Remembering...

We are celebrating a holiday weekend and Monday is the official day to celebrate Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a day that has been set aside to remember those that gave their lives in our nation's service!

Have you ever "googled" the history of a word or holiday or person? I love learning new things and I picked up a lot of tidbits of information on this holiday. It is a day that has been observed all the way back to the Civil War in the mid 1800's. To honor the fallen soldiers, women placed flowers on their graves.  It was officially observed in 1868 and all the northern states honored it by 1890 but interestingly enough the South would not observe it at that time (Civil War time remember?)  It wasn't until World War I that we became united in the celebration because it was for all soldiers and not just those who died in the Civil War. There have been poems written about it-check out Moina Michaels. She was the one who originally started giving out the red poppies. The VFW has now picked up on that tradition. Our country has gone through a lot of wars and many lives have been sacrificed to maintain our freedom. The slogan "Freedom is NOT Free" has become very popular and is something to remember. Our armed forces help maintain our physical freedom one day at a time and for that I am thankful to all of you that currently serve or have served in the past-Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

Philippians 1:3 

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 

Because of your sacrifice I continue to have the freedoms set up for us in our Constitution including religious freedom to speak about my Lord. I not only have physical freedom but spiritual freedom because of the sacrifice that Christ gave by giving His life for us.

In our church we have communion-a special time where we remember what Christ did for us.

1 Corinthians 11:24-25

and when He had given thanks, He broke the bread and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me." 

In the same manner also He took the cup when He had supped, saying, "This cup is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me." 

Every day is Memorial Day from the aspect of remembering the price of our freedom-both physical and spiritual.