Freedom of Speech

Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, Drink freely of the Water of Life. Revelation 22:17 (The Message)

Because the 4th of July fell on a weekend this year, those of us “g’vmet” workers had a day off with no holiday to celebrate. Sadly, husband isn’t so privileged so he had to get up at his usual 5:45 AM, creep around in the dark to get dressed, let the dogs out and in again and leave without waking up the other two slugabeds in the house. I woke up off and on starting around 8:00, but when I heard the rain, I kept rolling over and returning to sleep. I needed to do some outside chores, but the rain released me from those responsibilities. With I finally got up about 9:30, I saw the horses hadn’t been fed yet, so hustled out in my pajamas to feed them. Poor water soaked babies. Youngest son woke up shortly after I did and took off for his girlfriend’s house. I expected them back all day long, but they never showed. Which meant I had the whole house to myself. Quiet. Peace. Solitude. And two inches of sand on the kitchen floor that the dogs drug in. I swept up, put cooking utensils and dishes away after the 4th of July cooking frenzy, started some laundry and then, with no one asking me questions or expecting anything from me, I turned on my computer and got to work. Just before we went on vacation, I finished switching the narration of my book over to first person. While we spent long hours in the car on vacation, I read it aloud to husband so I could hear the text and catch any typos or misplaced pronouns. I was surprised and excited by his reaction. Instead of being bored and annoyed, he kept urging me to read more even when my voice and eyes were getting tired. He would say things like, “This is really good,” “It is too bad you haven’t gotten it published yet,” or “I like your book.” You have to know my husband to know the strength of those compliments. He doesn’t believe in flattery and says nothing he does not mean. When we arrived home at the end of our trip, we still had two chapters left to review. Even though it was almost nine o’clock, he said, “After we unload the car, let’s get our showers and you can finish the book.” Wow! When it was over, he exclaimed, “That’s it? Wait! What happens now?!” What an encouragement that was! So, that is how I spent my post July 4th celebration, exercising my freedom of speech, making the changes in the computer and getting my book ready to send to a publisher. While I have the freedom to write what I want, whether it gets published is out of my hands and will depend on whether someone thinks it will make any money. Nothing is life is free. Well, except one thing-the free gift of salvation. And that in itself gives me a reason to speak.