{"id":22433,"date":"2025-07-04T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=22433"},"modified":"2025-07-03T05:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:37:38","slug":"star-spangled-skies-and-freedom-that-lasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=22433","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Star-Spangled Skies and Freedom that Lasts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s the Fourth of July, and here we are in Alto, Texas \u2014 the heart of big-sky country, where my daughter and bonus son live out their vision at Epiphany Ranch. Out here, the stars shine a little brighter, and the meaning of freedom feels a little deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m proud to be an American \u2014 not just on paper, but in spirit. Every time I sing The Star-Spangled Banner, my heart swells and the goosebumps rise. Whether I\u2019m standing at a major league stadium or a little league ball field, the sight of our flag \u2014 fifty stars strong \u2014 gets me every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today, I\u2019m thinking about more than flags and fireworks. I\u2019m thinking about the Star-Spangled Skies \u2014 God\u2019s own glory on display every single night. When we\u2019re away from the city lights, like we are here, those stars dazzle without apology. And they remind me that even when clouds cover our view \u2014 those stars are still there.<\/p>\n\n\n

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That\u2019s how I feel about our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may have clouds \u2014 of division, discouragement, uncertainty \u2014 but the LIGHT is still there. The promise is still there. And yes, our hope is still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God said to Abraham, \u201cLook up at the sky and count the stars \u2014 if indeed you can count them.\u201d (Genesis 15:5) That promise still echoes. The stars remind us: He hasn\u2019t forgotten us. Not our nation. Not our families. Not our future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So today, while we wave flags and fire up the grill, let\u2019s also lift our eyes. Let\u2019s thank the One who gives freedom \u2014 not just political, but eternal. Let\u2019s remember that while we celebrate liberty with parades and fireworks, real freedom is found in surrender to the One who made the skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.\u201d \u2014 Galatians 5:13<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let freedom ring \u2014 not just from mountainsides, but from every heart that trusts our God Who holds the stars\u2026 and our future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fireworks may fade, but the star-spangled skies keep shining. This 4th of July, let freedom ring from our hearts \u2014 all the way to heaven. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2728<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the Fourth of July, and here we are in Alto, Texas \u2014 the heart of big-sky country, where my daughter and bonus son live out their vision at Epiphany Ranch. Out here, the stars shine a little brighter, and the meaning of freedom feels a little deeper. I\u2019m proud to be an American \u2014…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22433"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22453,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22433\/revisions\/22453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}