A reflection on Pearl Harbor Memorial

 Hey guys! So here is an essay I attempted to write without an outline for school this year. Leave me comments below or shoot me an email with some topic ideas that you would like to see/read!


 On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire sent bombers to destroy the United States’ Pacific Fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. These bombs sank most of the fleet, among these the U.S.S. Arizona, taking with her 1,177 men. In 1962, a memorial was built, hovering over the sunken remains of the battleship. In March of 2015, my family and I had the opportunity to visit this memorial and it was an experience I will never forget.
  As we sped across the vast blue of the harbor, it seemed as if the souls of the men who died there were trying to reach up through the waves, to escape their watery grave. Seeing the simple white memorial grow closer and closer stole my breath away. The back wall of the memorial hosted the names of the servicemen who died. Seventy year old oil leaked from the hull and floated under our feet. The site was eerily quiet as people reflected upon what happened there on that fateful day years ago.
  The boat ride back to shore gave me time to think and to thank those servicemen for their lives. The Walk of Remembrance is another part of the Pearl Harbor memorial. Quotes lined its walls and none can better express my feelings than this prayer kept by Eleanor Roosevelt throughout the war. It reads, “Dear Lord/ Lest I continue/ My complacent way/ Help me to remember/ Somewhere out there/ A man died for me today/ As long as there be war/ I then must/ Ask and answer/ Am I worth dying for?” Visiting this spot of sacrifice caused me to think. I have an easy life. I wake up each day knowing the only enemy I face is school work. Meanwhile, in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, men are waking up to face an enemy far more dangerous than mine. I seem extremely ungrateful now as I complain about minor problems such as, “I can’t find any good books to read.”
  Ever since I learned about it, I have been fascinated with Pearl Harbor. Visiting this famous site has impacted me in ways that are hard to describe. To me, the visit was a tidal wave of emotion. Each step across the memorial was filled with sadness and gratefulness. Knowing I was walking over the graves of hundreds of men sent me into a somber state. Knowing that these men died while on duty for serving our nation in World War II made me grateful, because without their sacrifices the United States would be an entirely different place.
  When I think back to this event, I feel sadness for those families that lost sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands. But I feel pride in knowing that despite this, we were able to move onwards and upwards, without forgetting those who gave their lives for us. Visiting Pearl Harbor, seeing the remains of the great battle ship, impacted me in ways I will not forget, or ever hope

The Dating Game

So this past week I have had exams. That dreadful, stress filled week. Throughout it all I had no time to think beyond logic, algebra two, and Spanish. But now that that load is off my shoulders, I've had some time to think about a common problem in our culture. It seems we as young people and caught up in the "dating game". Date and break up and date and break up and date and break up. To me, this seems useless. I've heard dating described as a set up for divorce. Which it is. All we do is latch onto a member of the other gender, walk around saying "I love you!", and make it "Facebook official". But what we are experiencing isn't love. It's infatuation. A quick short-lived rush of feelings for another. And as soon as the infatuation ends, we call it off. I can't say much though. I've liked guys before and I've stopped liking them. I've experienced infatuation. I've felt like my heart has broken into a million pieces. I've had my fair share of butterflies and blushing and relentless teasing by my parents, sister, and friends. But recently I decided to stop. Give up on the guys, the hope of reciprocated feelings. We shouldn't be defined by who we like. A very dear friend of mine recently met a guy and claims to be in love with him and he in her. Do I believe it was the right decision at her age to start a relationship with a young man who lives far away? Nope! To add to it, they decided to try and set me up with his best friend. I hope I told them politely that I was not currently seeking out a relationship nor would be for a long while.
Sometimes, it's hard for me to see many of my friends falling into infatuation and starting relationships. I struggle with the fact that there are no guys who have an interest me. And it doesn't help that my friend tells me of her woes of the young men that seemed to line up and up. She acts like it annoys her because her heart has "been taken by another." But when I ask her for advice, she intermediately goes into annoyed best friend mode, lecturing me on this and that. So I really began to struggle. With my friendship with her, with how I viewed others, and how I viewed myself. I began to let what others said define me. But like I said, I'm giving it to God. And I've found it more freeing. I have more time to focus on the only relationship I truly care about now- my relationship with God. I've started journaling and letter writing. Although writing letters to whom will remain my little secret :)

I'd encourage you to give it up to God. Surrender your hopes to him. I'd also recommend Get Lost by Dannah Gresh. Of course, you don't have to take the advice I give you. I'm not your authoritive figure, nor will I ever be.

Best of luck to you all in this new year
Dana

Pakistan School Shooting

Yesterday, in Pakistan (located in the middle east), an Islamic terrorist group known as the Taliban, climbed the walls of a school to kill 141 HUMAN BEINGS. Of those 141, 132 were children! I am disgusted by this. Who in their right mind would kill a child? Why would you want too? For revenge? Is that really going to help? These children were living a normal life when all of a sudden a car blows up outside. A distraction away from the gunmen climbing the walls. I read an article from the London's Daily Mail about a survivor. He watched as his own brother was shot in the throat and killed. He was shot in both legs. He managed to escape. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2876447/I-folded-tie-mouth-wouldn-t-scream-Teenage-survivor-shot-legs-Taliban-gunmen-reveals-played-dead-bench-insurgents-hunted-children-kill.html

I'm heartbroken for these families who lost so many. I'm frustrated that no one is doing anything to rid that area of the world from these cowards. That's what they are. Cowards for killing children who had done nothing to them. Cowards for not taking the high road. Sending a message to the general of the Pakistani army. That would've been the noble thing to do. But do they care about being noble? No. All they care about it jihad and going to Heaven and meeting with their Allah. Is this how they are going to fight in this jihad? I am absolutely sickened. The Guardian has live coverage. Watch it. Comment how you feel about this, about what other countries are doing to help. http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2014/dec/16/over-100-people-killed-in-pakistan-taliban-school-siege-says-provincial-chief-minister-live-updates

Illinois

Hey! Sorry I haven't posted in a little bit. Life has been pretty busy for me. I got the opportunity to drive to Illinois with my dad this past weekend and boy was that fun! We left Maryland at 6:30 on Friday morning and drove 12 1/2 hours (yes 12 and a half hours) to Illinois. We got there at 7:30 EST. Illinois is an hour behind our time. So Friday night dad, my grandpa, and my aunt talked and I went to bed. Saturday came with gray skies and FREEZING conditions!! It was 18 degrees when I went outside to grab something from the car. We all got ready for the day and we went to visit my great grandmother. Great grandma has dementia. Over the 2 1/2 hours we were there, she asked my dad the same questions ten or more times. It's a little saddening to watch that. But overall it was a good day. That night, the rest of the family came over. I got to see my cousin, older than me by a year and a half or so. We ate, laughed, and talked until 9:30. We looked out of the window and it was snowing. No thank you! It's not even Thanksgiving yet. No snow until December. It snowed through the night. On Sunday, my dad, my grandpa and myself went to visit my grandma again. She got her nails painted (I think it's the best I've done) and we watched the Bears game (They won, by the way) But when it was time to leave, she was mad at dad and grandpa. She knew for certain we were having a family dinner and that she wasn't invited. Our plans for that night were dinner and bed. No family dinner. My dad told my aunt later, "If looks could kill, you'd have to be driving Dana home." Monday came around with COLD temperatures and school. I ended up sitting on the counter of the bathroom with my toes under hot water because it got really cold. After my last class of the day, we packed up and drove to Indiana to visit my uncle and his girlfriend. My uncle is 22 years younger than my dad. It's awesome having an uncle so young! We got there, and drove into town for dinner. Then we drove home and went to bed because early morning feeding time. But did any of us wake up in time? No. I slept soundly until 7:30. Then we drove down to the barn, sufficiently bundled up since it was 8 stinkin' degrees outside. At the barn I got to see the yearlings they are working with. They were all so adorable! For those non-horsey people out there, yearlings are horses that are 1-2 years old. Once they hit 2 years though, they are promoted to the title the two year olds. They were so skittish but it was fun to watch them watch everything on high alert. We left around 9:30-10 and began the 9 hour drive home, through the mountains and enemy territory. We drove through Morgantown, West Virginia, which is home to West Virginia University, University of Maryland's enemy. Anyway, we made it home at 7 last night, just in time for me to collapse in bed and wake up at 6 for school. I think I drove my dad crazy last night when we hit Howard County fairgrounds. Long car trips are soo much fun. Anyway, let me know if there are any topics you want me to address in a post and I will get to them if I understand them (I'm not the brightest sometimes) and I will get to them ASAP

Dana

My Testimony in the making

I figured now would be a good time to share this. I grew up in a home that was not God-filled until I was 6 or 7. At that time, we went church shopping. I accepted Christ and all was good. Around my fifth grade year, I felt myself beginning to doubt God's existence. It was tough. I struggled for a year. My parents knew and tried to help me through it. With their help, my faith grew strong again and I didn't doubt God. This year,  I began to feel depressed. I didn't rely on God to help me. And then Monday, November 3, something happened that gave me a wake-up call. My mom and I were driving near our local community college to pick my little sister up from dance. As we switched from the right lane to the left, we noticed something odd. Headlights, coming towards us. Some person was driving on the wrong side of the road. We swerved out of their way, narrowly missing two other cars. So we swerved back into the left lane once the other driver had passed. Our car nearly tipped over, which would've left me and my mother either severly injured or dead. Right now I'm praising God that we are alive and uninjured. But I realized then how short life is. Why waste it on depression and fitting in? Aren't we as Christians called to be like Christ, who was not like this world? So shouldn't we be spending our days in joy and finding ways to serve others? This near-death experience opened by eyes. I realized that I hadn't spent as much time as I thought I had with God, in prayer and in the Word. Needless to say, I'm scared of driving now. But with God's help I can overcome all things, even reckless Maryland drivers.

Dana

Fall

Have you ever stopped for a moment to think about the beauty of fall? Beyond the leaves I mean. There is so much vibrancy and colors to our world! This morning, I went for a walk and found fungi all over. We crunched through leaves of all colors, some still green and other brown. We passed pumpkins on porches and gourds next to them. I love fall. Fall is my favorite. The only thing about fall that isn't fun is allergies. I hate allergies. But hot chocolate, coffee! Apple pie!! Anything apple is perfect. Apple cider, apple pie, apple crumble. It's just all wonderful. Seriously, give me anything with apples and you will be my best friend. Ohh apples. But I guess there is other fun fall stuff. It might not compare to apples, but hey, still fun(nish). One of my other favorite things to do is rake leaves, only to ruin the pile because I'm jumping in it. I'm such a kid.... I stomp through leaves on the side walk just to hear them crack and go out of my way to kick them around. Oh fall time. But too soon, it'll turn to winter! Then it's cold and gray and cold. Now is the perfect time for bonfires, leaf colorings, and warm apple cider with a tea bag! You can have apple cider with tea while you are at a bonfire or doing a leaf coloring! Look at that! You get two in one! So, sorry this a short one. I was determining the best way to go with this blog. It's my first time really. So bear with me! This is going to be an adventure!

Dana

Words

I've noticed more and more how children act on the internet  They say offensive things but try to cover it up by using "jkjk" or ";)" right after they say it. No. That's not cool at all. You might find it funny, but remember words can tear down and ruin really good relationships. They can be derogatory, hateful, envious things. Calling someone a suck-up because they are polite and use sir or ma'am isn't funny. I'm appalled by the behavior of some kids in my logic class. There are quite a few of us who use sir and ma'am out of respect because our parents taught us well. Then others will come along and make comments such as "Well, you're doing it to get on the teacher's good side." or "someone's being a kiss up". I was picked to read aloud one time and my teacher praised me for speaking clearly, loudly, and quickly. One girl decided to write into the chat box "Looks like someone uses their mouth for talking a lot." and after being reprimanded by the older students added in "I was just kidding." Do you see what I mean though? Words have the power to build empires in your mind and create word pictures! But used in the wrong context or through social media can quickly turn to bullying, depression, and in some cases suicide. For me, this is a subject I feel strongly about. I'm a writer. I'm familiar with words, spellings, meanings, and uses. I can pick out when is the right time to use a word and when it's the wrong time to use a word. You have to be so careful with what you say! Without realizing it, you can be causing someone to cry themselves to sleep or to contemplate self harm. Speaking as an older sister, words have a deep effect on your siblings too. I was and still can be very rude and hurtful to my little sister, because I can be very careless with my words.I realize sometimes you feel you can't help it. You're in a bad mood and you snap at everything. I get it. I'm in a perpetual bad mood honestly. Words seem to slip out, right? Not right. You can't say it's not my fault to that. It is your fault. You are the one choosing to stay in the gray skied land of bad moods. You are the one that is choosing to let evil creep into your heart and out of your heart. It's so easy to fix this too. We choose to not because it requires effort, work. My goal for this year and next and the rest of my life is to try and to stay in a better mood. This is normally where people would use hash tags. I despise those. So I'm going to challenge you, my dear readers, to when you feel yourself falling into the black pit of never ending black moods, to claw your way out as fast as you can. Be grateful, thankful, and count your blessings. Think of what a gift words can be but also think how they are used for harm. So try at it. Be happy and stay beautiful!

Dana