July 4th

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and it is a day of cookouts, fireworks, and of course bottle rockets and family fun. To me however, i look at it in a different way since our tour of Washinton. I enjoy all the fun with explosives and watching the fireworks shows but to me this holiday is more than that. Seeing Arlington, seeing George Washington's house and tomb, seeing the WWII, Vietnam, and Korea Memorials, and seeing our national documents in the archives i was struck with just how much this country has been through to bring us to this point. Wars, terrorist attacks, depression, tyranny, sacrafice, natural disasters, and many many other events occured on our soil. July 4th to me is not just a day to honor our freedom but to respect and revere the dead that made it possible. The men who brought us freedom back in 1776 were technically traitors to the tyranny of Britain and were risking their lives and families lives to bring us the framework of our country. Today we face inflation and recession and extremely high debt and gas prices. Yet i am not worried about it, this country has faced worse and has perservered so far. All it will take is a reduction in focus on differences and unification of our country for the greater good. Sounds easy but i know it isnt. I do believe though if we keep our focus on God and the betterment of each other we can reclaim this country's strength and stabiliy. Anyway i just felt like blogging this because the trip of a lifetime was amazing fun but it also made me think more on national issues. I am more aware of things in this country and i have more of a desire to keep this country going. I thank the co-ops for their financial support to send all of us because it gave us memories, confidence, awareness, and so much more that words cannot describe. I loved every second of the tour and every single activity we did.

J

Happy July 4th

Tomorrow is July 4th the day this country was officially declared independent and the day our country was formed. Two weeks after our tour where we saw our first president's house and walked the halls of the capital i still feel the emotions of what we saw there. I learned a greater respect and a greater understanding of what it truly means to be independent and what it took for this country to grow. Tomorrow is no longer just a day to shoot of fireworks and be silly to me. Tomorrow is a day that i will look at as a chance to honor this great country for the struggles its had and the people who made it possible. Of course i will still blow stuff up with firecrackers and fireworks but i will do only as a side thing. As i said in my earlier blog..i realized a lot about our freedom which came from men giving their lives for a cause they werent sure would work. Yet here we are today by their sacrafice living and breathing and shooting fireworks in a country that may be in recession economically but we will bounce back from it because we have a unity and a strong care for our fellow countrymen. Sounds crazy when i say it but i believe when we face the troubles ahead all of our petty differences will vanish and we will push this country back up.