It feels like we’ve been celebrating America a lot this summer. Jordan’s a soccer nut, so with the World Cup in full swing, our house comes to a standstill when the boys in red, white, and blue are playing. We’ve been draping ourselves in the stars and stripes, singing the national anthem before kickoff, and having near stomach ulcers with every minute of every game. We’ve jumped out of our chairs, screamed, and hugged when the USA have scored, and sat in silent defeat when things have gone the other way, because it never just feels like a loss for the players. It feels like a loss for us, too.
We think that’s because we love our country. A lot. We have since we were little. We’re proud of it. So whether that manifests itself in supporting our teams or supporting our troops, we’re all for it, because there isn’t a day that passes when we’re not thankful to God for our freedom. To make our own life. To chart our own course. To chase our big dreams. We still pinch ourselves almost every morning when we sit across from each other at the breakfast table and realize that we don’t have to say goodbye, because our day together is just getting started.
Or when we get to see a new part of the country or go somewhere fun in the world, all in the name of work. Or when we finish a coaching session with a photographer who, maybe for the first time, believes that this blessed life is for them, too, if they’re willing to seize it. Or when a groom tells Jordan that he calmed his nerves and made him feel at ease, or a bride tells Amy that she was the best part of her wedding day.
We pinch ourselves. Every time.
Because we were high school students when those towers fell, sitting in the same freshman English class, and we know all too well that freedom isn’t free. From Concord to Kabul, it was paid for with this world’s highest price, which means that hot dogs, watermelon, and fireworks aside, we’ll be spending this Fourth of July reminding ourselves that the best way to celebrate freedom is to take this life that we’re blessed to have and run with it. At full speed. Most of the time faster than we’re comfortable going. But all the time, as our friends sometimes say, in the direction of our dreams.