March 2nd ~ Texas Independence Day….here at Fort Wainwright, our family celebrated the day by wearing our Texas t-shirts (with long-sleeved shirts underneath to accommodate the Alaskan weather), by eating tacos, and by greeting everyone with a hearty “Happy Texas Independence Day!” We proudly display our Texas star on the front of the house…not just on March 2 but everyday of the year. My kitchen is decorated “Texas”, complete with a Texas flag kitchen rug, cowboy boots on top of the frig, and a framed picture of bluebonnets in a Bluebell ice cream container. No one ever has to ask where we’re from, and we have a lot fun being proud of our home state.
After having moved around a few times with the military and meeting many different people from all over the United States and the world, I am happy to announce that no one seems as vocally proud of who they are and where they are from as we Texans are! I have yet to see any outdoor decor announcing the state of, say, Idaho. Not that people from Idaho are not proud, but there is something about being from Texas that just brings it out. Upon moving to Alaska, though, I have found that our motto “everything’s BIGGER in Texas” isn’t quite as well received although several fellow Texans here have pointed out that Alaskans cannot truly prove that Alaska is bigger. No one is quite sure that it’s really land underneath all this ice.
Needless to say, people have suggested that we have brainwashed our children with this deep love of Texas. I want to, however, set the record straight. Besides the fact that Texas really is God’s country…that God blessed Texas with His own hand…that the stars at night are big and bright…there are two other reasons why we make Texas such a big deal in our house.
Many, many times, when I have asked a former military kid where they are from, I hear one of two responses, “I’m from nowhere. We were military.” or “I’m from everywhere.” When Scott first answered the call to become a chaplain in the military, one of my first fears was that our children would not be able to tell people where they were from, so I made it my mission to make sure that they had a place to call HOME. I know that “home is where the heart is” and that wherever the four of us are together is home, but there is just something undeniably special in being able to call somewhere “home” (lucky for us…it’s the greatest place on earth). And that is one of the reasons why we sing the state song every time we cross into Texas and why we planted bluebonnets in our Oklahoma flower bed…to remember that no matter where we go…no matter where we live…there will always be another place we can truly call home.
Which leads me to the second reason we make Texas such a big deal…I use our love of Texas to help teach my children that this world is not their home. Though we tease and joke (although I don’t think Texas being wonderful is really a joke or anything to tease about), the message that I really want my children to hear is very serious. They have a better, perfect, heavenly home waiting for them. As we travel and live all across the United States, and maybe even the world someday, I want them to remember that none of these places are truly home, not even Texas.
Psalm 84:5 says, “How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion!” Highways to Zion…what an amazing way to express our journey here on earth. I want my heart and the hearts of my children to be set on their heavenly home with Christ Jesus so that all of our moves, all of our moments, and all of our motives will be leading the way to Zion.
p.s. By the way…the stars at night really are big and bright ~ deep in the heart of Texas 🙂
Choosing Life 
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