One Day Prior to the 4th

Last year, as a celebration for Oceanside's 185th birthday, the city put on a firework show. They were obviously not prepared for the results they got. Cars jammed tightly into the small business parking lots, mobs of people swarming around, trying to find a decent view to watch the show. We thought finding our way in was hard, but little did we consider the trek out. I will spare you the details, and just leave you with the fact that it was nearly 45 minutes after the show ended that we even started heading to our car. That was last year; that was the 3rd; one day prior to the 4th of July.

     This year, as the first few days of July are to rolling into view, we are already planning to attend the firework show. Our next-door neighbor will go with us again, like she did last year. We hear the city is more prepared this year, with venders, so people can buy food, and traffic control people, with their orange vests and colored flashlights. It will be a big production.  We are more prepared, too. We are taking our chairs, which we failed to think of last year, and plenty of snacks and blankets. Some of our friends from church are going to come too. When they get to our house we all pile into our Minnie Van and journey over to the business districts. We arrive nearly an hour and a half early. There aren't too many people around, but we know that will change as the clock ticks on.
     We take a stroll up one of the blocked off roads. Venders line the curb, selling every different kind of food I can recall. I'm attracted to the aroma of kettle corn, and Mom and Dad say we can get some. But we'll get it closer to when the fireworks start, that way it'll be fresh and warm. There are people selling t-shirts, others doing music and karaoke. People are already camping out on the street, trying to get the best view they possibly can of the bare hillside behind the venders. We mosey around a bit as we wait for our friends to get their dinner, and I enjoy the different sights and scenes that unfold around me; the bickering families, jovial children and the couples that roam hand in hand, obviously lost in a daze. 
     It always baffles me; the large amount of people in the world. It's easy to get caught up in my own little bubble; how I feel, what I want. Easy to forget there are so many other people around me, with individual personalities, thoughts and souls. As the thick crowds press in around me, so does the staggering reality of how big my God is, as a creator and keeper of this people. He's made each one of these people, and knows them personally; individually. The thought make me feel small; it humbles me. A small person serving a big God; I guess that's the best place to be.
     The sun now begins to dip beneath the hills, leaving behind it a pale orange sky. Slowly the orange daylight fades to a dull gray, and I know the firework show will start soon. We settle into our seats, snug with thick blankets wrapped warmly around our legs, munching on freshly popped kettle corn. We enjoy laughing and chatting with our friends, till suddenly the first loud boom shakes us with shock. Everyone's eyes are immediately forced up to where the glittering explosion dances through the night sky. Then one after another the fireworks scatter shinning parks everywhere, lighting up the dark night around us with each loud blast. Everyone "Oo's" and "Ah's" and we call out which ones are our favorites. 
     I decide that my favorite is the big white one, so loud and powerful that I can feel it pound in my chest, my chair and the very pavement below me quivering under its overwhelming strength. It's one thing to see a pretty firework with glittering sparks, but it's something completely different to feel it; its vibrating, rattling intensity tearing its way to my very core. It reminds me how worldly things glitter, gleam and attract on the surface, but it is only the One True God, and living Scripture that are bursting with life and satisfaction; that are capable of rattling me to the very core and changing me from the inside out.  It makes me love that massive white explosion the most.
     Immediately after the show ends the crowd around us erupts into an overwhelming applause. We wait around awhile, enjoying each others fellowship as we wait for the crowds to thin. After basically everyone is gone and we are some of the only ones left in the dark business district, we pack up are stuff and head to the car. Though the time was fun, and the fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ sweet, it's undeniably pleasant to come home to a quiet and peaceful home. As we settle in for the night I am thankful to God for providing yet another blessed day, with friends, family, and fun events, on the 3rd; one day prior to the 4th.