Vote with Joy

Voting can be a stressful activity. No one likes the attack ads, but often it is all we are offered to make our decision at the polling place. Researching the candidates takes time and effort that many of us do not easily find in our busy days. Who do we believe? Who can we trust with the business of running our beloved country? Our lives are affected by our choices for generations to come. Voting is important! It is a responsibility we cannot ignore. It is a privilege we can lose if we do not use it wisely!

I just came back from voting in the primaries. It is the first, and I believe the most important step for the voters to be involved in fully. I spent much time visiting websites, reading up on candidates, and talking to others about their choices and ideas. The process has been long and sometimes irritating when watching the reputation soiling ads over and over again. But the day is here. It is time to rejoice in the process that sits at the core of our country's freedoms.

I love to vote at the voting booth on Election Day. It is a ceremony of freedom. It is a celebration of my rights, responsibility, and privilege! I dress the part by wearing one of my many patriotic shirts. I go early so that everyone will see that I have my "I voted" sticker proudly displayed on my shirt. I do it all prayerfully and with joy!

Father God, You are the author of Freedom and Liberty. You created us to live in freedom and yet, we placed ourselves in bondage to sin. It is because of You that we desire and seek freedom wherever it might be found. Thank You for allowing me to live in a country founded on the liberties You secure for us in Christ. Thank You for the process of voting. We need You to guide our hearts and our hands as we choose. We choose to rejoice in it all! Bless America today, Lord!

God Bless the U.S.A.

I am the patriotic sort of person who cries easily when hearing our "National Anthem" or "God Bless America" or any other patriotic song. I don't really know how I got that way, but I think I have a vague idea.

As I grew up I was told over and over that the U.S.A. was the greatest country in the world. My parents were grateful for the privileges and opportunities we were afforded here as citizens. Thanksgiving was birthed in me for my native land. I thus took to heart that God had placed me in a place that was rich and built on priceless treasures. These treasures were the God given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

May life flow from the spilt blood of those who gave so freely in service to the people of this great land. May life be valued from its simplest of beginings to its struggling breaths of its endings. May liberty be honored for all. May freedom build its safe and strong boundaries within each self controlled heart. And may the pursuit of happiness never be for ourselves alone but for every people and neighbor.

May our celebration of Country be filled with hope for our future. May God grant us wisdom in seeking the paths to these ageless and foundational ideals we call our own.

God Bless America!