Happy Independence Day

Oh I love a three day weekend. It is nice to get to have some family time. Jake was bummed because it rained the whole time and he wanted to go fishing, but what can you do? My mom and sister were down from MO this year so we had a family/friend dinner and then shot some fireworks which both excites, and annoys me. I love to shoot fireworks as much as the next person, but I saw so many people who were out of work, in debt, completely broke, and/or people who usually complain about being broke spending a ton of their money on fireworks. It drives me bonkers. I am not against people buying fireworks in principle, but it annoys me very much to see people who really need that money for something else essentially blowing it up. If you are caught up on your bills, have everything you need, and are not drowning in debt, than by all means enjoy yourself. The kicker is when there are people in my neighborhood whose kids I feed because their parents went to work and left no food in the house because there was no money that week blowing up hundreds of dollars in fireworks and drinking fifty dollars worth of beer. Ugghhh!!

On that note, Jake and I did not buy any fireworks this year. I am not working and so we decided there was more important things we needed. However, my friends and family who are not in debt, nor hurting for money did buy fireworks and we had a good time watching them shoot them off. The babies did pretty good with them which surprised me. Later that night after everything had settled down, Jake and I took time to pray for our soldiers who are fighting to keep America free. We prayed for his brother who is in Iraq right now, and for his sister-in-law and nephew who are without a husband and a father right now. Thank you Jeremiah for your service to your country. Thank you Dianne for your sacrifices as Jeremiah is serving. I am reminded of the verse "Greater love hath no man than he who would lay down his life for his friend." Thank you to all of the great men and women who are serving, or have served our country-the true reason for Independence Day celebrations.