Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Trying Not to be a Sore Loser

I don't like to lose. I'm kind of a sore loser. : )

Last night, the "other guy" won the election, and I went to bed with a heavy heart full of dread and anxiety over the direction our country is headed.

But it has been really interesting how I'm viewing this differently in the light of morning. I thought President Bush and John McCain were extremely gracious as they acknowledged our new president elect. No one can discount the history in the making as we see our first black president. If you remove all of the policies I disagree with, this fact is a wonderful thing and too long in coming.

I still do not like Senator Obama's policies and values. I'm broken hearted about the abortion issue and the ground that will be lost in protecting babies. I am afraid of the rights and freedoms we are about to lose and the tax burden we are going to have to carry. But, and this is a HUGE BUT, many people I know and love are happy about Senator Obama's victory.

I'm amazed at how divided our country has become. Blue vs. Red has made its way into families and friendships. Each side is wondering how the other side could be so blind. It reminds me of these pictures I used to use when I was teaching about the Civil War to fifth graders:

What do you see?








Do you see a white vase or two faces looking at one another? Is it a beautiful young girl or an old hag? Are today's election results a good thing or a bad thing?

The elections are over and they didn't turn out how I wanted them to turn out. I have to get over it. God is still sovereign and in control. His purposes and plans will come about regardless of who we elect as president. He expects me to be like Jesus no matter what or no matter how difficult.

I was inspired by this blog post from Lysa TerKeurst. You should go read all of it, but this was my favorite part:

Now is the time to be representatives of truth to all those around us. May we Christians be seen not as those who continue to strain against the unity of our country, but as followers of Jesus, those who help create it.

She's a wise lady. : )

God bless America!

Love,

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just have to tell you what Scott said last night. I said "Oh, I just hope the dems don't get their 'filibuster-proof majority'--that's too much power!" And he said "I hope they do. Then when they mess everything up so bad, it will be a long time before people vote Democrat again!"

Sarah said...

Thank you Becky for posting this. I too am feeling much like a "sore loser". And while I also am fearful of where our country could potentially be headed, I'm attempting to look at the positives of the outcome. So far I have two items in my "pro" list:
1. I'm happy that this country has elected an African-American to be our next president.
2. Atleast it's not Hillary :)
(I can't help myself)

Becky said...

I too had wished it had gone the other way. But you are right. It is a special day in America for us to have our 1st black president.

But above all, God is in control. We need to hand it over to him.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Becky, for your post and also for linking up to Lysa's post. Everything was well-spoken!