Yesterday was Election day and we voted for our 45th President of the United States of America.
Today is Wednesday November 9th, 2016.
Many people woke up this morning filled with happiness, a sigh of relief, excitement, and positivity.
Many people woke up this morning filled with anger, disappointment, fear, and distaste.
But FAR TOO MANY woke up this morning forgetting one thing - they woke up.
We live in a country where we have the right to vote. We live in a country where we have the first amendment; stating that we have the freedom of speech. We live in a country that has democracy which allows us to have free will; the power to have different beliefs. But that is the beauty of it all. You are ALLOWED to believe what you wish; you are ALLOWED to vote for whom you want you. You don't HAVE to agree with anyone else.
So many turned to social media today as an outlet. An outlet for all of their anger and for some, an outlet to rub things in peoples face. So many have turned on friends and even family - name calling, bashing, hating. Is this really the kind of world we live in? You may have loved how the polls played out. You may have hated how the polls played out. But is spewing hate and anger the way to handle it? Absolutely NOT. What happened to agreeing to disagree? How happened to respect?
I stayed up until about midnight (now that I have kids, I can't stay up like I used to) then I threw in the towel and went to bed. Jake stayed up until about 4am this morning watching CNN and taking it all in. Everyone has differences in their marriage; Jake and I have plenty. He tends to be very opinionated and he voices his thoughts about things, while I tend to be subtle and keep things to myself. I've always believed the whole "You believe what you want and I believe what I want. You aren't going to change my opinion and I'm not going to change yours; so there is no point arguing about it." He on the other hand tends to be very strong willed and blunt about things he feels passionate about. It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with him. When he cares about something, he CARES. Not that I don't care about things, I just tend to stay quiet with my opinion most of the time. But our differences is why we work. We bounce off of each other, we build off of each other. We each have strengths and weaknesses and we both bring things to our marriage that we need. His passion helps us just as equally as my subtleness helps us. He builds us up, I settle things down. It works.
After the chaos of yesterday and the chaos brewing on social media today, it has opened my eyes to a lot of things that I really wanted to share with as much people as I can.
First and foremost; Let go and give it all to God. A few weeks ago, our pastor did a great service about being submissive. I know many of you are thinking I'm crazy with the whole submissive word. But our church gave out a magnet with a powerful phrase on it. I walked by the magnet on our fridge this morning and I stopped and read it over a couple of times. It says "A Submissive Community: A community of humble people, who are respectful, ready to listen to others' opinions, as well as see others' needs and put them before their own." It also says on the bottom of the magnet "Submit to one another out of reverse to Christ - Ephesians 5:21". THIS. Humble. Respectful. Listen. I know some people may not be religious, and I am not one to force that on you. But for us, it is all in God's hands now. He has a plan that is much bigger than we could ever imagine. And because of our religion and God, it has made this election that much easier to understand and accept. In the bible there is a very powerful verse. I often find myself coming back to it during hard times. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. - John 14:27."
I woke up this morning. My husband woke up this morning. My children woke up this morning. We all woke up in our nice, warm beds. The thermometor in our home was set to a perfect 70 degrees. It rained last night but that didn't even affect us. We all had breakfast. The point? We are blessed to have a home. To have shelter. To have heat. To have food and water. To have beds. There are so many people that don't have those things. There are too many people in other countries who have never had those things. People in other countries that don't get to wake up and see their husbands or wives or children because they have been taken from them. People who have to walk miles for water to drink. People who go days without eating and when they do eat, it is equivalent to a couple crackers. People who are fighting just to stay alive. Too many people in our country take so many things that we consider "basic necessities" for granted.
For those who don't know our family personally; my father has some severe health conditions and because of this he lives with us. This morning, I woke up and drove my father to Dialysis. There are two very important things about that last sentence. The first: I drove there. I am blessed with a working vehicle. We live in a country with transportation. Like I said before, there are countries where people walk miles and miles just to get water because they have no other choice. The second important part of that sentence: Dialysis. We are BLESSED to live in a country with medical advancement. We live in a country filled with doctors and nurses and surgeons. We live in a country where my father, and so many others, can get the medical treatment that they NEED in order to live. We have so many hospitals right here in America that are considered the BEST in the world. We don't have to worry about our children getting the medical attention that they need. Do you even understand that it would be like if you didn't have that luxury? A life where the closest doctor is hours and hours away. A life where that same doctor only has a handful of tools to perform simple and basic exams. Those same doctors who are unable to help you with life threatening issues. We live in a country where we have access to the medical help that most people NEED to survive. We have treatments for illnesses ranging from small to huge. THIS ALONE makes our country great.
The next couple of things I am going to write about are pretty powerful to me and I feel very passionately about. I am writing them for people to read, for people to truly understand and hopefully it will touch a place in your heart.
REGARDLESS of who my husband or myself voted for, REGARDLESS of who won this election: we are BOTH STILL PARENTS to two little boys and it is OUR job to raise them into men.
We WILL raise our boys to be kind.
They will learn that sometimes in life, you will run into mean people. People who will try to bring you down. People who will use actions and words to hurt you. And you won't like how those actions and words make you feel and sometimes, you will want to use mean actions and words to hurt them back. But they will be raised to know that kindness will always win in the end. It is better be kind to others than to stoop down to their level and use negativity against people. A kind heart will always beat a mean one.
We WILL raise our boys to treat everyone equally - no matter what.
White, black, brown, purple, green blue. Christian, catholic, muslim, hindu, atheist. Male, female. Adult, child. Jock, cheerleader, band geek, science wiz, school president, loner. Rich, poor, middle class. Cops, doctors, teachers, parents. They will treat everyone equally. They will be respectful. They will be polite. They will use their manners all the time. They will be kind to everyone. They will know that there is difference in the world but they will know that those differences should never interfere with how you treat someone.
We WILL raise them to stand up for what they believe in - in the right way.
I will raise boys who will stand up for the kid that is being picked on, instead of looking away. I will raise boys who will encourage the kid who is having trouble speaking in front of the class, instead of making fun of them. I will raise my boys to give everyone a chance, even if they don't think that person is "good" at something. I will raise them to sit with the kid who is by himself at the lunch table, or ask the kid sitting outside by myself on the bench if they want to play. I will raise them to understand that there is good and evil in the world, and that is it always best to fight for the good. I will also raise them to understand that their voice is the most powerful when positivity is coming out of it. We will raise them to understand that they should never use violence to get their point heard. We will raise them to BE the change they wish to see in the world.
We WILL raise our boys to always lend a helping hand.
They will know that it is always better to give then to get. They will know that you don't need to get something, in order to give something or to help. They will know that sometimes people will burn them, but it is always better to be the bigger person and to help people when they are in need, rather than giving others a cold shoulder.
We WILL raise our boys to respect woman.
They WILL be raised in a home where their father treats their mother the right way. They WILL be raised to know that they should never physically lay a harsh hand on a woman, ever. They WILL know what consent is and they WILL know that they are NEVER to do anything to a woman that she doesn't give them 100% permission to do. They WILL be raised to know that speaking about woman (or anyone for that matter) in a sexual, derogatory, demeaning, degrading way is uncalled for and unacceptable and just plain cruel. They WILL understand that there are people, cold ugly people, out there in the world who do these things. That sometimes people in high power do these kinds of things. People who others may look up to, like celebrities or musicians or sports stars, may do these kinds of things. They WILL understand that just because other people do it, it does NOT make it okay. It is NOT cool. It is NOT right. And I will raise them to ENCOURAGE others to NOT be like that.
We WILL raise our boys to know right from wrong.
They will know that anger and hatred will not get them far in life. They will understand that God has given us free will to do and say as we please but that we should walk the right path, and try to help those that are walking the wrong one.
We WILL raise our boys to understand that it is okay to disagree with people, as long as they go about it the right way.
Some of my closest family members and some of my best friends have different beliefs and opinions as I do. That does not make me love them any less. That does not mean that I have to shove my opinions down their throats every chance I get. That does not mean I should get physical with them. That does not be I should cut them out of my life. We have agreed to disagree on things and that is OKAY.
We WILL raise our boys to think POSITIVELY.
We will teach them about optimism. We will teach them to see the good in things. We will encourage them to think positively in all that they do. We will explain to them that there will always be negativity everywhere in the world. But dwelling on the negativity doesn't get anyone anywhere. Spewing negativity does not make things easier to deal with. They will know that there is ALWAYS a light at the end of the tunnel.
We WILL raise our boys to appreciate this country that we live in.
They will understand how great it is. They will know its history and how far we have come. They will understand slavery and how it was abolished. They will understand women's rights and how things used to be. They will understand our government and how complicated and sometimes corrupt it may be. And because they will know our countries history, and how far we have come, they WILL appreciate it. They WILL appreciate the people who have fought for our freedom, who have DIED for our country. They WILL appreciate all of the hard working men and woman who - in some way, shape, or form - give to them; from the military and our armed forces, first responders and medical care workers, all the way down to the old man who runs the hardware store down the street or the elderly lady who checks out our books at the library. They will KNOW that everyone has a role in this country. We all NEED one another.
So today, I ask you to think positively. None of us know what the future holds. We don't know what will or won't happen. We don't know how this entire thing is going to pan out. But what we do know is that we have the ability to set examples. We have the ability to teach our children valuable life lessons. To raise them into the strong, loving, KIND men and women we want them to be. We have the ability to guide them in the right direction, and to help them choose the right paths in life. We have the ability to SHOW them the RIGHT way to act, instead of the wrong way. We have the chance to show them the CHANGE that WE ALL WANT to see. So stop bashing. Stop pouting. Stop throwing negativity every chance you get. Today, our country has changed. BE the change you want to see.
(And I promise, this will be my first and probably my last political post. ;)
Be kind. Be Positive. Love one another.
- Christine
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