Even Though...

Even though:

• I spent most of the day alone
• my little sister thinks I ruined her holiday because I wouldn't go on vacation with her
• my older sister thinks I am obnoxious because I get frustrated with her for not making better decisions
• I got a little short today with Bryan (let's face it, I probably don't deserve his patience...)
• I haven't even spoken to my parents yet today

I got to:

• eat lunch with Grandma. *sigh* Thanks.
• learn a little more about unconditional love and sisterhood when I watched In Her Shoes
• read PostSecret
• smile at 1000 Awesome Things
• relax

Happy Independence Day, everyone. I didn't celebrate this year in traditional fashion, but I have spent some time pondering this day and what it should mean to us as Americans. I can't tell you how to feel, but I feel privileged and honored to have grown up with such strong traditions of freedom and independence.

I LOVE our national anthem. I do. What can I say? My chest swells up with pride every time the opening strains resound and I get a little misty-eyed long before I finish the first verse. And I won't write out the lyrics to all 4 verses, but here are a few key phrases that stood out to me today:

• proudly we hailed
• Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
  In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
  Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
• And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
• O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
• Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
• conquer we must
• our cause: It is just
• And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
• And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

That 4th verse is pretty awesome...

Something else that's pretty awesome is this quote by Elder Wirthlin: “Most of us don’t mind doing what we OUGHT to do when it doesn’t interfere with what we WANT to do, but it takes discipline and maturity to do what we ought to do whether we want to or not. What people plan and think and believe are all very important but what they DO is the thing that counts the most.”

I think our Founding Fathers understood this concept of selflessness as they gave up selfish desires for the establishment of a nation that would lay the foundation for the ushering in of the Restoration of the Gospel.

Happy Independence Day.