4th of July Celebration

What a wonderful day I had yesterday celebrating my (our) Independence. I spent the morning with my cousin Grace, we had wonderful acai bowls for breakfast and then moseying about in Barns and Nobel. I had a plan in my head about what I wanted to do that night, but more often than not our plans change when we are living life, and last night mine did. 

I had planned to go home, change, and go find Peter and Grace on the beach where they were surfing and watching fire works with them. I have always liked to spend holidays with family, so that was exactly what I was going to do. I went home, put on a really cute outfit and headed to Front St where the fireworks would be. As I got close I realized that it would be a good idea to get my dinner before going out to find them, but as it was a holiday on a really busy street there was nothing available, so I walked a block in the opposite direction and settled for tacos instead of BBQ. As I sat there and thought about how much I like the tradition of eating burgers or BBQ on the 4th, I began to think about the fact that here in America there are many many families who have come from many different countries and set up little shops like the one I was sitting at. I thought of the ethnicity of  all of the people around me. The ability to have tacos instead of BBQ suddenly became a privilege and I felt that I was better celebrating my and their Independence by eating food from another country. 

After dinner I wandered around for a while looking for my friends, but as I wandered it began to grow dark and I knew that there was a likely chance that I would not find them in the middle of the crowd in the dark, so perhaps it was better to just watch the fireworks alone and catch up with them later. Normally I would be upset by doing this kind of thing by myself, I generally prefer to be with people when celebrating, but for some reason this time I was kind of excited to experience this by myself. Perhaps it was the fact that I could sit anywhere I liked, I could eat, or not, if I wanted to. It almost seemed like I was realizing my own personal independence, and at the same time I felt Jesus right there with me the whole time. 

After a while I found a spot that I liked and then decided that I was going to find a place to get some ice cream and really enjoy myself. It took a while to find a place with a line short enough to even make it worth while, but eventually I did and I had some wonderful pineapple and coconut ice cream. I went back to my spot (by now much more crowded) and waited for about 2 minutes before one of the best fire work shows I had ever seen began. It was beautiful. The fire works were right over the ocean, they were big and loud and beautiful, and everyone around me was having a good time. The show lasted about 15 or 20 minutes, and then I headed home. When I got here I figured that it would be the end of the night so I took off my shoes and started a movie, after a quick check in with my cousin for communication sake. When the movie was almost over she sent me a message asking me if I wanted to go dancing..... um... yes. 

So, I finished my movie, put my shoes back on and walked down the street again, and found the place that we had decided to meet. The music was a little too loud and the people were obviously on their 3rd round of drinks, but I was happy to be able to go. Honestly, though our freedom as a country is beginning to lessen, we still do have some. We did not stay long, or dance very much, but we went, and we danced. We had a lot of fun, and I can't help but think that even though I miss my family very much, and even though this 4th of July did not turn out the way I thought it would, it was one of the best I have ever had, and I am so thankful for the freedom and independence that I have as a person, even the freedom to go and dance without being self conscience. So many of those people were drinking because they felt that they had to fulfill social obligation (but that is another whole blog, so I will save it for later). This was, I think one of the best 4th of July Celebrations that I have had in a very long time. So, thanks and glory be to God for this wonderful country that we still have. Thank you to the troops that are still fighting for her freedom. Thank you to the visionaries and few good men in politics who work so hard to maintain what we have. And thanks be to God for all that He has given us in this country. And thanks to that Jewish-Russian immigrant who so plainly put it, "God bless America. Land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with the light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam. God bless America, my home sweet home."