Today is July 2nd, which means July 4th is just around the corner.

For most people, this means sitting around the pool or relaxing on the lake. It’s a great day to be able to enjoy off work and relax. For most people, that’s all this day means. There is nothing wrong with enjoying this day to the fullest, but we also need to take time to be thankful.

Yes, we know we’ve written about being thankful a lot. It’s a common theme on our blog, because it’s a theme that has kept popping up in our lives. Today, we talked about it at work during a meeting. Katie and I still have a “thankful calendar” on the side of our fridge from last November, and our community group leader recently challenged everyone to take 30 days and write down something your thankful for every day.

We get so wrapped up in our busy lives, it’s easy to take A LOT of things for granted.

You wake up in a bed. You have the ability to get up on your feet and go to a job. You have a car in your garage or driveway. Clothes in your closet. Food readily available in your fridge and pantry. The list of blessings goes on and on.

We don’t have any grand purpose of this post except to encourage you (and remind ourselves) that July 4th is an excellent chance to stop and reflect on all the blessings we have. We are thankful to live in a great country where we are free to worship Jesus, free to photograph wonderful sights and people, and free to live our lives to the fullest. Even if you’re going through a rough patch there are still millions of things for which you can stop and be grateful. When you’re enjoying your day off, relaxing by the pool, or catching up on yard work, stop, take a breath, and give thanks.

To practice what we preach, we want to say thank you to everyone who is currently (or who has served) our country. It’s not something we take lightly.

We love that we get to do what we love in a country that we love, but we know it wouldn’t be possible without people willing to sacrifice their comfort and their lives. Happy Independence Day!