Liberty Day

Liberty Day

The weekend of March 21st,  most of my family was blessed to attend Liberty Day in Medinah, IL. We heard about this event from friends who attended last year, and after going this year we are making plans to attend next year! We stayed in a house in Michigan City, IN, and explored the sand dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan Friday afternoon, before Liberty Day started on Saturday.

Sand Dunes

Beach

Boys on the Beach

Dune Grass

Timothy & Rachel

Justin

Joseph emptying the sand from his shoe!

Heart of Stone 😉

Nathan

Saturday, we had a rich day of hearing Dr. Paul Jehle talk about interposition and how the colonists appealed and boycotted England for ten years before the War for Independence began. He used the illustration of the cross being a symbol of interposition between us and God. He said the only time you can resist authority is if you have lived under authority yourself, which is exactly what the colonists had done for over a hundred years. The British Colonies were children or fruit of the Reformation, thus Jehle quoted John Adams saying this regarding the Reformation, “Let not Geneva be forgotten or despised. Religions liberty owes it much respect.” He went on to expound that the Declaration of Independence was a document of interposition. The colonists had appealed through the magistrates to the English parliament, and after years of negotiations, their only course was to break from England. They did this realizing that they were resting upon Biblical truths for freedom.

Paul Jehle

We also heard the music of  Charlie Zahm, a wonderful baritone American balladeer. What a treat!

Charlie Zahm

In the evening, there was a Liberty Celebration, where most of the attendees donned historic garb. It was like stepping back in time! The Virginia Convention Delegates took us back to the convention where Patrick Henry gave his famous, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” speech. To hear clips from the convention, you can visit Moody Radio.

Jessica Erber sets the historical stage for Patrick Henry's speech

A "delegate" of the Virginia Convention

"Patrick Henry" (sorry for the blurry photo!)

Rachel receiving an award for her essay

A line of dancers

Nathan and Rachel both won an essay contest on the topic: “Define for us the difference between a Reformation and a Revolution. One ends in order, the other in chaos. Why? You may also consider comparing the key ideological and theological differences between America’s War for Independence and the French Revolution.” You can read both of their essays here.

To end the night, there was a re-enactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill for younger boys and dads, and the rest enjoyed dancing the Virginia Reel and chatting with friends. It was a day we won’t soon forget!

The Bunker Hill soldiers, Timothy, Dad and Joseph

More soldiers, Justin, Martin, Dad, Timothy & Joseph

Calvin & I dancing the Virginia Reel