proud american

I voted today.
I voted with pride.

As I stood in the line for an hour and half on this gorgeous Tuesday morning (while my husband, who'd already voted, stayed home with the two little ones), I felt a deep sense of pride and camaraderie with my neighboring voters. It was not "who" we voted for, it was not the issues we felt strongly about - it was the sense of being an American who had the right, the freedom, and the privilege to vote for our next leader(s).

I confess that this is the first election I have truly dug deeper into the "little people" on the ballot. For over a week, I've had a sample ballot bookmarked for the purpose of doing research on the names that eluded me - various judges, commissioners, and such. Last night I had three miraculously sleeping children and my eyes burned with exhaustion after accidentally dozing myself, but I pried them open and felt like I was in college studying for a major exam. As I looked up each candidate's site and their stand on things, our Internet went out for a while (a recent issue that's getting frustrating). I confess I almost curled up and slept anyway. But, instead, I persevered, and the Internet service came back often enough to make my choices. Three hours later, I was able to sleep (the kind of sleep that comes with a mother of three kids, one who wasn't feeling well and one who is still struggling through the nights; okay, that wasn't really sleep. I attempted to sleep.)

Today, I had my sample ballot in my purse; I walked up, slid in the bright yellow card, and immediately punched in my selections. It went so fast that I backed up to look at all of the pages a second time, then perused the summary closely before casting my vote. It felt a bit too easy otherwise.

Then, I walked out, loving that little sticker that proclaimed I'd voted.

Whatever the outcome, I know I listened to my God. And I know He's a sovereign and just God. I believe He has a deeper purpose than meets the eye, so I am trusting him and praying that He will have His way in this election.

(And that, my friends, is as political as I'm ever likely to get on here.)