Reflections

****disclaimer: the views expressed in the following post are those solely of the author. they do in no way represent everyone and in no way is the author wanting to change anyone opinions. the author just wanted her feelings to be recorded since she uses this as a journal for her children*****

After a day of "moping" that my Presidential nominee didn't win and lots of reflecting on both Tuesday's and Wednesday's reactions to everything going on as well as my own feelings, I feel that I can write about how I feel without offending anyone since that isn't my intention.

I was sad to see John McCain not win but also wasn't surprised. I cast my vote for my nominee and that is the wonderful thing about America.... other people are able to cast their votes for who they want (we do live in a wonderful country where we have so many freedoms and for that I am very thankful).

I didn't stay up and watch the election process. Throughout the day I would tune in to see what was happening but truly I was so tired of the politics that I just didn't want to see it continuously. I knew that I would find out who won regardless of whether I watched it all day or tuned in Wednesday morning. At about 9:00 or so it was evident that unless something big happened (which wasn't likely) that Obama would win so I turned on HGTV and watched home renovations shows (got some great ideas in case Obama follows through on his promises and "spreads the wealth around"..hahaha :)

I woke up Wednesday morning and heard the news. I also heard so many horrible remarks that made me so sad, I mean we are no longer living in the 50's or 60's. I didn't realize there were people who were still so "bothered" by someones skin color (I realize after hearing some people call into the radio station I listen that racism is still here and that makes me sad knowing my kids are going to witness that when we tell that the God made and loves everyone regardless of skin color). To me the race was never about "the color of their skin" but only about their political views/moral values. I could have cared less if one of them was the color of a Umpa-Lompa from Willy Wonka :)

We really discussed politics with Taylor this time around. They were really involved in this race at her school and so we decided to be open with her about why we supported McCain. Taylor had the opportunity to participate in 2 separate mock elections (one at school and one at the area wide girl scout lock-in) and at both of these McCain won. Both her and Caleb were a little sad when they found out McCain hadn't one but we were then able to use this as a great teaching experience.

We talked about McCain's speech (not Obama's though as we haven't watched it yet (isn't the Internet awesome that we can watch the speeches the next day and not have to stay up until 12:45) and how he said "they people had spoken and they hadn't picked him but that he would respect our President and stand behind him and support".

We talked about how God tells us in the Bible that we are to respect our leaders. We also talked about how ultimately God is our leader and that we only need to concerned with pleasing him not society. Caleb listened very intently, I am not sure how much he really understood about the whole election process but he was very serious while listening to us. Matt's mom told him that we should pray for Obama, that he would make decisions that would only benefit America, that he would surround himself with Godly people and that God could use him to build back up our country. At first Caleb wasn't too excited about praying for someone other than our nominee (in Caleb's eyes Obama was the "enemy" since he wasn't who we were rooting for) but he gradually warmed up to the idea :) I think he equates politics and sports, like we don't root for Alabama or Florida b/c they are UT's mortal enemy :)

We really stressed to Taylor about how awesome it was that she has been able to witness some amazing historical things in her short lifetime....9/11, the war following that, first black/bi-racial (take your pick on which term you want to use) President. I told her things like this would be in the history books and she was actually getting to experience them. I told her it was a great day in America.

As the next 4 yrs gets underway I pray that Obama follows through on the promises that he made (and if he doesn't that America will pay attention to that in the next election). I pray that he makes wise decisions about the people he surrounds himself with and places into different positions throughout his cabinet. I pray that he appoints judges who have good morals since those positions do not have term limits. I pray that he brings us out of a recession. I pray that he can unify a country that seems very divided at the moment and can show other countries how wonderful America really is. I pray that whatever he does concerning our military in Iraq that he does it so that it puts them in the least harms way. The military is dear to my heart since I grew up a military brat and I am so thankful for the men and women (and their families since they willing give them up for months or years at a time) who put themselves in harms way to protect my rights.

The people have spoken and Obama is going to be our President for the next 4 yrs and I too will stand behind him and support him in that role (though I won't always agree with him and support his decisions, I mean I haven't up until now and that isn't going to change just b/c he is the President) but I will give him the respect he is due as our Country's leader.

I thank God daily that we live in such an awesome country b/c even with all the problems right now we still have it really great! And now I am ready to see some change!!!