I’m so excited to share with you a recap of our Fourth of July this past weekend! We had a BLAST hanging out with friends. Our good friends Emily and Alex invited us over to their place to celebrate! You may recognize them, I photographed their wedding last year! A couple of other good friends were there as well, including my amazing friend Molly!! 

A Relaxing Fourth of July

We started off playing volleyball, then heading to their house for dinner! We had tacos, margs, fried ice cream, chips, salsa, guac… it was YUMMY. We hung out there all night taking lots of photos, blowing bubbles, lighting sparklers, watching fireworks, and playing games! We love our friends so much and are so grateful God brought them into our lives. They’re the kind of friends that push you to grow closer to God, and are always asking you intentionally about different areas of your life. Those kinds of friends are hard to come by and I am SO glad we know them all!

Things Aren’t Exactly Normal…

I’m gonna be honest, leading up to Fourth of July, it was bittersweet! I’d been looking forward to this day for MONTHS, ever since we moved into our downtown apartment in November. I was SO excited to see the fireworks happen & to have a FRONT ROW SEAT to it all, right out our apartment window. ⁣That was one of the perks of city living, right?

When the downtown Columbus fireworks were cancelled, I’m not gonna lie, I was super disappointed. It was yet another thing that was getting cancelled this year due to the pandemic. Another thing I was looking forward to that wasn’t happening, another “normal” that wasn’t normal anymore. It would be easy to sit in that and be upset that the one year we live downtown, so many things that make city life a blast just aren’t a reality. ⁣⁣

But I have come to realize that I could either choose to sit in that, or choose to make the best of it and recognize that God still has a huge plan & purpose for this season. Even if it looks different than I thought it does, there is SO much purpose in it. God has given us SO MUCH & I am so grateful for the life He has given us, even if things don’t feel completely normal right now. And we ended up having the BEST Fourth of July party with some best friends, and seriously was the BEST way to spend the day!

Firework After All…

When we got home late that night, we walked in & could see the whole city lighting up with fireworks. I IMMEDIATELY was filled with so much excitement, knowing that God still gave me the fireworks I really wanted to see… I thought we weren’t gonna see ANYTHING! It’s like He knew just how much I wanted to see that. Even though it’s something SO small in the midst of what’s happening right now & the hard things we are all walking through… God still saw me. Not only did he give us an amazing day with friends, but He still gave me my fireworks. ⁣

Even when things feel not normal or hard or uncertain or just sucky right now on so many levels… I want to encourage you that there is PURPOSE in all of it. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, God sees everything you’re walking through & is there for you. Just like He still gave me some of my fireworks this Fourth of July!

Enjoy some of those photos we took from our Fourth! Hope you had an amazing one as well!