It was 4 years ago that my brother and his family last came to hang out for Independence Day. When we get together we always lose our brains when it comes to sleep, eating and explosives. Are we all that different from other men? I don’t think so.

As it should be, we went for the big one to impress our wives and children. We had dozens of fireworks lined up ready to light simultaneously. Ready, set, GO! We started lighting and as we continued, the sparks from the first ones were landing on us. A few burns ended our bravery and we darted out of the chaos, tripping over each other, and rolling to safety. I ended up in a cast from an injured thumb. Sparks had burned through our shirts and left painful blisters on our backs. I can say that it was one of the best times I have ever had on the fourth of July. This year we bought more and bigger fireworks and I cannot wait to see what happens.

This toughness (or rather stupidity) is from a lack of respect for the consequences. We know we are going to hurt and we don’t care. The consequence doesn’t deter us one little bit.

It has been 152 days now. Tara and I are well beyond trying to figure out if we are tough enough to set aside the pain and press on. We just go. Every day. And I think that is working. Friends and family sustain us in prayer. We call on God in dark hours. We’ll live with little burns on our backs and we won’t come bailing out of there tripping over each other. We respect the consequences, but with respect, we plan to keep going.