Christians need to celebrate this Independence Day with an emphasis on God. Our children need to grow up in a nation where God is over our lives.
This year, AAA reports that a record number of more than 72.2 million Americans will travel domestically during the July holiday, which is an increase of 2.4% over last year. The average trip will be 50 miles from home. Since July Fourth falls on a Friday, people will have a long weekend. Airlines are setting new records.
Whether your family plans to journey to other areas or plans a stay-at-home Alabama holiday, these educational, fun and creative activities will make this a time to remember. Celebrate family, faith and patriotic community events this Independence Day.
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Plan to attend church as a family group. Pack a pew with your clan. Join in singing patriotic music and worship together. Perhaps you could return to the small church of your childhood — the place where your ancestors worshipped together. Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them.”
Salute the Christian flag as well as the American flag. Check with your pastor in advance for this part of the service. Teach children the words to this salutation. If a Christian flag is not available, ask if your family can donate one for the church. Perhaps this could be given in memory or in honor of a beloved relative. Teach that as Christians, we pledge our allegiance to God before our country. Both pledges are found on this website.
Plan an Independence Day parade. Is your church near a nursing home or assisted-living facility? If so, ask parents in your church or neighborhood to bring their children and their tricycles, bicycles or strollers to the church parking lot. You could use any paved area nearby that is safe. Decorate the vehicle in patriotic colors with crepe paper streamers. Dress children in the traditional red, white and blue. Give out small American flags for children to wave. Include dogs — on leashes.
Attend a patriotic music event in your community. Many small towns sponsor community choirs that perform patriotic music on Independence Day. These events provide interaction with your community and a time of fellowship with other Christians. Enjoy the great songs that encourage love of God and country. Hopefully, the march music of John Philip Sousa will be part of the program. Dress your family in patriotic colors of red, white and blue. If the program is outside, bring a picnic basket and lawn chairs or a blanket for sitting on the ground. Events are usually free.
The Bible tells us to be joyous and to sing. Psalm 98:1 reads, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things.”
Plan an old-fashioned family picnic. Ask an older member of your family how they observed the Fourth of July. Chances are they had family and church picnics. Food probably consisted of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, slices of cold watermelon, hand-squeezed lemonade in gallon containers with hand-chipped ice and homemade ice cream made in a hand-cranked freezer.
Participate in games and activities from another era. Put away the latest technology and interact with your family with games of yesterday. Pitch horseshoes, throw washers (available at a building supply store), set up a badminton court and play tug-of-war and “I Spy.” If no one remembers the rules, Google the term — as the one concession to using technology for the day.
Visit a pioneer or early American village. Check with the Alabama Tourism Department for places to visit across our state. Before you visit, talk with your children about how life has changed since the first celebrations of the holiday. However, the family has the same needs as years ago. We need to love and respect each member, honor God and be grateful to live in America.
Celebrate with patriotic music. You’ll find some of these familiar songs in the Baptist Hymnal and on YouTube:
- God Bless America
- America the Beautiful
- God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand
- My Country, ‘Tis of Thee
- Battle Hymn of the Republic
- The Star-Spangled Banner
- The Stars and Stripes Forever
- Other marches by John Philip Sousa
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