Note: The quote beginning "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations" (recited twice in this episode) is not attributed in the recording, but is from a letter by John Adams to his wife, one day after the original signing of the Declaration of Independence (July 2, 1776). The full text of that quote can be found below.

Hey My Fellow Dads,

Episode 78, Reflecting On Our 250th, is actually a three-part episode.

• In first part, I share an update on our family’s summer travels, along with some observations made during our travels in these United States.
• In the second, recorded in the last moments of July 3 and the first minutes of July 4, I discuss some ways we should be praying for our country and leading our families to pray for our country.
• In the third, my son joins the show to discuss his current book project, Give Me Liberty!

--Nathan

"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people." - Proverbs 14:34

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.” —John Adams, in a letter to his wife, one day after the original signing of the Declaration of Independence, which was July 2, 1776

“I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests—and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning— and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!” —Alexis de Toqueville, in1831

“Those who note Providence will have providences to note.” —Historian Bill Potter

“We’ve heard about the international guests visiting the US, falling in love our food, our friendliness, our Ford trucks, our firearms, and even our football (soccer) stadiums.

“What I hope they discover—and maybe they have, but we’re just not hearing about it in the press—is what Alexis de Toqueville discovered during his journeys in the early days of our Republic, 1831.” —Nathan

📚 Democracy in America, by Alexis de Toqueville

📚 1776, by David McCullough

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