Salt Leaven and Light

I celebrated Independence Day, in part, by watching one of my all-time favorite patriotic movies: The Last Ounce of Courage.

Afterwards, I was reminded of an experience our family had when my children were young. In the words I recorded so many years ago:

“The evening began with bowls of warm chili and trembling, nervous tummies.

True, the kids had spent the past few weeks in great anticipation of this Chili Dinner and Talent Show, but now that their turn to perform was quickly approaching, they were having second thoughts.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” the wondered aloud. Their apprehension was palpable.

The time soon arrived.

All three of them nervously gathered around the piano to perform their piano trio, which went off without a hitch.

One down, one to go.

Next, they approached the stage with high hopes that all would go as planned.

My oldest daughter began the performance by sharing the following memorized quote with the audience:

“We dedicate this dance to the over 1.3 million citizen patriots who’ve given their lives to defend our freedoms since the founding of our Nation. Ronald Reagan once said,

‘Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well-taught lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. If you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.’”

My two daughters then began to dance. They performed their own choreographed dance (a bit of Irish Dance mixed with ballet) to the theme song of the Christmas-themed movie “Last Ounce of Courage”.

They leaped, they twirled, they kicked.

The words to the song served as a reminder to the audience that each one of us must have the courage to fight for, protect, and defend our freedoms.

Towards the end of the song, my son appeared at the back of the stage holding the American flag. The girls ended their dance facing the flag—our symbol of freedom that has come to mean so much to them.

They had done it.

With their last ounce of courage, they had…

given their all,

conquered a fear,

grown in conviction.

A conviction to do hard things and to fight for what really matters.

Faith. Family. Freedom.

After the dance, a woman thanked the girls for their performance and shared the following with them:

She had grown up in Argentina and Morocco. Because of this, she learned about freedom at a very young age. She worries that younger generations here in America are taking their freedoms for granted and are making too little effort to fight for, defend, and protect these freedoms. She was encouraged by the fact that three young children were inspired to share a message of freedom this Christmas season, along with a challenge to the audience to do something to protect our freedoms.

This kind woman’s comments only strengthened my children’s resolve to do all they can to protect our freedoms.

Children, youth, and adults of all ages can join in the cause freedom.

This fight for freedom deserves our LAST OUNCE OF COURAGE.

What creative ideas do you have for involving children in the fight for freedom?