Today we celebrate the fourth of July. A time, we go out and try and find the best place to watch fireworks. A time for barbeques and the beach. A time for people to get off of work and celebrate.

I enjoy the fourth of July now, more than I ever did when I was younger. I understand the meaning of it.

Those guys, over two hundred years ago, who decided to make a brave move and contradict the King of England. King George! We won’t take it anymore. We’re through with you! Get off our backs!  And it wasn’t just talk. It was action. They dressed up like Indians and snuck out to the boats full of tea and dumped the tea into the Boston Harbor. Take that King George!

There were men like Patrick Henry, who declared, “Give me liberty or give me death!” And he meant every word.

George Washington, who stayed with his cold, hungry men at Valley Forge, in order to beat the English.

Men who defied the odds. Not because it had ever been done before. These men met in secret places to plan how they could break free of England. Break free of England’s oppressive rule and oppressive taxes. King George wouldn’t listen. And so these men dared to oppose the King. And not just in word, but in deed. They were going to go to war with England. For liberty’s sake! For freedom! “Don’t tread on me!”

Those men declared war on the mother country. They hid behind trees, in barns and behind bushes. Rarely in uniform, they fought guerilla warfare. They attacked the bright red coated Englishmen. The Englishmen who marched in a straight line, and knew the “proper” way to fight a war. Those guys, our guys, were the minute men. Ready in a minute to attack and fight. Farmers with pitchforks, but no brass buttons. And certainly not bright red uniforms that could be spotted easily by the enemy. Dirty and scrappy, that was the only way to fight.

And we won! They won for us! We broke free from the careless control of King George. We declared our independence from England! We could now rule ourselves!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

And so a new country was born. The United States of America. We were free from England. Free to govern ourselves. Free from the tyranny of a king. Free, free, free! We gained our liberty.

So when I watch those fireworks, I celebrate! I am thankful to those men who were willing to fight a king. Those men who were willing to die for my liberty. Those brave, brave men who provided me with freedom. I love my freedom!

Watch this video!