For the last year and a half, our country has fought, yelled, and debated our way through this election. The major parties have split and the media has blown up. There have been multiple riots and scandals- even an FBI investigation. How will our country recover from such a mess?

The same way we always have.

In the years since its birth, America has overcome some major obstacles including 12 major wars, 4 assassinated presidents, slavery, and a Great Depression.

Some people say that the division in the country today parallels that of the 1800's, so let's take the Civil War for example. Tensions between states had been rising with the increasing regional end economic differences between the North and the South. Many southern plantation owners were not prepared to give up their way of life and source of income just because some activists said that slavery was immoral. On the other side, there were millions of people trapped in bondage and being sold out of their own families to work all their lives. A nation was torn and war was waged. The death count was as high as it would ever be for an American war. To say our country was messed up would be an understatement. Yet somehow we survived and reclaimed the name United States of America.

Harry S. Truman once said "America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."

I may not agree with every choice the new president makes. I may not support every speech he/she gives. However, as long as my rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not infringed upon, I will continue to be a proud citizen of the United States of America. I will pray for the guidance and direction of our nation's leaders and I will rest in the hope that God has a plan for our country.

I hope you will, too.