A place to put your hope

Let's be honest- Tomorrow is a BIG day(okay, today is a big day if your not a night owl like me and are reading this on Tuesday).

It is a day of celebration and pageantry. A monumentous day. Think of it this way- 43 Presidents ago, our journey as a country was forever changed when we inaugurated our very first president in 1789.

For about two weeks now God has given me a heavy heart about the feelings of some, myself included, towards our almost President. Now I have no problem in saying that I voted for the other girl. :) But God has put a urgency on me and softened my heart and I have spent a lot of time in prayer over this next phase in our country's history.

A look at life through my 7-years-old daughters social studies book lesson this week shows a General, General George Washington, basically having just returned from war became our first President. Times were tough. Poor communication, hurting citizens torn and confused from war and a new and unpredictable country was placed at the feet of our very first president.

I am sure there were lots of people, good people, honest people, hardworking people who disagreed with the ideals set forth in the constitution and probably didn't like the new president or the new rules at all. Perhaps the hurt and the fear of their difficult lives prevented them from having any hope.

Over 220 years we have watched through out history as our country has grown from these shaky beginnings into the greatest country in the world. It is hard to think we would have much in common with the country President Washington served. Could they understand our struggles? Us there's?

Fast forward nearly 220 years to this day. For many people hope is fleeting and hard to find. War, the economy and health care has left many people, good people, honest, hardworking people, confused and fearful for their future and for their children's futures. Times are so tough and the country feels so shaky and unpredictable and fear seem to reign in this world.

A few weeks ago when Mr. Obama met with the former presidents and all the country's baggage that no one but the presidents get to know about was presented to him, I wonder if his heart sank just a little. I wonder if for a second he thought twice about his forth coming position. I wonder if he just wanted to sweep his little girls and wife up and forget everything. Maybe not, maybe hearing all the details made him even more motivated for the position.

It seems to me that while we have come a long way and learned a lot of lessons from our fore fathers we still need one thing and one thing only...Hope...because where there is hope, there is God.

Hope is abundant and in apparent in a very exciting way for so many people in our country right now, but then there is also a kind-of slimy underbelly of discourse and fear that can't stay covered up for too long.

So what do you do? What do you do right now if you did vote for the other guy(or girl) and your hopes feel dashed? You don't agree politics and don't mind saying so.

Maybe you're like me and while you don't agree with some things politically, you still want to find a way to respect and lift up this new president and our country? Maybe inside, like me, while you would have made a different choice politically, you can't help but be so excited for this long overdue first in our country. Maybe, like me, you feel God calling you to help be a part of healing.

My daughter has this poster in the school room and it has all 43 presidents on it and today we sat and talked about Dr. King and about what would happen on Tuesday. I showed her the pictures of the Presidents and told her that over the last 200 years things looked a certain way(no I don't mean they all wore wigs-which she did notice). She looked up on our school walls and saw the many pictures of children from all over the world hung there and then she looked back at the poster and she said, "they all have light skin." I said, "that is until tomorrow." The men and women who began this country knew the rights of all people were to be honored and dreams were given by God and not dictated by people. While I am sure in those 43 presidents there have been some amazing leaders, strong godly men it doesn't change the fact that this first is long overdue.

Maybe you don't get to say much politically over the next four years, but in four years you will have your say again. This is a powerful time to be alive. It is a world changing time and it is to me a privilege to be a part of a country who pushes the fear aside and says, agree or disagree on politics or any other matter, we really want to be excited and want to be a part of turning things around in this country.

I know for certain I would rather be wrong politically and see our country prosper for my childrens good, than to be left sitting, proven right, in the midst of destruction. But if we really mean it and we really want to see this country prosper it is time to hit our knees daily, together, in prayer for this president. He may be a good man and he may be a good president but with our prayers covering him in safety and in judgment God can do great things through him.

I don't think God is calling me to consistent prayer for our new president because he is weak or not capable, but because the burdens he faces and the challenges ahead are too great for anyone to face without prayer.

We have to be willing to take accountability for our country and for our president and now that the choice has been made, as Christians, we are called to lift him up and choose our faith in God ahead of political bitterness.

No matter which side of the aisle you sit on if you serve the Lord then I believe we have a responsibility to give, with every ounce of our being, the support and prayers, for the good of our country, to this man. God blessed us all with the privilege to be born or live in this amazing country and with that privilege we agree to participate and uphold the process that has stood strong for over 200 years.

I do not know Barak Obama and I do not know of his morals or of his faith anymore than I know anyone elses. I do know one thing that I see with confidence and that is he is a father.

My husband is the amazing father of our three small children. Two of these children are almost the ages of President-Elect Obama's children.

While I may not agree with his political positions on many things in our country I do see the love of a husband and father. I may not be able to trust that he will always make the right call or that mistakes won't occur, after all, it's that human thing again, but knowing my husband as a father, I do believe that Obama would do whatever it took to keep his girls safe. I do think they will be in his mind when important decisions need to be made and that he understands the weight of the job.

I do think he knows that it is their future that is at stake. I think just about any father would go to the ends of the Earth to protect his children, so yes, I do believe that he has every intention of protecting and defending our country to the best of his ability.

I hope that you are feeling the same call to lift up our president and country in prayer. If so, please feel free to lift those up here if you would like to share them. I pray that the celebrations tomorrow are able to excite and energize this country to stand behind our new leader.

Blessings