http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/ They have tips for your home, your office, your car and your school. They're not big things, but in the long run it'll make a big difference. Stand with me and the rest of our country in the fight against climate change.
Climate change. Ugh, even the word sounds like something you don't want to hear about. I was never a science girl. I was always an English lover. But, last year my class watch An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary about climate change. Climate change never left my mind after that. It was always on my mind, and I knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't know how. Writing a blog post about it isn't going to help, unless there's some way that my blog post, a speck in the electronic universe, can get to President Obama in the White House and get him to think more about climate change. I was on Facebook a couple days ago, looking at the 2014 Climate March in New York City, and as I scrolled through the comments, I saw many different types of people. I read some comments that carried the tone of, "Screw this shit. Climate change is stupid." or "Climate change, my ass." I apologize for my language, but THAT pissed me off. But on the other hand, there were some comments like, "I don't support climate change. I'll be at the march." or "I'm marching for my children, my grandchildren. I'll be there." I wanted to go through all 5,000,000,000 comments and like every single one in which people talked about hating climate change. I wanted to punch in the face the people that said that climate change is stupid. Climate change is making drastic changes on our planet, our only true home. There may be another planet out there that bears a distant similarity to Mother Earth, but nothing like Earth. Nothing like our home. Think now about the polar bears, the polar bears that are loosing their homes because ice is melting because of decisions WE'VE made. But it's not too late. There are many things you can do to slowly reverse the devastation climate change is having. You can help reverse climate change at your house, your office, your school, and in your car. If you need help getting started, visit this website for some tips: If you want to learn more about the documentary I talked about, visit this website: http://www.takepart.com/an-inconvenient-truth/film If you want to learn more about the Climate Change March in New York City, find the event on Facebook, videos on YouTube, or visit this website: http://peoplesclimate.org/#host-iframe I've been meaning to get this off of my chest and out into the world so people can see it, but I just haven't had the time or the words. So here goes. Almost a year ago, I had the strangest yet intruiging dream I've ever had. I was being chased by a lion in a cornfield, and when I came to a gate, I shut the gate on the lion and kept running. I eventually stopped to catch my breath, and when I stopped, I heard a vioce behind me say, "Do not be afraid. That lion is not going to hurt you. Look," he said(who I later figured out was Jesus), as he pointed behind me. I turned around to see the lion sitting on his back legs and holding his front paws out like Jesus did at his crucifixion. I turned back around to see Jesus again, but he was gone. I turned to face the lion once again, to see that there were three little boys walking up the hill carrying crosses, one small, one medium, one big. Those little boys carried the crosses up the hill, set them down, and left. After that, my dad came to pick me up and then I woke up from the dream. We can all say that we've seen Jesus, and sure we have in those little children books with Jesus. If you want a true vision of what Jesus looks like, watch the movie Heaven Is For Real and look for the little girl painting at the beginning of the movie and at the ened of the movie. THAT is Jesus. Last weekend, my family and I were visiting family in North Carolina. On Sunday, we decided to go to a different church than where we normally would. That church was called The Refuge, a small church downtown. Coming from a small Mennonite church where all you sing is hymns and praise songs, the hard core-ish praise songs with heavy electric guitar and drums were kind of a shock to me. The message, too, wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. My pastor, who is a great pastor and speaker, speaks more directly from the Bible than this guy did. This guy incorporated real life circumstances and situations into his message, which I really liked. The series that their messages were based on were called, "Five Questions I Want To Ask God" . I came home from that church service feeling changed, and feeling more like God was working more in my life than I ever had before. So when I got home, I came up with five questions I wanted to ask God, and I made it my goal to wake up earlier and write down a prayer of thanks and five things that I'm thankful for, to go along with the five questions I wanted to ask God. I will try very hard to get on here every day and put my five things that I'm thankful for, and my prayer to God- but you can do it too. You can start with one thing that you're thankful for, and work your way up. In case you're curious about the church service I was talking about earlier, I'll put the link to their live sermons down below. Five Questions I Want To Ask God 1. Why do you let me make such stupid and unimportant decisions? 2. Why is it so hard to hear your voice? 3. Why is it so hard to follow your plan for my life? 4. In what ways are you working in me and changing my life? 5. Why have you placed the people in my life that you have? Five Things I'm Thankful For 1. A strong Christian belief. 2. A good education. 3. To live in a safe(r) part of the world. 4. A loving family. 5. Great and supportive friends and family members. ~Dear Lord~ PLease help me learn and grow in your ways so that I may speak your word wherever I go. www.therefuge.net Ladies and gentlemen who are reading this blog post: If you can not handle my ranting or this content, I suggest you go find somebody else's blog to read. Because, I will not deal with your rude comments.
I have a petition account with change.org and while I was surfing people's petitions, I found a petition by Malala Yousafzai, a 17 year old who was shot by the Taliban. She is currently petitioning to allow girls to get an education. Here comes the ranting part. Ladies and gentlemen, no person, no matter their race, color, or gender should be denied the chance to get an education. An education is an essential part of life, and some memories that you will never forget. It's very hard to get a job if you don't have an education, even in America. Basically, your only options are restaurants, and you don't make a lot of money, so you couldn't support a family, even if you wanted one. That's why so many people are below the poverty line and struggling to stay alive. All of this goes to say that no girl should be denied an education. Stand with Malala and I and sign the pledge on change.org Chapter Three
The Wills family woke up the next morning, and received word that they were supposed to get back on the jet and collect the items they would need on the submarine and for training. So, they packed up the things they brought with them, walked back over to the Missions Base, and boarded the jet back to their home to get their belongings. “Wow, our house seems so small compared to the Missions Base,” said Matt. “It sure does, buddy,” said Christopher, patting Matt on the head while unlocking the door to their house. “Well, we have today and Thursday before we have to go back to the missions base for training, so lets make the most of it,” said Mary. “I know what we should do,” exclaimed Dylan. “We should go to Disney World!” exclaimed Dylan jumping up and down. “Actually, if you think about it, that’s not such a bad idea,” said Christopher. “The Missions Base is really close to Disney World, so we could pack up our things today, and leave for Disney World and the Missions Base tonight or tomorrow,” said Mary. “Is that okay with everyone?” Christopher asked. “Yeah, I guess, since I’m already missing my date with the hottest kid in school to be stuck in a stinking submarine for a month,” grumbled Sierra. “Young lady, this is a great honor for our family, and you’d better treat it like it is,” scolded Christopher. “Fine,” grumbled Sierra. “Lets go to Disney World,” she said, sarcastically putting her hands in the air. “YAY!” exclaimed Matt, Lillian, Daniel, and Dylan in unison. “Well, then,” chuckled Christopher. “We got ourselves a trip to Disney World, and a month in a submarine… this is going to be an interesting year,” said Mary, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’ll call Mr. Duncan and tell him our plans, then get on the computer and order our tickets for Disney World,” said Christopher. “And the kids and I will go start packing up our things,” said Mary, leading the kids out of the room. As Christopher stepped into the computer room to call Mr. Duncan and reserve the Disney World tickets, he couldn’t help but wonder to himself like many other times, “What if this guy’s a phony?” When the Wills family departed from the jet at the US Missions Base, they were astonished by what they saw. The US Missions Base wasn’t what anyone had expected. It looked like the Empire State Building, except shorter and fatter. It had ninety-five floors, and could comfortably hold at least five hundred people.
“Wow!” Matt says, the first thing he had said the entire ride to the base. “This place is ginormous! I hope they have a room that I can play video games in,” he says, looking around skeptically. “I think they will, sweetie,” says Mary, obviously tired from the plane ride. “Let’s go meet Charles Duncan and see what he needs us to do,” says Christopher. As the family makes their way through the base and all of its ninety-five-floor glory, they saw lots of different kinds of people. People that looked like secret agents, people that looked like they belonged painting in an art museum, and people who looked like genetically mutated giants- and in fact, they were genetically mutated giants. The scientists that stayed at the Missions Base had been performing experiments on which kinds of substances best wipe out the villains that people like the Wills family would be fighting. From the outcomes, it didn’t look like finding the right substance had happened yet. Finally, the family arrived at the door to Mr. Duncan’s office. The door looked like it was made out of steel, almost as if it was a door to a vault in a bank. Hesitantly, Mary stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Come in,” responded a booming voice that belonged to Charles Duncan. The family pushed open the door and entered the massive office. “Ah, you’re here!” Charles exclaimed, standing up from his desk so he could meet the Wills family. “How was the jet?” Charles asked. “I hope you didn’t have too much trouble getting here,” he said. “No, the jet was fine,” says Christopher. “The kids really enjoyed the movie selection on the TV’s,” Christopher said, with a chuckle. “That’s good,” Mr. Duncan said, bending down to greet the Wills children. “And who might you be?” Mr. Duncan asked Daniel, with a sparkle in his eye. “Daniel Wills, sir,” Daniel said, standing up straight and saluting Mr. Duncan . “On our way up here, I tried to find where you keep the video games, but I couldn’t find any,” Daniel says. “You do have video games, don’t you?” Daniel asked, a little bit skeptical of the bald man that was standing in front of him. “Of course we have video games, Daniel! What mission’s base would we be if we didn’t have video games?” Mr. Duncan said with a laugh. “I’m sure we can find the video games later, Daniel,” said Christopher. “Mr. Duncan, these are my other children, Daniel, Lillian, Matt, and Sierra,” Christopher says, gesturing to each one as he says their name. “And this is my wonderful wife, Mary,” says Christopher, reaching around to put an arm around his wife. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Wills,” says Mr. Duncan, shaking Mary’s hand. “Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Duncan,” says Mary. “Now, tell us about this necklace that we need to save, Mr. Duncan,” says Christopher. “Right,” says Mr. Duncan. “Please, take a seat, everyone,” Mr. Duncan says, gesturing to the conference table in the corner of the office. Mr. Duncan and the family sit down, and Mr. Duncan proceeds to pull up a power-point on the projector in front of them. A picture of the necklace that Mr. Duncan described on the phone pops up on the wall. “This is the necklace that I told you about, Mr. Wills,” says Mr. Duncan, gesturing to the picture projected on the wall. “And this is where we think it is located,” says Mr. Duncan, flipping to the next slide. “We haven’t been able to send anyone down there to confirm a location, mostly because we don’t have the crew to do it,” says Mr. Duncan. “It’s sad, not a lot of people want to save the day these days,” “They would much rather sit in their comfortable recliners and be couch potatoes,” says Mr. Duncan, shaking his head. “Well we are more than happy to do the job, sir,” says Mary. “I’m very glad to hear you say that,” says. Mr. Duncan. “There are just a few more details that we need to go over,” Mr. Duncan says, pausing for a moment to look for some papers that he had set down inadvertently. “The US Missions Base and I have already set up an agreement with the children’s schools, and arranged to have them homeschooled until you return from your mission,” says Mr. Duncan. The children groan, disappointed that they weren’t missing school. Mary, Christopher, and Mr. Duncan chuckle, observing their faces which clearly showed disappointment. “Abiding by our rules, all of you must be trained for three months before you can start the mission and go in the submarine. “What kinds of training will we be doing?” asks Sierra, clearly annoyed at the fact of even having to be here. “You will be trained to endure pressure on your lungs when you are submerged in water in the submarine, how to manually operate the submarine in case anything should happen while you are in the submarine, and how to live your typical life on the submarine- things will be just a little bit different,” says Mr. Duncan, ticking off each thing on his fingers as he goes. “The submarine is robotically operated at all times- you will just need to know what to do in case of an emergency,” added Mr. Duncan. “We understand,” says Christopher. “When will we start training, Mr. Duncan?” Mary asks. “It is currently Tuesday, so let’s say you will start training on Friday,” Mr. Duncan says. “That should give you time to return home and retrieve any belongings you want for the training session and the month in the submarine,” Mr. Duncan ads. “Until tomorrow, when you can return home for your belongings, we have reserved two rooms in the hotel across the street for you,” Mr. Duncan says, motioning for an office worker to come help the Wills family with their bags. “We cannot thank you enough for your hospitality,” says Mary, before she leaves the room with the rest of her family. “It is our pleasure,” replies Mr. Duncan, shutting the door after the Wills family. As the family left the room, they all wondered, “What if this is all just a big trick, and we’re going to be trapped in a submarine for the rest of our lives?” Chapter One
*RING* *RING* *RING* *RING* “Hello?” says Christopher. “Hello is this Christopher?” says the voice on the other end. “This is he,” Christopher replies. “What can I do for you?” Christopher asks. “Well, sir, I am Charles Duncan, out of the US Missions Base in San Diego, California. We have just gotten word that a million dollar gold necklace is at the bottom of an area of water in Baltimore, Maryland, and we want you and your family to investigate the case- possibly recover the necklace if at all possible.” “Sir,” says Christopher. “We would be greatly honored to investigate the case and save this necklace. What do we have to do?” “Why don’t you and your family fly from your house to our headquarters in San Diego and we can give you all of the details there.” “My family and I can do that” says Christopher, a little bit skeptically. “When would we fly out?” he asks. “Tonight. We have to get to the bottom of this case before Hugo Isaac does.” Charles says. “Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, who is Hugo Isaac?” Christopher asks. “Hugo Isaac is our arch enemy from the Valedictorian Missions Base out of North Korea. They are also trying to get this necklace, and our naval base wanted to get the best of the best to recover this necklace before Hugo gets it and does something bad with it.” Charles replies, his voice cold. “Well, sir, we would be happy to fly out to California and meet with you about this necklace.” Christopher says. “Great. Our private jet will be waiting for you and your family at the airport tonight. Goodnight.” Charles says. “Thank you, sir. See you soon.” Christopher says. “I hope this guy hasn't lost his mind and is pranking me into all of this,” Christopher mutters to himself, as he hangs up the phone. “Dad, who was that?” Daniel asks, full of curiosity and excitement. “I’ll tell you in a little bit, son. I have to discuss something with your mother first.” Christopher replies. “Sure, honey,” Mary says as they walk into their bedroom and close the door behind them. “What was that all about?” she asks. “That was Charles Duncan from the US Missions Base in San Diego. He wants our family to investigate a case about a necklace that is at the bottom of an area of water in Baltimore, Maryland. He is bringing his private jet out here to fly us to San Diego to meet with him, and we leave tonight.” “Well, we’re going to do it, right?” Mary asks, skeptically. “Of course we’re going to do it. The only problem is telling the kids.” he says, running his hands through his hair. “Alrighty then, let’s go ahead and tell them so they have time to pack. It’s going to be a long night for all of us.” Mary replies. “Kids,” Mary says, as she sits down on the couch in the family room. “Your father and I have something to tell you.” “Ooh! Are we going to Disney Land?” Dylan asks, excitedly. Christopher chuckles and twiddles his fingers. “Not right now, Dylan, but maybe.” Christopher says. “Your father just got off of the phone with someone from the US Missions Base. They have a case that they want the entire family to investigate, and we leave to fly to San Diego tonight. They have a private jet coming to pick us up at the airport.” Mary says. “Whoa! A private plane? That’s awesome!” Daniel and Lillian exclaim, excitedly. “What?! you can’t make me leave. I have my first date on Saturday with the cutest boy in school and you’re going to make me miss it to go investigate a mission about a necklace?! I’m not going, and you can’t make me,” Sierra says, angrily, as she stomps up the stairs to her bedroom. “Well, young lady,” says Christopher, calling up the stairs as Sierra slams the door to her bedroom. “You’re going whether you like it or not. You can reschedule your date for another night!” Christopher says, obviously not fazed by his daughter’s behavior. “Well, are the rest of us okay with this idea?” “Yeah, dad! We’re completely fine with it!” The kids exclaimed in unison. “Okay, then,” Christopher says, chuckling. “Go start packing, and your mom and I will talk to your sister. We have a very long night ahead of us.” A chorus of “Okay, dad!” and “Goodnight, dad!” and “Love you, dad!” were heard up the stairs as the three youngest children went to go pack their clothes for the surprising, and out of the blue trip to San Diego, and no one knew what to expect. Characters
Charles Duncan- Head of the US Missions Base Hugo Isaac- Arch Enemy of the US Missions Base, currently Head of Valedictorian Missions Base Christopher Wills- Father Mary Wills- Mother Sierra Wills- older daughter; 14 years old Matt Wills- oldest son; 10 years old Lillian Wills- younger daughter; 8 years old (twin) Daniel Wills- younger son; 8 years old (twin) Dylan Wills- youngest son; 5 years old |