The Day After...

I arrived at the fire station about quarter till seven yesterday morning so I could make the coffee and help my mom, the local election sheriff, get the place set up and organized. There were about 35 people in line already, a dozen from our church, and the people just kept coming! It was the biggest turn out we’ve seen from this split liberal/conservative community in a long time. We heard stories of people who had passed by thinking they would come back later when the lines were shorter. That’s a laugh….around noon the crowd thinned out to about 100 or so and I ran to the back to cram some Cheez-it’s and a cup of coffee down, then it was back to the tables…

Not only was the presidential election a historical event in itself…woman vice-president, black president…we had several ‘moral’ issues on the ballet as well. Like a lot of states; some issues passed and other’s failed. One girlfriend won by a small margin, the other won by a great victory. Congratulations, Deborah and Dawn! Sorry, Doug, you lost again this time, but there is always next time! We still love and support you.

The most interesting thing that happened at our polling station yesterday was not that the McCain/Palin ticket won by a landslide, not that our sheriff was re-elected, or that my girlfriends won. It was the commitment of one man, a Vietnam Veteran that lives two doors down from Mom and Dad. He’d been in line almost two hours and was close to getting his turn on one of the three machines when he began experiencing some heaviness in his chest and tingling in his arm…they notified Mom. She immediately called the paramedics but he was not going anywhere until he was allowed to vote. She moved him to the front of the line, as she does with handicapped or infirm voters. This man…cast his ballot with paramedics standing on each side of him. When he was finished they took him into the bay, checked him out, then loaded him into the ambulance and began treating him for the heart attack he was suffering. It was minor and he is still in the hospital today recovering. I would be remiss here if I did not at least mention the two curmudgeons who walked out because he was moved in front of them. I guess that is a true picture of America.

I love this country and served for ten years, stepped into the fray during Desert Storm, and have a young son almost ready for his first duty station, which may (or may not now) be Iraq or Afghanistan. It is with great trepidation that Jimmy and I think of what will happen to our military, as well as our country, in the hands of liberal thinking. But what we do know is that God is still on the throne! He is still in charge! And HIS people will still follow HIM!

Isaiah 40:22-31 "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. ‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, ‘O Jacob, and complain O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?’ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~NIV

It is time for Christians...each and every Christian... to be active on a grass roots level in spreading the message of the gospel...it's not just the outreach program of our local church...it's our individual duty, our responsibility... just as much as casting that vote yesterday! It is time for Christians to be ever more vigilant in fervent prayer for our nation as we move forward into this next era remembering all the while…Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."