The fireworks boomed overhead. We laid on our backs and looked up at the dark night sky. And the metallic booms shattered through the darkness. And I felt gratitude for that moment.
I am so thankful to be here. Especially after. After being sick. After being scared. I am so thankful to be here with less fear in my heart than possibly ever before. Laying by him. Getting to watch the beautiful moments. Their beautiful moments. Getting to comfort them through the hard parts. Getting to laugh with them through the farts and burps and jokes. Getting to understand their hearts in this current world we live in. A world of so much more that sometimes makes for less. A world where we might be more disconnected through all of the connection. But a world that is an incredible one… where we have to remind ourselves every day to STOP.
Look around.
And find the fireworks.
Especially to find them in the less obvious sparkling moments. The moments where the children are in giggling fits over a funny word they made up at the dinner table. Those are my fireworks. The moments where a stranger is healing a stranger through a kind hello. Fireworks. The moments where someone waves to another after they signal for them to move into the lane in front of them. Lighting up the world. The moments where we get to talk about Religion. Politics. Preferences. And Love. We get to have opinions. Because we are living in a land of freedoms and liberties. Fireworks.
We get to be free. That’s kind of awesome, right? We get to have the rights to rant or complain. We get to have the right to praise Jesus or pray to Mary or call Saturday the Sabbath or not give praise to anything but the Universe. We get to wake up in the morning and go to a job or vocation that we chose for our own interests. We live in a place with the right to make choices that impact our daily life — who we marry, what we eat, where we work, who we worship, if we worship, who we side with, and more. And I pray that those things continue for generations to come.
And yes. We get to vote. And share our voices. And while it isn’t perfect — this country of ours– I can only hope that all those are forever liberties. Things that we both hold on to tightly and yet, feel freer because of.
The fireworks boomed and broke and clashed and lit up the expanse of the heavens and I praised God that he has blessed us with America. That in this world, I get to live in a place of so many and so much. And I hope my children grow up knowing that to be a gift that not everyone just gets to have. Because while I’ve never been a citizen of any other place, I believe I would love the ol’ US of A no matter what.
I silently reminded myself as the sky exploded with glittery magic that we have been given mixture of people and places and stories as a backdrop for our life’s story. And what a glorious reality that is. In this land, that I love.
We laughed. We oooh’d. We ahhh’d. We sat in a group of all different people fromall different origins from all different backgrounds and we all looked up in anticipation for each giant sparkler in the sky. We sat. Parents. Children. Spouses. Friends. Significant others. Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. We ate treats and food and drank and were merry, all on our own accord. We played music loudly and proudly — I’m comin’ to America. And I wondered if this is at all what our ancestors imagined. How they saw it all working out.
We smiled and the kids were giddy with excitement. Other people around town contributed to the lights of the night. We celebrated where America began and where it has come to. We celebrated how we’ve grown and talked how far we have yet to go. We celebrated those who fight for us to have all the luxuries and freedoms we have by laying their lives down as potential collateral, every day. And we get to celebrate throughout the week. Heck, we could celebrate in some form, every single day, if we so desire.
The fireworks boomed overhead. I committed the moments to memory as ones that I wanted to keep in my mental jar. We laid on our backs and looked up at the dark night sky. And the metallic booms shattered through the darkness. And somehow comforted me in all of their presence. And I thanked my lucky stars. The stars that shine through the vast sky. For I’m proud to be an American. And know such beautiful souls that make up this land that is our land.
Stop and find the fireworks in your life today and all year round. They’re the reminders of what makes America great, again and again. And the people who make me believe my children are lucky to live in this great nation where we can lie on our backs, look up at the night sky, and smile for all of the greatness we get to experience each day.
“From the mountains… to the prairies… to the oceans, white with foam… God bless my America. Home. Sweet. Home.”
