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Don't forget to vote on Tuesday!!

How do you repay them?

So on election day there were at least 56 different pictures on Facebook of soldiers with a caption along the lines of, "Don't forget to vote. They died so you could." Actually, not just soldiers, but pictures of suffragettes and others as well. People for whom expressing their opinion and knowing that they could have an impact on the leadership and direction of our country was so important that they were willing to be mocked, to be beaten, to be tortured, and finally to be killed. Their blood and sweat, their tears and agony, all given willingly so that you could step up to a flimsy plastic desk, surrounded on three sides by cardboard, and color in some ovals to indicate your choice for President, Senator, Representative, Governor, or Judge.

I've heard many comments today about the poor quality of the candidates available. I've been frustrated myself to see some seats where only one candidate was available to select from. What if that one candidate is unacceptable? I wonder how those who suffered so that we could vote would feel about us saying, "It doesn't really matter - it's the lesser of two evils." I wonder what they would think of the fact that so few intelligent, thoughtful, reasonable, and sensible candidates make it on to the ballot.

If there are only two evils available on the ballot, who do we have to blame but ourselves? I know personally, aside from voting in the primaries, I've done nothing to promote and help the candidates who I truly believed in early on in this contest. Would there be a better choice on the ballot if I had helped support another candidate?

How does this relate to our Christian faith? The obvious common thread is that Christ suffered and died for us and we ought to live our lives in a manner worthy of His sacrifice. But let's go beyond the basics of salvation and sanctification. For those of us who are citizens of the United States of America, God has gifted us with a unique privilege historically. A brief study of our history makes it clear that this nation could not have emerged without Divine providence - a fact witnessed to by most of the founding fathers. Although the freedoms we enjoy today were not achieved for many until fairly recent decades, today all citizens have the right to vote unless they have abdicated the right through commission of a felony. God has placed you and I (fellow citizen) in a time and place where we have an unparalleled authority to determine the direction and priorities of our government.

Working together, we CAN undo the mess that our government is currently in. A mess that is not the fault of any one party, but of an ideology found on both sides of the aisle. An ideology that says, "What's in it for me?" John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." But Americans have been either too busy asking for handouts or too wrapped up in their own personal challenges to consider this question for the past fifty years.

What can I do for my country? I can pray for my country. It's been said, "Once I've prayed, I can do anything, but until I've prayed, I can do nothing." Nothing has the power to impact this country more than prayer. Second Chronicles 7:14 states emphatically, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Notice that this verse also informs us that there is a prerequisite to prayer: Humble ourselves. We cannot pray until we recognize our NEED to pray. We can't see our need while we are thumping our chest and bragging of being the greatest nation on earth. We must recognize that we are who we are, as a person, as a church, and as a nation, only by the grace of Almighty God. If the current quandary doesn't move us to humility, I'm not sure what will.

The next two actions we can take are also spelled out in this verse, "seek His face and turn from their wicked ways." When the Bible speaks of seeking God's face, it is significant that we are to seek His face and not His hand. This is not about looking for a hand out. This isn't about asking God to bless our wayward, self-centered, 'all-about-me' behavior. It is about seeking His approval by turning from the things that we know displease Him. Wonder what those things are? He left instructions in the Bible.

If we all did these simple things - what a huge impact it would have! But let's go even beyond that. Let's assume that as believers, we are humbling ourselves, we are praying and seeking to honor God with our words, thoughts and actions. What next?

Stay tuned...I'll have some concrete suggestions tomorrow. :-)

Overcoming with God Interview

Stop by Overcoming with God and read my interview with Carrie Fancett Pagels about contributing to God's Provision in Tough Times. Follow Overcoming with God for even more stories of God's overcoming power in the lives of his followers.

http://cfpagels.blogspot.com/2013/07/interview-with-felicia-bowen-bridges.html?showComment=1373825698346#c7828614729232938590

Process vs. Product

 “We have very different ideas of what it means to take a vacation. We always have.”

My husband’s words weren’t spoken in anger or judgment, but with resignation and a hint of frustration that we couldn’t see eye-to-eye on something so basic after twenty-five years of marriage.

The words reverberated through my head all week. How did we see vacation differently? Why was it so different? What was at the core of my definition of ‘vacation’?

God revealed something about myself through this pondering of the concept of vacation. I am achievement-oriented. I reject the label of ‘over-achiever’ because that implies routine success at achieving your goals and I would say, more often I have attained a ‘B’ – above average, but not quite there. I’ve always liked the idea of being achievement-oriented. Over the years, this focus has served me well in school, college and career. I have set my sights on the goal at hand and worked hard to achieve that goal – or at least something close to the goal. So why shouldn’t I apply the same goal-setting, task-planning, and dogged-determination to our family vacations?

God’s been talking to me a lot lately about relationships. How do we build them? How do we maintain and protect them from damage? What makes a healthy one and what is my responsibility for contributing to that?

Relationships aren’t about achievement. We don’t ‘win’ by getting married or creating a lifelong friend.

Relationships are about process. They are about the things you say and do on a daily basis that convey your commitment and your love for that person. You don’t ever reach the finish line. There’s no wreath of flowers around your neck, no gold medal, no winner’s trophy.

Being achievement-oriented is not very helpful to building relationships since there's no tangible goal to achieve. There’s just another day for us to forgive, serve, be vulnerable, trust, forgive again, and keep on working to build the relationship up. The more we put in to the relationship, the more joy and satisfaction we experience in it, whether it is our relationship with members of our family or with God.

God isn’t interested in us crossing a finish line, with Him waving a checkered flag and handing us a trophy – unless you consider the ultimate achievement to be passing from this earth! As long as we live, God is interested in the process, not the product. He meets us where we are and desires for us to grow – not to reach some brass ring of spirituality – but to build a relationship with Him. It’s a daily process of asking forgiveness, serving others, being vulnerable and trusting God. And asking His forgiveness again. Each day we must work to build the relationship. Not to earn salvation –that is a gift, not a prize to be won – but to grow closer to God just as we work to grow closer to our spouse or our friends.

I’m embracing the idea of re-defining vacation. Instead of planning an activity-filled, stress-inducing, marathon of family madness – I am going to sit in a hammock, read a book, and enjoy the breeze blowing off the lake as the sun sets on the water.

How about you? What’s your definition of vacation?