Today is a special day and holiday for some. It’s Veteran’s Day.

 

It’s also my daughter and son-in-law, Erika and Trent Sagert’s wedding anniversary.

We signed the license!

Erika and Trent

 

Yesterday was the Marine Corps birthday.

Happy Birthday, USMC

Earlier this week, we had a peaceful election. The results gave different emotional responses: joy, anger, disappointment.

I listened to speeches after the results were in. I heard, “I want to work for every American, not just Republicans” and “We owe gratitude to Hillary Clinton for her service.”~ President elect, Donald Trump. “Let’s have an open mind, give him a chance to lead and hope he will be a successful president.”~ Secretary Hillary Clinton. And from our current president, “we’re all on the same team.”

We traveled on a cruise ship for 24 days. It was a wonderful experience and the best part of it? The conversations at mealtimes morning and evening with people from all over the world. They were from Australia, England, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, America, and Turkey. A lot of our discussions were about our election. Each person expressed concern about what will happen and the effect on the rest of the world. Though I knew the world watches our country, I was still surprised–and humbled.  We discussed opposing viewpoints about the election, guns, health care, the Armed Service, even homeschooling. We didn’t shout, didn’t swear or name call. We discussed these things  peacefully. We didn’t always agree, but we listened carefully to each other’s viewpoint. I’m really sad that in America, we are so polarized that we cannot have a civil conversation from opposing sides. Even families—mine included. It seems to be too dangerous a topic. We solve it by not discussing it. That makes me sad. I wish we could discuss what we believe and why, rather than with raised voices and name calling.

Our trip is now over and we’re back home, ready to live a normal, routine life. We are glad to be home, glad we were able to travel. We enjoyed good food, met wonderful people, and had plenty of leisure time–perhaps too much of it. We live in a beautiful world and are grateful to the Maker of our world. I’ll close with a few of the beautiful sights we experienced.

 

Sydney Opera House

 

Beautiful Sydney Harbor

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Coral Sea, after a day of snorkeling

I ate the whole thing!

Lovely desserts to choose from

Cannelloni–every delicious bite.

Sunset in New Caledonia

Our ship from the beach

Poolside at the hotel

I love the words of  Isaac Watts, a hymn writer of old :

Awake, our souls! Away our fears!
Let every anxious thought be gone!
Awake, and run the heavenly race,
And put a cheerful courage on.

Courage on!