Annual Declaration of Independence Reading

This is our fourth year attending the Annual Declaration of Independence Reading at our town hall. As we celebrate America’s birthday, I am truly thankful to be living in this beautiful land of the brave and home of the free! This is the land that adopted me 27 years ago and I am truly honored to have planted roots here where I can raise my children and see my American Dream unveil each day.

I love that I am surrounded by such a rich culture and history here in CT. It’s even more amazing to see the beauty of the land through my children’s eyes. We love to experience and create memories through each trip here in Connecticut and beyond realizing that this 4th of July celebration is more than fireworks and barbecues.

As a home educator, teacher and mom, I was curious about that faithful July 4th in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was written. The reality that those men would not have known when they signed the declaration that an 18-year old girl from the country of Cote D’Ivoire would leave her family, friends and home on Christmas 1992 to make this land her new home.

I had nothing but faith and a brother waiting in the freezing New York winter weather when I touched foot at JFK airport. Nonetheless, reading this excerpt of the Declaration of Independence makes me realize that truly “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!”

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I am truly thankful today for the men and women who sacrificed their lives so that my family can enjoy freedom. Freedom indeed is not free!! Someone once said that freedom without boundaries is chaos. I don’t take for granted and uphold with the highest regard that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I am dependent on my Creator and I am making sure today and everyday that my children not only walk in His truth but also grow to love this wonderful land they live in. I want them to understand the price that was paid so that they can be all that God has called them to be. I am teaching them to become less dependent on me and become more dependent on their Creator.

I am blessed today to raise my little women, in this land of the brave and home of the free, and will not stop praying for this nation to continue to be a beacon of light for the rest of the world. On this independence day, let us show that “In God we trust” is not just an empty statement but our way of life.