Tag: government

What Can We Do?

This week I rolled out of bed when my alarm went off, grabbed my phone, scrolled through email, Facebook and the news (my version of a shot of caffeine for jerking myself awake). And then read that Ukraine had been invaded by Russia. I woke my husband up to tell him the news. And then sat there feeling numb. 

Now what? What does this mean for all the people in Ukraine? What does this mean for Russia? What does this mean for our country and the whole world? 

War. The ugliest word in human language. 

I have been trying to keep up with the news. I’ve been praying a lot. I’m starting to see ads pop up asking for money donations to help the coming refugees who are fleeing the war. And my cynicism pokes through. How many of these sites are legitimate? Who do I trust? Yes, I can send a little bit of money, but who do I send it to? 

I’ve seen videos of protests, people singing the Ukrainian national anthem. Most of this is taking place in Europe. Understandably. And I’m starting to see a bit of the guilt-throwing starting to happen. All you happy people sitting by, doing nothing, while others are suffering. Shame on you. 

And I wonder, what can we do? I have lost all hope that my government is interested in hearing my opinion. And I feel like I am just helplessly sitting by, waiting for the people with power to figure out what to do. 

I wish there was a checklist. This is the human response required when war breaks out in the world. 

  1. Do x
  2. Do y
  3. Do z

And then we would all know what we are supposed to be doing and we could go about doing it. But it doesn’t exist. And so we each have to figure out what we are required to do. The people in Ukraine have a totally different set of tasks they have to do as compared to people in the nieghboring countries, as compared to people in Russia, as compared to people in authority, as compared to people far away with no authority. 

And so, as with all things, we each have to figure out for ourselves, what we can do to help. And pray for those who have more power or opportunities to help. 

If I had the power to stop this war, I would. If I was close at hand and had any opportunity to help those in need, I would. As it is, I have a little money I can send to help refugees. I can pray. And I can continue to keep my eyes and ears open to see if there is anything else I can do. 

Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell? I humbly crave,

Let me once know.

I sought thee in a secret cave,

And ask’d, if Peace were there,

A hollow wind did seem to answer, No:

Go seek elsewhere …

George Herbert “Peace”

What is Your Calling?

Today is cleaning day, and shopping day, and laundry day, and remodel the upstairs bathroom day. It’s busy. I am pacing myself. Or at least that’s what I told my husband when he walked into our room and caught me reading a book. Pacing! Honest! 

I have found in this marathon called life, I have to go slow and steady. So, I had already cooked breakfast for the family, cleared the table, taken two daughters with me and done a week’s worth of grocery shopping, came home, unloaded the car, supervised groceries being put away, checked to make sure that the kids’ bedrooms got cleaned…it was time for a break. And eventually, I put the book down, supervised lunch, got that cleaned up, set everyone to work on cleaning their “zones” (everyone gets a room or area that they have to clean), checked progress on that, and now, it’s time for a break again. 

This kind of leads into what I’ve been thinking about. How should we let the chaos in our country affect our everyday lives? 

I’ve been observing on social media the different ways that people have been responding to the recent chaos. Some people have completely withdrawn. Deleted their accounts, either to set up in a new place or be done with it once and for all. Some people are ignoring the situation completely, posting fun memes and things designed to uplift the soul. (I appreciate these posts!) Some people are sharing intelligent articles or essays that explain their positions in well thought-out prose. And some people are just very angry and it leaks out in everything that they say and post. 

In the last couple years, I have made it a point to tell my kids that it’s ok to be angry. Being angry is normal. Sometimes things happen that deserve our anger. But, you have to be careful what you do with your anger. You need to find a safe way to vent your anger that doesn’t hurt other people. Mockery, derision, name-calling, screaming, hurting…these are not appropriate ways to deal with your anger. Or at least, that’s what I tell my kids. I sometimes kind of want to tell other people that too. 

All of us are different. We all have different callings on our lives. I think this is a really good time to have an understanding of what God has called you to do. Are you a protector, an educator, a prophet, a nurturer, a peacemaker? A politician? We all have our callings. Me? My day job is a homemaker. I am a peacemaker by nature. I seem to have an inclination towards interceding through prayer. I try to encourage people through my blog. I keep an eye on what’s happening on the political scene. I write letters to my representatives about issues that are important to me. 

I have come to the conclusion that the things that are happening in Washington DC are not in my sphere of influence. While I continue to pray for our country, LORD! Your kingdom come! Your will be done! I have not felt led to join a political party or try to convince other people to join my way of thinking. I have not been put in a position to affect the federal government in any way except through prayer and my vote, and an occasional letter to my Senator or Representative. That’s me. Everyone is different. 

My sphere of influence includes my family of eleven children. My husband. My home. The social workers and various therapists and lawyers I have met on our fostering journey. The teachers and staff at my kids’ schools. My church family. My blogging audience. My social media friends. This is the circle God has put me in. This particular circle does not need to hear my views on Trump and Biden. They need to hear that I love them, respect them, care for them. They need to hear that Jesus is always the answer. They need to hear that I am present in their lives and that I hope that I can help them in some way. 

This is my calling. 

So, how do I let the chaos in government affect my life? More time in prayer, and then focus on doing my calling to the best of my ability. It’s all I can do. 

Life Feels Fragile

This afternoon I was at the park with the kids. A beautiful winter afternoon, blue skies. Warm enough that the kids could run around, cold enough that I was still wrapped up in a jacket. My phone started ringing. I looked down and the caller ID said it was one of the kid’s schools. My heart rate immediately went up. Are they calling to say, don’t come to school tomorrow, we’re doing virtual instead? 

Fortunately, it was just routine announcements, except sports are now only allowed to have immediate family members in attendance. 

I have been getting the same elevated heart rate every time I see an email from our Superintendant, or any school official ID pops up on my phone. 

It’s not a fun way to live. 

Our schools seem determined to stay open, for which I am thankful, but it is a shaky, fragile thing. We’ll stay open, as long as we have teachers, staff, enough students, we don’t hear otherwise from local or state officials…

We did one week of virtual school before school let out for Christmas break. My two kids, whom I have been homeschooling, got a significantly less amount of school done that week. My high schoolers were fine. My 5th and 4th graders were fine. The second grader was often baffled by technology and time schedules. She took it personally when she wasn’t able to get into a planned meeting. “They won’t let me in!! Nobody likes me! They don’t want me in the class!” 

I, unfortunately, wasn’t able to give the second grader the amount of help she needed because I was busy dragging the first grader out from under tables, or chasing her down, or trying to get hold of her teacher because she had purposefully hit the Send button on unfinished assignments because she simply didn’t want to do them. 

We are diligently working with all the professionals necessary to see if this particular child has some learning differences that make school more difficult for her. But whether these exist or not, I do know, without a doubt, that virtual school is not the right answer for her education. If, for some reason, our schools needed to switch to virtual, I have a feeling that we would all be better off if I simply enrolled her in straight-up homeschooling. And so I feel this sense of limbo, what is this year going to look like? 

I’m feeling that way about a lot of things. Our government has some important stuff happening tomorrow, and right now, I don’t think anyone knows how it’s all going to turn out. 

The spread of the virus is constantly in the news. I have now had several people I know personally affected. A vaccine is being touted as the cure to end the pandemic, but I am not convinced. On many counts. 

We are all so happy to be out of 2020, but nobody knows how this new year is going to turn out either. Life feels fragile. 

And so, I put one foot in front of the other. I do what I know to do. Take care of my family. Take care of our home. Try to keep my focus on God and his power and wisdom, instead of the chaos that surrounds us. Take deep breaths. Let them out slowly. Read my Bible. Turn on the worship music. Try to be kind. Gentle. Keeping in mind that everyone else is operating in this same fragility. 

Thoughts From a Bewildered American

I have been paying a bit more attention to the news lately. Not my most-favorite thing to do. I tend to ignore the news, avoid it as much as possible. I hate all the in-fighting of our politics. I hate the fact that I no longer feel like I can trust any of the news services, as they all seem to be reading off the same propaganda sheet, one for the left, one for the right. My cynicism tells me that everything the news says needs to be taken with a grain of salt. 

 

And then there is the upcoming Presidential election to look forward to. I have friends who love Donald Trump. They hail him as the only person who can fix our country, and are full of praise for the things he has accomplished so far. Then I have friends who despise Donald Trump. He is a dangerous, foolish, racist, untrustworthy, white supremist, nationalist who deserves the death penalty. Can anyone say Polarized Politics? 

 

Just to give you an idea of where I stand, I took one of those tests that tell you where you are on the political spectrum. I was dead center in the middle. Not republican. Not democrat. There are lots of things from both parties that I like and lots of things from both parties that I don’t like. 

 

I don’t think I am alone in finding myself stuck in the middle. Yes, there are some things Trump has done that I agree with. Probably the biggest one has been his helping to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization whose roots began in eugenics, with the specific desire to eliminate the black race. It has now turned into a billion dollar industry that sells body parts of aborted babies for money. So, yes, Yay Trump. On the other hand, I find his constant Tweets to be very embarrassing to read, not the level of diplomacy and maturity that I would expect from a President. Not to mention a bunch of other things he’s done that I don’t agree with.

 

But then I look at the up and coming Democratic Candidates and it makes me shake in my boots. So far, every single one of them has said that they support late-term abortion. If an adult can look me in the face and tell me that they think it’s ok to violently kill a baby that, if allowed to be born, could live a full life…if that person can tell me to my face that they believe that there is nothing wrong with that…how on earth can I trust this person to rule our country in a way that would line up with my morals or my world view? 

 

So, what is a person supposed to do? I look at our government and from my small perspective, it looks broken. It looks like a humongous, gigantic, enormous machine that is running at full steam, bulldozing over anything that gets near it, and it doesn’t work any more, and there isn’t anyone to shut it down and fix it. I am beyond believing that we just have to vote in the right candidate and he/she will fix everything. I don’t think it can be done. Look at Trump. According to his supporters, he’s fixing things. Look at how much resistance he has. They’re trying to impeach him for heaven’s sake. If Trump is supposed to be our “Saviour” then I think we should all be getting worried about now. 

 

I feel very much like I am in a position of No Power. Yes, I can vote. But, even if my vote actually counts for something, I don’t even know how to cast my vote. Last election my choices were Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. Hilary is tied to one of the biggest coincidences in history: anyone who has had dirt against her or her family has somehow had a sudden urge to commit suicide or somehow got involved in a fatal vehicle accident. Not exactly who I want to be my President. Then there is Donald Trump. Someone who’s public character and personality are the kind that I point to as an example to my children of what Not to Be. I went to the polls last election and ended up not casting a Presidential Vote because I couldn’t put my name next to either candidate. 

 

So, what do we do? While my Trump supporters will continue to support him, and my loyal Democrat friends will vote for their candidate, what about the rest of us? The people who don’t associate themselves with either Republican or Democrat…Are we resigned to simply watch, helpless observers, as our country continues to fall more apart? After all, history has proven that Third Party Candidates don’t seem to ever have a chance. 

 

This is one of those posts where I don’t have an answer. Just a bunch of questions from a Bewildered American. 

 

(I know this is a political post, I would love to hear your comments…let’s just keep it polite!)