Give Me Liberty

It's been more than a year since we moved from our home. Now, we're kind of in limbo. Or "in transit," as I like to call it. Living in a three-bedroom apartment until we can save up for a new home.

Surprisingly, the square footage is slightly larger than our old house; one of the reasons it seemed like a good idea to move. The other reason was The Captain being laid-off from his job, and we wanted the freedom to be able to move to another state for work if need be.

Thankfully, we are still in the fair city of Orlando, and after a year of searching, The Captain is sailing in an ocean of numbers doing accounting work for a company in our area.

Apartment life has it's perks. No lawn to mow. The kids are loving the pool. Aside from the stomping occasionally heard overhead, I sometimes forget this is not a house.

But, then we run into problems like the time The Captain ordered a book from the library, forgetting that he hadn't changed his address on his account. Forwarding at the post office had expired, so the book got sent to our old house.

We either had to find the missing book or buy it. Being the frugal guy that he is, The Captain made a trip down memory lane to our dear old home. He saw a car in the driveway, so he proceded to knock on the door, hoping the new residents would be amiable.

When a middle-aged woman opened the door, The Captain waved. "Hey, uh, I used to live here. Have you received a package with a book for me by any chance?"

The lady shook her head. "No hablo ingles."

Racking his brain for the right word in Spanish, he blurted out, "Libre! Libre!"

On the drive back home, he wondered why she took a step back and shut the door in his face. Why couldn't she have at least tried to look for his book.

It wasn't until later, after watching one of our family's favorite movies, Nacho Libre that we figured out what was lost in translation.

Libro = Book, Libre = Liberty

In effect, he said to the woman, "Liberty! Liberty!"

No telling what she thought. El loco en la cabesa? Anyway, I'm just glad all she did was shut the door.

And, we paid for the book.

This being the birthday of our county's independence or it's day of liberty, it makes me think of something Thomas Jefferson penned in the Declaration of Independence.

That we the people have established the United States in 

order to be able to have 

"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Life. Liberty. The pursuit of happiness.

All these can be found in Christ.

Life. Eternal life. 

Liberty. We have freedom from the penalty of sin (Romans 6:23), which is death, because of the promise of the Resurrection. The new heavens and earth at the return of Christ.

The pursuit of happiness. Our hearts our happiest when we know we are loved. And, in Christ, the love of God never ends.

May this 4th of July will be a Day of Dependence on the love of Christ to fill our hearts and help us to follow His pursuits as we await for True Liberty to come.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor...

Isaiah 61:1,2