Discovering the Hidden Good in America’s 250th Birthday Celebration

Being a single mom is tough. Even now, 17 years after my husband’s sudden abandonment when I was pregnant with our fifth little boy, single parenting is difficult. It is a challenge I would not have picked up had it not been forced on me.

That said, there is nowhere I would rather be a single mom and face these hardships than in America. We have so many blessings here, and as America celebrates her 250th birthday this Independence Day, I’ve been quietly thinking of those blessings. I’ve been reflecting on that goodness. I’ve been reflecting on how much we have to be grateful for and how we don’t talk about all of that nearly enough.

This is not blind patriotism or pretending America is perfect.

It’s simple gratitude for the blessings that surround us every day. It’s a refusal to overlook those blessings or take them for granted.

Even when I found myself facing the most difficult season of my life, America gave me opportunity. Even when I was overwhelmed, frightened, and unsure how I would move forward, I knew I could move forward.

Even in that painful season, I recognized something important. If I had to walk through that suffering anywhere in the world, there was no place I would rather do it than here.

America is not perfect.

No family is perfect.

No church is perfect.

No community is perfect.

Yet we often miss the blessings hidden within imperfect gifts because we focus on their flaws. Focusing on the negative and becoming ultra aware of our imperfections, does not serve us well today.

Which brings me back to my trip across America I spoke about last week and building on a foundation of good.

Maybe that good simply means building an awareness that good can come from hardship.

Maybe it means understanding there is more than a “silver lining” to the thunder clouds that roll across our skies sometimes.

Maybe it means trusting that God really can create beauty from ashes, Light from darkness, and freedom from bondage.

Maybe it means believing and taking that one risky step forward in the hope that He really does call you His Beloved, that He really is a Father who created you, His child, out of pure Love, that He pulls you forward to places you couldn’t have known through suffering you wouldn’t have chosen.

America is not perfect. Nothing on God’s green earth is perfect, but we can experience brief moments of perfection. This is perfection reflected in love and gratitude, mercy and forgiveness, and when we find the hidden good even in hardship.

This Independence Day, I encourage you to look for that hidden good in America.

A nightly examination of conscience can help you do that, but it can also be done at any time of day. Begin by asking what blessings you stopped noticing. Look at what you have stopped putting effort into.

Consider rights given by only God:

• the freedom to worship openly
• the freedom to speak what is good and true and beautiful
• the freedom to travel from state to state
• the freedom to work hard
• the freedom to defend yourself and your family

Consider blessings that require building and maintenance:

• opportunities for your children
• supportive friends
• a faithful parish
• access to education
• the beauty of our parks and countryside

When we focus exclusively on what is broken, we become discouraged.

When we choose gratitude, we discover hidden good.

That doesn’t mean we ignore problems; it means we refuse to let problems blind us to blessings.

As Catholics, we know this truth well.

The Cross itself appeared to be a tragedy, yet the greatest good the world has ever known came only through the Cross and undeserved suffering.

God has always been in the business of bringing hidden good from difficult circumstances when His people turn to Him. He did it for Moses. He did it for King David. He did it on the Cross. He does it in America. He will do it in you too.

Beauty from ashes. Light from darkness. Freedom from bondage.

It is the story of the Israelites. It is the story of Christians. It is the story of America.

It can be the story of you too.

This Independence Day is an opportunity to thank Our Lord for the blessings He has placed before you, even ones you’ve overlooked, even ones that require effort to build and maintain.

God Bless…

Kerri

PS. The deeper I investigate attacks on Marriage, family, faith, and community, the more I am convinced that God never abandons His children. He walks with us through storms we never would have chosen and brings good from suffering we would not have chosen and that seems impossible to understand in the moment.

More and more, I find myself returning to one solid truth:

There is hidden good even in life’s hardest challenges.

That idea is shaping, not only my own life, but also the work I hope to do in the years to come, helping women become stronger in faith, resilience, purpose, and love.

If you’d like a weekly challenge, prayer, and encouragement, to help you discover the hidden good in your own life, I’d love to have you join me here. 

If you’d like to join with a free ebook, join me here.