One of those moments

With all of the stuff that happens everyday, the good moments sometimes feel like they are few and far between. Well this post is about one of those good moments, so so good.

At the beginning of November, Eden, along with all the other 3rd graders in her school, had an assignment to write an essay on... "What it means to be an American..." 

The morning it was due she was frazzled because she couldn't find the piece of paper that entered her essay into a VFW contest. I was annoyed that she brought it up the morning it was due. We couldn't find it, so she went to school empty handed. Later that morning I found the paper and ran it over to the school. I knew it would make her happy, but sadly I didn't think she would win any contest. I mean how many third graders entered this thing??

Well a few weeks ago we got a call telling us that she won third place at our local VFW Post. I was so dang proud of her!

This is Eden reading her essay...

What is an American?

What is an American? Three things come to mind to when I think of an American, the military, Fourth of July and Patriots.

When I think of the military, I think of my uncle when he served three tours in Iraq as a Marine. I think of other people who serve in the military fighting for our freedom. A military person, is someone who is brave, loving and willing to serve our country.

When I think of Fourth of July, I think of the flag blowing in the air. I think of red white and blue at the parade. I also think of fire works exploding in the sky.

When I think of a patriot, I think of someone who is proud of being an American. Someone who says the Pledge of Allegiance. A patriot is someone who respects the flag.

I am proud of being American. I am proud of my uncle for serving in the military. I love celebrating the Fourth of July. I’m glad to be a patriot. That makes me a good American.

This was all Eden. These are her words. I only reminded her what a conclusion was. It came from her tender little heart.

It was so neat to watch her beam with pride over her accomplishment. Can you tell I'm just a tiny bit proud of this kid??

Well if that wasn't enough, we found out she also placed at the District level which is out of 14 posts in Eastern Washington! We didn't know what place until the ceremony. 

She placed second only to her buddy Jack, who got first in the whole state of Washington. It was so fun for them to share their accomplishments together.

I loved everything about the ceremony. It was humble, it was genuine, it was almost spiritual. I felt so much gratitude for these veterans and the women that put this program together. It's a national program, you should check it out in your state. I got all teared up as I heard the essays read and saw the pride and gratitude that the veterans showed. 

I felt like such a loser for being annoyed with Eden because I had to look for her entrance letter. I will tell you right now that she will be entering that essay contest every stinkin' year! Not just in hopes that she will win again, but because of how it made my family feel to be able to support such a neat organization. It's easy to show pride and gratitude on the Fourth of July or Veterans Day, but it's how we live everyday that really shows how we feel about our country, our constitution and the people who fought for it. 

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other" ~ John Adams

"To preserve our independence we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt...I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple." ~ Thomas Jefferson