Everyone has a physical birthday; a day in which one celebrates their physical birth. When one becomes a Christian, they have a spiritual birthday.

I have never considered myself a history buff, but for a few hours on June 7, my wife, daughter and I sent ourselves on a wild goose chase to learn every single thing we could about Lot 114 in the city of Cassville.

As I write this, the temperature outside is climbing to the expected 98 degrees for the day. We have experienced a heat wave these last couple of weeks that has broken records all over the country.

For the first half of the 20th century, tomato canning was an important industry Barry County. During the industry’s peak during the 1930s, a total of 16 canning factories were in operation in Barry County.

Community fireworks events vary from town to town in Barry County, but none are quite as ruralAmerica heartland as the Wheaton 4th of July celebration. The family and I went to Wheaton on the fourth and were not disappointed. Their $5 cheeseburgers are what I call land lunkers, thick, savory and hot off the grill. My kids really enjoyed the playground at the park. Our youngest wore out the slides even more than she wore out herself! The two bands performed well, and the sound crew avoided any aux cord technical difficulties so we could hear the National Anthem on the speakers just before the fireworks show. The Wheaton firefighters shoot the pyrotechnics, and they have the timing down to when the Anthem finishes with “home of the brave,” the first firework lights up the park. It was a warm night, but that timing even gave my cold-blooded body the chills!

The beginning of July is a time of peak patriotism in the United States, but as surely as you can count on the flood of Red, White and Blue, you can also count on another thing — complaints. Ordinances regarding fireworks within city limits vary as much as the arguments for and against the pyrotechnics.

I remember as a youth, walking into libraries, schools, museums, and other public places and finding a framed picture of the Declaration of Independence on the wall. Preparing to share with our congregation on the weekend leading into Independence Day, I began by reviewing my nostalgic memories of seeing these signs of a common narrative that belonged to us Americans.

Just as we celebrated our nation’s 247th birthday, summer keeps many busy and also tends to be a busy time within our family for birthday celebrations. Last month, we celebrated my son Chase’s birthday, and our beloved neighbor, Paul, also had a birthday.