Happy July 4th!

I'm not overly patriotic, but I am grateful that God has blessed America these last 230 years. I am grateful that we live in a country where we are free to do as we please (within limits, of course). And we can worship in a manner according to our beliefs. And women are as free as men. And children can dream of being almost anything they want to be. And materially speaking, we are very rich, especially compared with the majority of people in the world.

The United States is so diverse, it is hard to describe her to the folks here in Spain. She covers 3.7 million square miles, almost the size of Europe. Spain would fit inside Texas with room to spare. Every state is so different and there is so much beauty to see within our own borders. Of course, at 230 years old, she's very young. I realized how young when I stood in front of the aqueduct in Segovia, Spain that was built 2,000 years ago.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm feeling a little nostalgic these days. Perhaps it's because I'm "alone" here for now, at least in regards to other friends from the U.S. Although I will be driving down to Madrid on the 4th to spend the day with the Schweitzers, part of our WorldVenture Spain team. And I was in Madrid yesterday to celebrate the birthday of Thomas McGee, the son of our newest WorldVenture Spain teammates. They spent a year in Costa Rica at language school but were surrounded by Americans, so they are experiencing a different level of culture shock here in Spain.

I received an email from a friend in the States a few days ago that started this whole nostaglia thing. I don't usually pay too much attention to "junk e-mail" but I watched the video (click here) and it made me cry and at the same time it made me grateful for my home country. With all its faults, it's still a beautiful place to live with more variety than can almost be imagined. And I'm looking forward to seeing parts of it when I'm back this fall and winter. I'm looking forward even more to seeing many of you.

Enjoy this 4th of July with family and friends and know that I'm thinking of you and missing you.