It's Over

November 09, 2016

It's Over

I don’t get political on here, and I don’t intend to start. Can I just get an amen that this election season is over? I am writing this early, not knowing who won yet. All I know is I am praying for whoever wins. This is a big job and they need Jesus. I’m praying for our country and all the repercussions we will have to live out for whoever wins.

I did vote yesterday. I really enjoyed it, actually. I live outside the city limits, so they sent me to a tiny building (the whole building was about the size of my kitchen) in the middle of nowhere with a gravel parking lot. There were plenty of “vote here” signs everywhere so I was sure I was at the right place. I walked in and there wasn’t a soul there to vote. I joked about not having to fight lines, cast my ballot, and headed home. It took a total of about 30 seconds.

Today started out with school starting late. (The contractors are here doing work, yay!) But I’m not happy when we’re thrown off schedule.

Then Shadow came to porch to love on us with a little turd stuck to his fur. He got it all over my jeans, Kara’s hand, and all over the outdoor couch. We cleaned all of those things, but he still was a mess. Every time we used a wipe to clean him, he got upset and ran away. Then we cleaned him again. Then he ran away. All those interruptions to school.

Then as I was putting my makeup on, I dropped my compact and the pressed powder cracked and spilled everywhere.

I felt the day just really wasn’t coming together very well and I was nervous this was a bad sign of things yet to come.

I spent a lot of time praying over the voters and the president and that God would just have His hand over the whole day. It’s funny how things came together after that. <3

Oh! Here is Kara’s first research paper. She knows nothing of Pearl Harbor and WWII, so this was pretty good, if you ask me. I held her hand every step of the way (picking a topic, how to write note cards, organizing an outline), but I had nothing to do with the final paper. (Except the last paragraph – I had to tell her three times to change it because it still had her opinion in it. “War is bad. People die.” In a perfect world, we would never need to fight wars. She’ll understand more when she’s older. Anyway, that’s why the conclusion is a little thin.)

The attack at Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941. The Japanese attacked America to destroy ships and keep Americans from fighting in a war between Japan and a few other countries. The attack at Pearl Harbor was devastating.

The surprise attack was by the Japanese. It went on in Oahu, Hawaii and killed many people. The attack had devastating consequences that changed Pearl Harbor. Many ships and planes were destroyed that day. The attack was the beginning of World War II for America, which started in 1939 and ended in 1945. America joined the war the year of the attack. On December 8, 1941, President Roosevelt gave a speech. A famous phrase he spoke that day was, “…a date which will live in infamy.”

Three days after the attack, Germany declared war on the United States. The Americans decided that the Japanese Americans knew about the attack and maybe even helped Japan. They sent Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans to camps. They stayed there from 1942 to 1944. They had to leave their homes, their family, and their pets. In 1988, the Americans apologized to the Japanese Americans, but not to the German Americans or the Italian Americans.

Pearl Harbor is different today than it was then, but it still bears the scars of battle. The U.S.S. Arizona was a ship that sunk. It’s still underwater, and there are more than one thousand men still trapped inside. Another war memorial is the U.S.S. Missouri. It’s above water and is a tour destination today. The ship fought in the war and earned its place in our memories. Pearl Harbor is still a Naval Base today.

Pearl Harbor is a site of war and now contains memorials that are available to tourists. The war that came that day left a scar on the land. This war is in the history books now.

Between the election and Pearl Harbor, this post is feeling a little heavy. How about I leave you with some fun pictures of the cats?