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By Ashlie Miller

If you have a toddler in your life, you know they can become obsessed with almost anything. For many, it’s choo-choo trains, earth movers, cartoon characters, dinosaurs, and rocket ships, but there are plenty who have very specific fascinations with unique objects.  Just this week, I saw a video of a tiny toddler who puts his hand over his heart anytime he sees an American flag – on boxes, packages, canned items, and more (hooray for goods still made in the U.S.A.).

As a mom of five, I have ridden the waves of multiple obsessions. One of my favorites was my oldest’s discovery of cuckoo clocks. Back in the day of dial-up modems, we would often take a few minutes a day to find videos of a German clock-maker’s collection sale. My son was entranced and could identify all the parts of these clocks when he was 2 years old and didn’t mind sharing his knowledge with anyone who would listen.

He carried that obsession for several years. At one point, he started praying that God would give him one. As a one-income family keeping track of every dollar we needed, we did not seriously consider the luxury of such a clock.

One Tuesday morning at a midweek ladies’ Bible study, we were discussing prayer. I must have used this childlike prayer as an illustration of some prayers receiving a “no” for an answer. About two weeks later, a lady from that group came up to me at church saying with a knowing grin, “I have something for you. Actually, it’s for your son.” Without any sense of decorum whatsoever, I blurted, “I think I know what it is!” I am not sure why such boldness exploded from me at that moment, but she laughed and said, “I have had this cuckoo clock for years in a closet, unopened. I would like for him to have it.”

Surprised, delighted, amazed – these reactions were shared among our small family. The story is part of our family folklore – stories demonstrating God’s care and concern for the things that delight us. Since that time, our family has seen many more answers to prayer. Some have been big and others, seemingly trivial, but not to the one asking.

When was the last time you asked God for something that others would deem as trivial? If you’re above the age of 13, it may have been a long, long time. It seems we stop asking in childlike faith far too soon in life, before we even understand the beauty of the relationship with a Heavenly Father.

Life’s circumstances and troubles often leave us jaded; the world we live in may leave us pessimistic and disillusioned. Yet, if we know God as our redeeming Father, He is still there, waiting to be asked, waiting to experience the playful relationship and the childlike faith and trust that come with asking. Pray for the big things, but pray for the simpler things, too.

By Ashlie Miller

I struggled to write this piece, if I am honest. Although I just squeaked in for the bicentennial year, it is not as likely that I’ll be around to see the tricentennial in 50 more years. (Wow, 50 years certainly went by faster than I thought possible. Our country really is still so young and new.)

Thinking about a piece to write for the semiquincentennial (that’s a five-dollar word) carries certain weight. How does one capture such a milestone adequately in a compressed space? Do I approach things with grimaced reflection of the many woes, ills, and discontent reflected by much of the media and society at large? Does one make amends for ancestors’ mistakes or reflect with a glorified nostalgia? There are dangers in any way one would approach it.

So, I approach it the only way I know how – with personal, honest, unapologetic reflection on how some of the Four Freedoms have affected me over the 50 years since the bicentennial.

I am thankful to have been born to parents who had the freedom to choose or not choose the religious experience that they desired. In my case, it led to a sense of peace and contentment just before a terminal illness journey that would alter what family would look like.

I’m thankful that although my father suffered delayed consequences from service to his country in a war he probably did not want to fight, he still had access to medical care. The result may not have been a cure for him but led to hopeful interventions decades later for others. My mother received provision to care for two children after he was gone. It was not luxury, but it did provide for many necessities. My mother was able to graduate from college and work, further enabling provisions that her peers in many other countries could not have enjoyed.

I had the freedom to learn in a variety of schools and be taught in ways my parents thought best. Social Security enabled my mother to make some choices about our education. I may not have had the same clothes as my schoolmates, but I had access to opportunities because of how she prioritized the money she received. Furthermore, I could learn from a Christian worldview and still worship with friends from public school thanks to many other freedoms.

I’ve traveled abroad for leisure, ministry, and to learn because I can freely visit many places domestically without having to notify a local leader or request permission. I get to enjoy the beauty of many preserved natural spaces or learn about both the good and the ugly of our nation’s past at memorials and museums. I can even learn about discoveries and artistic achievements of other countries at exhibits in our museums.

I am free to read or write almost anything I want. I have the right to praise and regard what I please or criticize and complain to my heart’s desire.

As I reflect on the past and present, I’m truly thankful.  I don’t have to let others tell me how I’m supposed to feel or think – that’s one of the freedoms I’m grateful for.  I hope you take advantage of that freedom to celebrate all that is good in this beautiful land that we call home.

Ashlie Miller, a true Tar Heel, has family roots in North Carolina dating at least as early as the 1790s. You can email her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.