Clarification

Hi loved ones,

I was just out in the kitchen cooking breakfast and thinking, then decided to get on the computer to write ya'll a quick note.

One of my faults is caring what others think of me.  I'd call this "fear of man." A sin, I believe. A weakness of the human condition. It's something I try to work on. I think it stems from the major sin of pride, probably the most common and troublesome problem in human character. Other times, I think, caring about what others think can be a neutral or maybe even positive thing and maybe more along the lines of striving for peace in relationships. In this case, I'm not exactly sure where I'm at. Perhaps, I'll think on it more later and find I'm wrong yet again on this one.

But for now, I'll put this up there in case it is a good note to share. If not, maybe I'll take it down. So yesterday, I said a few sentences in reference to the recent election in our country. I shared that I was "giving thanks." I was and still am. But I want to clarify something. I was never a Trump supporter. I was  a #NEVERTRUMP person. I was sorta of a "anybody but Trump" voter. Anybody but Trump or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders that is. . .  I can think of a number of candidates that I would have been happy to support. But Trump was nominated. Ouch. I seriously looked at third party candidates. I couldn't go with Johnson. I checked out a few others and thought it about it for a while. Even up to a few weeks before the election, I felt quite uneasy with filling in the oval beside "Trump."

Anyhow, I know most of us are sick to death about beating this dead horse. We've had enough of politics for a long while. But the thing is, we live here. We can't ignore it. This is our country; it needs constant care. Constant. So yeah, I am thankful for the outcome on Tuesday. I can't say I voted in pride for Donald Trump; that felt surreal. "I can't believe this is happening." This time around I voted against something. I voted against Hillary Clinton. I voted against the suppression of religious liberty. I'm all for having additional parties thriving in this country but for me, the time was not THIS election cycle. I agree with Ben Carson, we were about to go over a cliff. Yes, I believe that. I believe religious liberty was at stake (and still very well could be) and very well could have been be felt in my own life. Not that religious persecution is the end of it all. Many Christians as I write this are suffering from REAL persecution.  Much more extreme than I will ever understand. They are being tortured and killed for gracious sakes! But I am not a saint, I'm not in that place where I desire martyrdom.  If religious liberty is within my grasp, I will strive for that. For myself and my children.

I know there was more at stake in this election but religious liberty and the possibility of moving toward abolishing abortion (the killing of unborn children) were huge in my mind. Yes, I know those are not big issues for Donald Trump. Those are not his priorities. But frankly, I was willing to risk it with the Donald. I knew what direction Hillary would take us. I know very well what she believes about the rights of unborn children. They have none.

So yes, I'm praying prayers of thanksgiving. Not because I think Donald Trump is man of character but because I believe we just adverted a major disaster. No, I don't agree with him on MANY things. Our country is not in a peachy place and I don't believe he is even close to the leader that we really need. But he's what we've got and it could be worse. It could. So yes, I'm supporting Trump. I'm supporting him because he is now our president-elect. I will pray for him as a person. I will pray for a desire to to become a better man. In our home we like to think of Thomas a Becket. He was not a man of solid character before King Henry II appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket rose to the challenge. He took the honor seriously and changed his life. He even died for his outspokenness (not that Henry II was pleased at his death). So we pray for the same for Donald Trump. We pray that he will rise to the occasion. We pray that he will surround himself with excellent men and women to lead this country.

On another note. I listened to Hillary Clinton's concession speech. I can understand that she really believes in what she is doing. I can empathize with that. At least a little. But here's the one thing I absolutely cannot agree with. It seems like she feels that this election was a loss for women. I wholeheartedly disagree. It was not a loss for women. Many of us didn't vote against Hillary because she is a woman. That has nothing to do with it. I'd vote for Carly Fiorina in a heartbeat. We simply didn't vote for Hillary because of who she is as a person, her past record, and mostly importantly because of the cause she champions.

Well . . ..  that was long.  Didn't mean to do that. Yikes. Late for breakfast. Whoops.