President's Day - Let's take a moment to reflect.

Who knows what President's Day is?  In the United States most of us do.  It's to honor the nation's first President, George Washington, and one of the nation's most celebrated President's, Abraham Lincoln, right?  Both of their birthday's are in February, Abraham Lincoln's is February 12th while George Washington's birthday is either February 22nd or February 11th, depending on if you are using the "Gregorian" or "Julian" calendar (to see more on this click here).  Depending on what part of the country you are from it may be to honor all past and current Presidents.

I like President's Day.  It is supposed to be a time to reflect on why we, as a nation, are where we are at this point in time.  I've gotten more interested as time goes on in these two great historical figures.  No matter what the present and future hold for our great country, our past is set and these two men have shaped the nation in ways that I'm not sure they even would realize.  Do you think they ever thought that this country would have over three hundred million people in it?  I wonder if they ever thought about it.

George Washington, after his death was know as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."  You can't summarize someones life in one sentence, but that one sentence is pretty powerful when  put in the context of George Washington.  I'm not going to regurgitate what history books and scholars can convey  much better than I can about George Washington.  What I can add is when I think about what this man accomplished and all he overcame I can see a glimpse of what he must have been.  He must have been an incredibly intelligent, hard working, driven and gutsy person.  Do people in today's world stand up for what they believe in like he did?

Abraham Lincoln is known for many accomplishments as well.  His greatest feat was abolishing slavery in the United States of America while keeping his country from staying split in two.  While it was George Washington's fate to guide people in creating this nation, it was Abraham Lincoln's duty to keep it from going too far in the wrong  direction.  At the time of Abraham Lincoln's Presidency, a lot of politicians were hot on the Constitution and using that as the sole guideline for running the country.  Abraham Lincoln, focused more on the morality of the Declaration of Independence and it's emphasis on freedom and equality.  


So while most of the kids in our nation will be off school and some of the adults that work will not have to go into work for the day.  Take a moment and reflect why we are not working or at school.  Do a little research and   find out about these two men who helped put our nation where it is today.  Why not make it a goal to take a few minutes and look into some other presidents that you don't know much about.  


Lastly, I want you to comment on some facts you know about these two men.  Better yet, if you know any facts about any presidents that you would like to share.... do it now.