And where would those political posts be?

A few months ago I posted that I was planning on blogging about politics during the presidential race. I know you all held your breathe and were greatly disappointed. Some of you have e-mailed to ask where all the political posts were, so I thought I owed you all an explanation. As I wrote in my post a few months ago, I am very passionate about politics. I love to discuss candidates, parties and platforms. I love that we live in a country where we have that freedom. It is an amazing gift. So I was getting right into my fired up political mind set – Obama sign in the front yard, and a pin on my purse – when I sat down in church and heard a sermon from our pastor about politics and faith. It was not one of those "go vote this way" sermons, it was essentially about keeping our eyes on Christ this election season. One thing he said really pulled at my heart. He asked, Who do people know you to be? Basically, what is the label you wear? Democrat? Republican? Doctor? Mother? Activist? Independent? Farmer? Teacher? I don't know about you, but don't want any of those labels to be who I am known as. I don't want to be known as Wendy the Democrat. Sure, I'm a democrat, but that's not who I am.

Daughter of the King
Servant of Christ
Follower of Jesus Christ
Christian

Those would be the labels that matter to me. So when I thought of writing about my political views and sending one more piece of ideology into your inbox this Fall, I just couldn't do it. We all heard enough pundits, didn't we? We all received enough flyers, postcards, spam and robocalls without me adding to your daily deluge. I don't honestly believe that writing about politics would have swayed anyone's vote, but what it could have done was take my eyes off what I set out to do in this blog. It would have turned my blog into a space of division and controversy amongst sister of Christ, instead of being a place where you can sit down with a cup of coffee and be (hopefully) encouraged in life. It would have been just another political e-mail that annoyed 50% of its readers.

Now we have all cast our votes, and the nation has made its representative selections, our challenges continue much the same. As parents the work continues whether it be keeping peace between offspring or guiding our children toward a living faith. As women, we continue to find that elusive state of balance (sorry to leave my approximately 5 male readers out). As Christians we continue to serve and worship our amazing God more fully. I hope that by making the choice not to blog about politics we can move on together as a community of readers seeking to celebrate our friends, family and faith more fully. And if you really, really think I should have blogged about politics – don't worry, I am sure the next presidential cycle will start in about 20 months!

One last reminder ...

Unless you live under a rock, you know today is election day. Tonight the phone calls, mailers and commercials will finally end, and America will have made huge decisions that will effect our state and federal government. Frankly, as Americans we will make choices that change the world today. I hope you will take the time to go and vote. It's our privledge, our honor and our responsibility to do so. So go vote!

Planning for Peace ….

While our jack –o-lantern was starting to decompose outside, Pete and I sat down this weekend to have our holiday season chat. I know your kids are probably still clinging to the ceiling from too much candy, and the thought of Christmas is a bit nauseating, bit stick with me here. A few years ago I realized that if I didn't start planning for the holiday season early, and I do mean early, then the whole month of December looked like a hectic grumpy mess and afterwards I felt like I had missed it. So Pete and I sat down this weekend to look at the last two months of the year and plan out what has got to get done and also what we want to do for fun. First we put on our calendars our obligations – holiday meals, birthdays, and family visits. Then we made a list of the holiday related work that needs to get done; decorating, shopping, cards, and some major cleaning before his mother and grandmother join us for Thanksgiving. Looking at our to do list we figured out how much time each of us will need and then plugged into the calendar two work days when I will hire a sitter or set up play dates so we can get it all done. There were some house projects that we would like to get done, but they are not absolutely necessary, so they came off the list for this year. Last, but definitely not least, we made a list of the fun things we want to do with the girls this holiday season. We looked up the dates for our local Christmas parade, the zoo's holiday light event, and local museums family holiday days. Looking at how full our calendar already was, we realized we needed to pick just two events. We chose the zoo and the parade and we blocked off those evenings on the calendar.

Does this seem ridiculously type A? Believe me, I am not naturally type A! There is a bigger picture here. I want our holiday season to have meaning. I want Pete and I to be thoughtful about what we do with our children during this time of year, because it is just so easy to make December an exhausting whirlwind. I want us to be on the same page, so that our priorities are the same, not one of us thinking we'll be finishing our basement this month and the other one assuming we'll be going to all of the wonderful holiday season festivals around town. This is our first step in planning for a peaceful holiday season.