Now it’s your turn!  Leave a comment and let me know what you’re thankful for this week.  And, if you have your own thankful post, be sure to link it up!  Make sure you link to your actual post, please, and let your readers know you linked up with There’s Just One Mommy.

This post has been shared on Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, The Fontenot Four, and Reading List

The post Thankful for the Freedoms We’re Blessed With first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.