Appreciating the USA
Do your grandchildren love this country, the United States of America? Many young people are taught to find fault with the history and especially the founding of our nation instead of appreciating who we are as a nation. Division and animosity are at an all time high. Even within families, this division produces pain and difficulty. Grandparents, step out and share your appreciation, insights, and the history of our nation. American Christian heritage and western civilization are rarely taught in schools today, so your grandchildren need to learn from you!
Our American Constitutional Republic provides opportunities and freedom for all. (Yes, we are a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy as many believe.) And it’s not perfect but continues to advance toward the founding principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Founding Fathers believed that all are endowed by their Creator with these inalienable rights. Read the Founding Documents with your grandchildren. Remind kids of Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”
Read the Founding Documents
Download and share our history with your grandchildren.
The Constitution
The Declaration of Independence
The Bill of Rights
The Federalist Papers
Discuss Why the USA is a Great Nation
Use these ideas to start discussions as to the importance of our nation.
• Discuss the influence the USA has had around the world: financially, militarily, and in humanitarian efforts. Propaganda is not what’s told to the people, but often is what’s left out.
• Explore the reasons why people will risk everything to come to USA. Appreciating freedom is noble.
• Discuss the principles involved in the founding of our country. No major country had ever been established on the principles of equality, the consent of the governed, and that rights come from God and not man.
• Is freedom for all worth fighting for? The principle of equality accepts that people would be born in different situations and with different talents but all should experience the same justice. This right had to be won for the slaves by means of the Civil War. Appreciating what we have is a gift.
• The idea that the power was to be put in the hands of the people had never been done before. The United States founding was a grand experiment. Never had there been a country where the people were to govern by voting for representation. In our Republic, elections have enormous consequences because policies are changed and implemented by elected officials.
• With rights come responsibilities. In order for a civil society to prosper it needs a society which consists of family, church, school and private organizations. These work to preserve virtue and responsibility.
• Discuss how fragile liberty really is and how difficult it is to win back once it is taken away. The more power in government, the less liberty for the people. The more government, the less reliance on natural rights from God. “Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (Leviticus 25:10) is inscribed on the Liberty Bell.
Pray for the United States of America and our leaders with your grandchildren. “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1). 2 Chronicles 7:14 emphasizes the importance of prayer, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Guest blogger and coauthor of Faithful Grandparenting, Carol Olsen, is passionate about grandparents speaking into the lives of their grandchildren. Watch for more ideas from Carol!
If you haven’t purchased a copy of Faithful Grandparenting: Practical Ideas for Connecting the Generations, click HERE to order.
© 2022 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.
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