It's Election Day, have you voted yet? I haven't, but it is only 8:45 a.m. as I type this. I'll make it out a little later. My husband voted on his way to work this morning and said he had to stand in line for 45 minutes. I'm hoping if I go a little later it won't be as long. I'm definitely going though, even though I'm pretty sure I am battling pneumonia. I have a doctor's appointment later this afternoon.
The point is, exercising my right to vote is very important to me, as it should be to every American. A chance meeting with someone I have not seen in years drove the point home last weekend. I was at a fundraising dinner and she stopped me and said "Do you remember me, Tracy?" It turned out to be someone who was in a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group I helped lead. She was only in it for a year and then moved out of state, but she remembered me because of my leadership role. She went on to explain that her time in that MOPS group impacted her so much that when she moved she looked for another group to join in her new town. When she couldn't find one, she started one. Now, because of a little ministry here in my little town, women and families in another state are being impacted for Christ. Isn't it great how God works?
Likewise, the actions we take today at the polls will have a ripple effect throughout the world. Think about that when you go to cast your vote. The decision you make in electing the leader of the free world will somehow make a difference in the lives of others around the world. Voting is that important!
No matter who wins this election, my prayer is that all Americans will rally behind the new president, and that our country, which has sadly become one nation under many gods, will unite to truly become "one nation, under God."
"1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Romans 13:1-2
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Gaining an Hour and Counting the Minutes
Hooray, daylight savings time has ended. Unfortunately, I missed out on that extra hour of sleep because we forgot to set back our clocks. I didn't realize it until after I had showered, put on my makeup and done my hair. I went to get my daughter up and she said "Why? I have an extra hour to sleep!" Bummer! I'm nursing a cold and could have really used some extra time in bed this morning.
Does anyone else feel like I do about the time change? It really annoys me, especially since they added extra weeks to daylight savings time. For about three weeks my child has to leave the house to stand at the bus stop in the dark. It just doesn't not seem to be in the interest of safety, if you ask me. And even though I do enjoy the longer hours of daylight in the summer, I really hate losing that hour in the spring.
I think we should just leave the days as God intended them. Ultimately we're all on his time anyway. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
It's not always an easy thing, being on God's time and waiting for him to act or to fulfill his promises. Moses murdered an Egyptian who was beating up on an Israelite then fled to a place called Midian. He lived there for the next 40 years, during which he became a husband, a father and a shepherd. He knew he had a higher calling from God, and complained that he felt like an alien in a foreign land. I wonder if Moses grew restless at all, waiting for God to fulfill his plans for him?
I returned two weeks ago from the Walk to Emmaus, a Holy Spirit-filled 72-hour weekend retreat, so to speak. As a member of the leadership team, every minute was jam-packed with ministry, and the whole time I knew I was living out God's call for me. I was concerned about how I would hold up physically because it is a really tiring weekend. I did get tired, but mostly it was exhilarating. Every minute of every day there is carefully timed out, and every minute counted for something important.
Since I've been home, I've gotten back into my normal routine, but there's a restlessness that wasn't there before. I know that God has a calling for me, and it's like I keep hearing him say "not now." I realize that he is growing me and molding me into the person that he designed me to be, and he is constantly humbling me and teaching me to fully rely on him. He will let me know when the time, his time, has come. It feels like I'm counting minutes, and oh how I want them to count. I just don't want to go backwards on the clock!
Does anyone else feel like I do about the time change? It really annoys me, especially since they added extra weeks to daylight savings time. For about three weeks my child has to leave the house to stand at the bus stop in the dark. It just doesn't not seem to be in the interest of safety, if you ask me. And even though I do enjoy the longer hours of daylight in the summer, I really hate losing that hour in the spring.
I think we should just leave the days as God intended them. Ultimately we're all on his time anyway. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
It's not always an easy thing, being on God's time and waiting for him to act or to fulfill his promises. Moses murdered an Egyptian who was beating up on an Israelite then fled to a place called Midian. He lived there for the next 40 years, during which he became a husband, a father and a shepherd. He knew he had a higher calling from God, and complained that he felt like an alien in a foreign land. I wonder if Moses grew restless at all, waiting for God to fulfill his plans for him?
I returned two weeks ago from the Walk to Emmaus, a Holy Spirit-filled 72-hour weekend retreat, so to speak. As a member of the leadership team, every minute was jam-packed with ministry, and the whole time I knew I was living out God's call for me. I was concerned about how I would hold up physically because it is a really tiring weekend. I did get tired, but mostly it was exhilarating. Every minute of every day there is carefully timed out, and every minute counted for something important.
Since I've been home, I've gotten back into my normal routine, but there's a restlessness that wasn't there before. I know that God has a calling for me, and it's like I keep hearing him say "not now." I realize that he is growing me and molding me into the person that he designed me to be, and he is constantly humbling me and teaching me to fully rely on him. He will let me know when the time, his time, has come. It feels like I'm counting minutes, and oh how I want them to count. I just don't want to go backwards on the clock!
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