A New Era

Right now, it's on everyone's minds and is the center of conversations across the country: the election, and President Elect Barack Obama. I, for one, have mixed feelings about the results of this controversial and historic election. In the words of John Wayne, "I didn't vote for him, but he's my president... and I hope he does a good job." The Bible says that we should respect our authorities, and I plan to. However, I can't help but feel a little disappointed to have, in essence, lost. This was only my second time voting in a presidential election, and I have voted Republican both times. I must say, it feels strange to have voted for the losing side. Sort of feels like a let-down.Even so, I sincerely hope that Barack Obama is a great president. I hope he proves me wrong. I hope he is able to pull our economy up by its bootstraps and accomplish some great things in the next four years. Sure, I worry about his "share the wealth" idealism, which has obviously not worked out for other countries in the past. I also worry about what will happen with the wars we are currently fighting, and hope that Biden's experience with foreign policy will be just what we need. And yes, as a Christian I worry about the morality of our country under such a radical presidency. A lot of what Obama says simply sounds too good to be true. The fact is, you just can't please everybody.

I should mention that it is, indeed, historic for the United States to have elected its first African American president. We are moving forward in a lot of ways, and that's awesome. I'm not trying to cheapen the magnitude of that huge milestone in our country. All I'm saying is, Barack Obama is not a messiah. I'm just being realistic. The U.S. has fallen into some awful circumstances in the past few years, and by winning, he has inherited a huge mess. It's going to take time, people. Even if he does have some good ideas, it's not over yet.

At the moment I am still a bit in shock, and have to spend some time processing the implications of Obama's win. In the meantime, I will be praying for our country, and holding out hope that America under Obama will change for the better.

Love and Lattés,

Katie