A Tribute to the Armed Forces

My friend, Marci Larsen, invited me to sing with her in the Patriotic Concert. I've often thought about it, but being the observant person I am, I always seem to miss the announcement of the start of rehearsals.  They do a free community concert at the King Fine Arts Center on the Sunday before the 4th of July. It's so popular that they have two performances: one at six and one at eight. They invite different groups to perform and then they have a non-denominational choir.

I so enjoyed singing with the choir this year!  It's interesting how many different ways you can sing, America, the Beautiful :). They also have this really fun song about Yankee Doodle Dandie. In fact, I woke up one morning singing,

And that ain't a josh
She's a Yankee, by gosh
Oh, say can you see
Anything about a Yankee that's a phoney?

It's a funny line to have stuck in my head, but the tune is so upbeat I ended up humming it most of the day!

We had several cool songs, but the best, most favorite, the crowd pleaser was the "Salute to the Armed Forces."  I cried the whole way through the first performance because I was so overwhelmed with gratitude.  The narrator invited those who had served and those who had lost a loved one to stand, and I couldn't help thinking of all the people and families that have sacrificed for our country.

I especially enjoyed being in the choir because it gave me a chance to put God into my celebration of the Fourth.  I work so hard to keep God in holidays like Easter and Christmas, but I’d never considered remembering God’s part in Independence Day.  It was something of an awakening for me and a tradition I hope to continue.