Today, we celebrate the 248th birthday of our nation. While we have a l lot of things that need to change for the better, I’m still proud to have been born and raised in the United States.

It’s easy to sit back and complain about all the problems, but are we actually doing anything to try to improve them? While I’m busy being grateful for my freedoms this weekend, I’m going to reflect on myself, too. Have I really done a great job of trying to bring about positive change, or am I just another complainer?

That being said, I am very grateful to have grown up here, where I was blessed to be able to be educated, choose a career that I wanted, and be able to worship as I choose, without fear of being killed for it. Some of our brothers and sisters in other countries cannot say that.

I hope and pray that our country will come together again, and that our citizens will show one another love instead of division, hope instead of hate, and love instead of violence. I pray our country will turn its eyes back on