I have not always understood the formal concept of freedom. but I have been blessed to live it. 

As a child, Saturday was the very essence of freedom for that was the day I got my allowance. It was a whole quarter, and a quarter went a long way in the 1960's. I had my own bike, so I soon as I got my allowance, I was out the door and mounted on the back of that wonderful machine.

Do you remember what it felt like to have the wind hitting your face as you peddled to the limit that your legs would allow? That was freedom!

I would make a beeline for the five and dime and then walk the aisles looking at the wide range of possibilities arrayed before me. Candy was the number one option, but if it was summertime there would be baseball cards on the shelves, as well as kites and balsa wood airplanes (some even had rubber band powered propellers). I was limited to spending twenty cents, as I was expected to save a nickel for the contribution plate for Sunday, but twenty cents was still a lot of money. If spent judiciously, it could purchase a nice sized candy bar with change to spare.

After the store, I would be back on my bike and looking for something fun. As long as I was home for lunch my time was my own, so I could get a lot of playing in before it was time for lunch. Since we kids were expected to make our own on Saturdays, I could pretty much stay out as long as my stomach would allow. I would often have my baseball mitt hooked on to the handlebars, so I would peddle down to the field to see if enough boys had gathered to play a game. 

Only boys played baseball when I was a kid. I haven't the slightest idea what girls did on Saturdays, nor did I care. A game without feminine intrusion was an important part of freedom during my younger years and other than my kid sister and her friends, I don't remember even seeing girls until school started up again. Sure, they were at church on Sundays, but they were just part of the background for the most part. It wouldn't be for a few years more that I would consider them as anything other than something to be avoided, and when I was a kid, I was pretty good at that.

The one prominent exception of my non-female rule for happiness was my mother. She was a dandy! I can remember begging to go to the grocery store with her, especially when my brother and sister stayed home with dad. The reason for this was that mom did not like me around when she was shopping. I would usually try to get her to buy everything on the shelves that looked interesting like animal crackers or those tasty, Smith Brother's cough drops (I would fake a bad cough to get these, but Mom rarely fell for it). After a while, Mom would let me use my own money to buy a comic book and licorice and then head back to the car so she could get some shopping done.

And I can tell you from sweet experience, there are few freedoms finer than laying on the floor of the car, head propped up on the hump and feet propped up on the door, while reading a comic book and eating licorice.

I miss the freedoms of childhood at times, especially as I see more and more restrictions in the adult world I find myself in today. But I do admit that there are still plenty of freedoms to enjoy, if I will just open my eyes. I suppose the greatest sense of freedom that I have is in the knowledge that I will be going home someday to be with the Lord. I look forward to that time - and more and more as I get older. But until then, I realize that I am a blessed man, and a huge part of those blessings are simply the little, daily pleasures that God allows me to enjoy. 

In a few minutes, I will get up from this computer and enjoy a fine breakfast. Then I'll head out to mow a lawn or two. I'll get hot and tired and sweaty, but afterwards I will reward myself with a sugar-free ice cream bar. It still doesn't cost much more than a couple of quarters if you buy them in bulk (and I do buy them in bulk!) Then, I can relax with one after satisfying work while sitting on my back porch in the shade. 

Life is jam-packed with all sorts of freedoms if you just look for them, so it's a pretty good life! We are a richly blessed people, are we not? And someday, if we can remain faithful to our Lord, there will be heaven! And I expect that heaven will reveal the greatest freedom of all.