Politics

I hate politics. I really do. I can't stand the stress and confrontation and ugliness and hatred that comes from them. It irks me that people can't just stand up and say, "This is what I believe" without tearing down the person running against them. I don't like that issues are reduced to black and white, when we know that there are so MANY shades of grey in between.

In case you can't tell, I am very glad that this election is over. I am not super thrilled with who won, but I don't know that I would have been thrilled if the other candidate had won, either.

I think that at least for a while, the change will be good. A majority of Americans have found a leader they feel confident in. One they feel is going to "make everything better." And if nothing else, he has instilled hope in people. He has succeeded in getting a record number of people to take interest in the country and to get out and vote.

I hope that he makes good on his promise to unify the parties. I am comforted in the fact that he has young children and that he is trying to do what he thinks is going to create a safe world for his girls. There are some of his policies that I cannot and will NEVER agree with. And unfortunately those things were big enough to me that I voted against him, despite agreeing with him on other issues.

But despite my mixed emotions tonight, I am above all grateful to live in a country where for better or worse, we choose our own fate. We put our leaders in power, we tell them what we want them to do, and then we live with the consequences of those choices. Obama has a chance to do great things. He has a chance to bring people together, to strengthen this nation. He's got four years to do it. If he fails, we get to pick someone else. I honestly hope that he can do it.

But whether or not he is successful, I am comforted in my knowledge and testimony that this is a blessed nation. That our Heavenly Father is mindful of us. That we have been warned of and told to prepare for a time when our Constitution will dangle by a thread. Whether that time is now remains to be seen. I am going to focus on the positives. I am going to continue to try to strengthen my family. I am going to continue to pray for the leaders of our nation, that they will be led by the hand of God to do what is right and best for our country. And I am going to go eat a piece of Halloween candy in celebration of the fact that I don't have to hear another political ad for at least another two years.