Opinion/Resources/Teen Perspective 

By Teen Opinion Contributor Maggie Verdught

Photo: Deposit

A few weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to travel with my family to our nation’s capital: Washington D.C.!

I had a great time, and wanted to share some things that I learned along the way. 

General benefits 

This short explanation may seem obvious to some, but I wanted to explain some general benefits of visiting Washington D.C. in the first place! I will put them in list-format, below:

• EXPERIENCING THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUMS. It was super cool, and very worthwhile. Need I say more about these famous museums? They are awesome; my favorite one was the Museum of American History. 
• SEEING FAMOUS MONUMENTS. Ex: The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial, White House, MLK Jr. Memorial, and the experience of seeing the changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetery. It was very educational and beautiful. 
• EXPERIENCING CITY LIFE. As you’ll see in my final point, it is one of the things that I really enjoyed. Even if you’re a small-town kind of person, you will still find things to love about a big city. It is worth it to experience living in one, and especially our nation’s capital!

Family dynamics

We all know that being part of a family can be difficult. Especially when you’re in a vehicle for many hours together, or in a singular hotel room that you’re sharing for the week! While there are many joys that come with family time, there are also many frustrations. Navigating the ups and downs in a healthy way becomes vital to maintaining and strengthening relationships. This includes being flexible and considerate of what others want to do, and not just what you would like to do.

It’s important to care more about your family as a whole rather than yourself individually. Does that sound familiar to you? It’s a lesson I learned last year on my trip to Portugal, too! Flexibility and selflessness are skills that will always be useful and necessary. This is something that I am continually learning and practicing through the process of sanctification. Another skill that is helpful to learn and practice is knowing how to work through disagreements in a healthy way!

By listening to one another and choosing your battles wisely, many hurt feelings can be spared. 

The last thing I’ll say here is that I was duly reminded of how fleeting life is. How quickly time passes! We don’t get these moments back with our family; these times are a part of who you become. Making memories is super special, especially with family. I will be a junior in high school this school year, and I only have two summers left before I leave for college!

My days won’t be like this forever. Life changes, everyone grows up, and continues to move forward. There is a 1.5-year age gap between me and my little sister, and we shared some fun and special memories together on our trip to D.C. I treasure the time I got to spend with her and the rest of my family. It’s great to find your own adventures, but there are always two sides to it. Sometimes it is better to think long-term.

Choosing your family brings a different kind of love and joy that you won’t experience from other adventures. Sure, it’s not the same. But you have the rest of your life to experience those things – and you won’t have your family with you forever. 

City life

I genuinely enjoyed living in the big city for a week! First, let me list off a few cons to city life. It constantly smells like weed or nicotine, unfortunately. There are also obvious dangers like creepy people and insanely scary traffic. But some things that I personally love about the city are how connected it feels. Riding the metro was enjoyable to me, and I loved looking up at the beautiful architecture in many parts of the city. Washington, D.C., is a very diverse city as well!

In the small Midwest city where I live, we don’t see a huge variety of people. It was super cool to see the diverse landscape of D.C.; there are people from all over the world, all with different stories and backgrounds. Now, perhaps this is a bit weird, but every time I saw someone on the street, I would immediately wonder: Who are they? Where do they live? What do they do? Do they have a family? Are they Christian? Do they exercise? Do they enjoy life?

It honestly fascinates me how so many people live in a single district/city (D.C.), and how they interact with each other, each living their own lives. Other people’s life stories fascinate me, and I began to imagine what it would be like to grow up in a big city. Like I said, all of this sparked my curiosity and imagination.

Lastly, in regard to city life (and this trip as a whole), I was reminded that you can be content where you are right now. You don’t have to go on an adventure to enjoy the everyday experiences that come your way, wherever you are! It’s tempting to believe the lie that contentment is found in chasing your dreams, and journeying to other places to find that experience/excitement.

The truth is that contentment is found in Christ Jesus. He is with us wherever we go, and I’m so grateful for that. He’s never left us, and He never will. Our hope is found solely in Him. 

Summary

My hope is that you were inspired and intrigued by my experience in Washington, D.C. It was an amazing place to have a family vacation. May God bless you, and have a great week!

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The opinions in this article are specific to its author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Counter Culture Mom team. 

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Maggie VerDught is a high school student who enjoys learning about culture, news, and politics.

She is passionate about sharing the truth, especially with her generation. Maggie loves to run, read, and write poetry in her spare time.

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