I'm about to be tarred and feathered for what I'm about to post but - it's all truth and if people know me well enough they know I don't go "blunt" at a whim. It is time that some of the loud activists get challenged on their tone and approach to elections.
Let's start with the basics. Whoever gets the most votes wins. Period. And whoever gets less votes loses.
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 God always has a plan for bringing redemption to society but sadly, the majority of His Kids have been running from their callings, falling short on the mission God has compelled them to fulfill, and the world is suffering for it.
 Confession: My heart has been heavy the last few days. And, In moments of discouragement and frustration, it’s really easy for me to lean on the concept, “Maybe I should move out of Michigan!!” Run away! Give up! Quit trying! Obviously that is not the answer. But I find it’s okay to acknowledge my humanness and in the midst of these emotions - I also experience encouragement coming my way. Perspective is crystalized and I realize this isn’t my end -- it’s just another refining part of the journey. A CROWD OF CHEERLEADERS
I’m guessing you too often feel discouraged when trying to conquer the mountain of life and change culture. You feel like with every step forward, you take 10 steps backwards and that people who should be making the journey easier were actually making it harder. Or maybe it feels like there are more “doom and gloom” signs than signs of progress, breakthrough and justice for truth, righteousness, and holiness. At least at times. Am I right? Good. I’m not alone.  I remember being in a seminar when my boss used an analogy to make the point: there are two sides to every situation, and one’s perception of the scenario differs based on what lens they are looking through.
He held up a dollar bill to an attentive audience. “What do you see?”, he asked of a willing participant. The audience member described the pictures and details on the side of the bill he was presented. Then my boss flipped it over. “Now, what do you see?”, he asked. And - again - the observer described a set of notations and depictions. Only these were different from the first side. He summarized his point: It’s two different descriptions and perspectives, but it’s one bill. In a similar way, many occurrences or situations in life can have more than one accurate description. Oh if only we as consumers of information would embrace that point.  You have been reading the news, watching the commentators, listening to the radio, and frequenting trustworthy media sources. You are reading the prophetic voices, you are jumping on board with the calls for prayer.
You join the chorus of believers who are passionate about defending our nation, you are ready to take a stand and do something for freedom and truth, but you cannot figure out where in the world to start. You hear all the Voices saying, “people of faith must get involved! We must pray and redeem the hour!” But you sit there and scratch your head, and search your spirit pondering, “How?? Where are the specifics for how Christians can jump into the arena and change things? I don’t know what to do! And besides - can one person really make a change?” This piece is going to tell you where to start. WHO I AM Before you take anyone’s word for anything you should always find out who they are and what their experience is to begin teaching you. Side note: but even Professors. If they have not lived what they preach in the real world, scrutinize with special inquiry what they say. Therefore, before you believe what I'm about to tell you, you need to know more about me. I worked for 12 years in the Political arena. I was the Executive Director of a statewide organization and PAC that was one of the leading voices in my state for traditional family values. I also wrote the packet and oversaw the process for 17 staff during a Presidential campaign to make sure we mobilized, informed and educated church and college voters. In my non-profit work, I drove grassroots efforts, trained activists, educated voters, screened candidates, monitoring public policy, working alongside lawmakers. I wrote the manuals, I organized the trainings, and I pointed people to resources. Beyond it being a job - it was (and is) a passion for me. While I no longer work with that particular organization, I do have a passion to see that people of faith join me in the arena and do our part to stand for truth and preserve our blessed nation. You don’t have to work in Politics, but I do believe that we are called to influence the marketplace. So whether it is in media, business, government, entertainment you have a role to play. I believe that as an American, we are all called to different marketplaces and roles in society but I believe that as responsible Christians, we have a role to be responsible ChrIstian citizens. SO for example you may say, “Amy I hate politics. My passion is teaching children.” My response - awesome. I’m not saying you are called to be an elected official. But I am saying that you need to step up and utilize the right you have been given to vote and to monitor those who are making decisions for you in the marketplace. But Amy I hate politics. You are focused on the wrong thing (Forgive me for the bluntness). Politics is not for everyone but government is. Government impacts everything about us. Think I’m joking? Stop and consider it: what kind of taxes we pay on roads, how much our milk costs, what side of the street we can drive on, when businesses can open and close, when and where houses can be built, when you can get divorced, when you can see your children, when you can remove your child from school etc etc etc. It impacts everything. My concern is: as people of faith we need to be aware of and keep our eye on who is making these decisions for us. So your role is: 1. Love Jesus. 2. Do what God has called me to do in society (business owner, stay at home mom etc) and then 3. Vote and care about who my leaders are. GROUND RULES I am still learning. I don’t have all the answers. But I do have a few specific beliefs:
I could go on. But that is enough fundamentals to get started. MORE SIMPLE THAN WE KNOW Besides praying, what can we do? We can do a lot. Here are the very basics: 1 - Do you vote? And are you aware that there are elections more than once a year? Even in non-Presidential years? This means that ballot initiatives, local offices, state offices, policies are being voted on at the ballot box even when there is not a Presidential or Governor election. Every state varies. So stalk your State’s Secretary of State website. And if they don’t find what you need, call them. Also contact your local county and city clerk. Here is what you are looking for:
When it comes to voting, yes you choose a party. But even more importantly you need to understand your local governing operation. I.e. Call the City Clerk for example (or find it online) and just let them know you are working to be informed. When are the elections, etc. Disclaimer: Michigan’s website is wonderful. You can type in your address and it will generate information for me. It will tell me my specific region. Where I vote, when I vote, and what the upcoming elections are. Be prepared. As elections approach, you can get access to your ballot ahead of time and this will allow you to research the candidates. Leave yourself plenty of time. If you feel like voting is a “Job” and challenge that means you have met reality. It is not simple and it should not be simple. We are electing people who will make decisions impacting our very lives. We are choosing who gets our tax dollars, who is making decisions for our communities, and who is voting on policies that will shape us for generations to come. Be prepared and you will quickly find you can be ahead on things and you will become a go-to person for others as they look to get informed. 2 - Get to Know Your Local Area. Most of the news you hear talk about is on National and Statewide policies. But did you know that your local community more than likely has all of or some of the following (as you review the list consider - do I know these people and was I aware of their existence)?
Now, before you get overwhelmed - stop yourself. All you need to accept this moment is one thing: “where i live has local leaders that impact my life. And I need to get to know more.” Period. Congratulations. Sit on that for a couple days and come back to it. 3) Start Researching. It’s that simple. Step 1: Go to the Official Offices Go to your local Secretary of State, Local Township or City Council office and ask them to help you, based on where you live, and where you do business (if you are a business owner - where your property is located) who are your representatives. Your list of leaders will look something like this:
I know. It’s a lot. But I’m listing it out so you have an idea. But I’m telling you that you should start local. Step 2: Find Out More Now that you have their names, start to find out more about them. - Do they have websites?
Step 3: Get Personal Send an email to the leader introducing yourself. It does not have to be long or fancy but could be something as simple as this: Dear Councilwoman Smith: I have been a long time resident of this area. In the last few months I have become more convinced that I would like to be involved in my local community. I am eager to get to know the leaders who represent me, such as yourself. I am a local businessman that has been in the community for 30 plus years. I have raised my family here, have deep friendships, and I am passionate about seeing our community succeed. I would love to get to know you more. Where can I learn more about you, your policies, your beliefs? In addition, I would love to be more involved as a citizen. If you are ever in need of volunteers, or friends in the community I would love to engage with you. I realize we may not agree on everything - but that is okay. Here is my contact information if and when I can ever be of service. I look forward to attending future City Council meetings. Thank you for your willingness to serve our community. Sincerely, John Brown Find out who is your Mayor. Who is the person on the City Council that represents you? Where would your children go to school and get to know who the school board is? Send them personal emails, or call their offices for a friendly conversation. Even if you determine they stand for everything you oppose, recognize that they are the sitting elected leader for this season until the next election. So you have two choices: stay silent and sit in the background and watch things possibly not go so well or use this season to build a friendship with someone you might not normally have common ground with. But now you do. They represent you. So why not use this moment to show them the kindness of God? 4) Get out there: Seek to know, and be known. Attend meetings. Yes you CAN go sit in the back of a School board meeting. And no, you don’t have to stay the whole time. Go for 20 minutes. You won’t have to speak if you don’t want to. You can just go and listen. It’s your right as a community member. Check them out on social media. Sign up for email lists. The simple answer is start today to get involved in Your local communities. And it’s imperative to do it sooner rather than later. If you see them in the grocery store, go out of your way to introduce yourself. If they live in your neighborhood, stop by to take them homemade cookies. If you drive by their office, stop in and leave a note with the secretary: “I just wanted you to know I appreciate you and am praying for you.” Leave a thank you note to encourage them. It is good and right to know what is happening on the national, international and statewide level. But what is happening in your city council? Who is your mayor? What policies are the school board deciding on this week? And did you know that you don’t have to be an elected official to make a difference? Give the elected leaders a chance to meet you; you will also find that it will be easier than you realized to have influence in their lives. Many of them will find you to be an answer to prayer. They are bearing a heavy load and oftentimes do not have the men and women they need even as active citizens to help them do the best of jobs for your community. 5) Encourage Others to Join You It is time for more and more citizens to be inspired to take action, as well as pray. You will be amazed that people have been waiting for you to ask them to be part of changing things. Sometimes people do not know where to start but you can be that answer for them. CONCLUSION In James (James 2:14-26) it highlights that faith without action is dead. It is time that we as Christians take ourselves to task with what or how we have not been involved in our local level of society. God is a God of redemption. So while things are “burning at the top” now is our chance to rebuild things at the local level. This is our chance to be the Nehemiah's of this generation and rebuild the foundations of our society. Stay tuned for more resources. The best is yet to come. You are normal if you have a life moment that you wish you could “do over”. What is abnormal is that the wish is granted and whole families, schools, industries, towns, states and nations have the opportunity to recalibrate.
Our current culture, during the season of COVID19, is like being in the middle of a real life scene where everything is suddenly frozen in place. Except you. You strangely look at your moving hands and limbs and feel the breath in your lungs and you curiously look about: “Everyone else is frozen but I am moving.” You realize you have a chance to reposition yourself before everything comes back to life. You can move to the front of the line, you can change your position on the playing board, you can stay where you are, or you can decide, I don’t even want to be in this part of the story at all. In this season of “shut down”, all of us are given the immense privilege to ask ourselves these questions: Who is it that we want to be when we come out of this season? What priorities do we want to have when things resume some level of normalcy? How do we want to spend our time in the future? Even if it feels like it, this season of “freeze” really won’t last for forever. Before we know it we will be back on the proverbial conveyor belt of life. We may quickly lose track of what this season is teaching us unless we make intentional plans now to carry its lessons and crystalized truths forward with us. A CHANCE TO GO DEEPER I am by nature an introvert. I thrive off of alone time, quiet time, and reflective time. I love people but too much people and they exhaust me (I know, I have some people fooled as I perform really well as an extrovert). For me this shut in season, while it has caused some inconvenience and sacrifice, has had its own set of blessings. For one, it is presenting me with the moment to decide, “what is really really really important for me in the future?” What causes do I want to focus on, what clients do I want to sign with, who are the people in my life that really matter and what are the efforts around me that should take my time and what things should I forget? What personal habits am I frustrated with and therefore can put a stop to? What things am I cherishing in this “shut down time” that I want to carry with me into the future? To me, the value of the little things are crystalized: never have I so badly wanted to hug a cousin as I do in this social-distancing season. I now strangely value the ability to shake someone’s hand, or respect the opportunity to even be in a busy crowd. The significance of the human to human interaction with family - let alone strangers - is becoming real. The sanctity of the small community and going back to the basics has never been more beautiful (at least for some of us). As a millennial I have this feeling (I know, feelings are not truth but just roll with it) that we are all being given a chance to reevaluate, thinking deeper rather than broader. Let me explain. WHAT'S UP WITH OUR WORLD The western world culture is a “here and now” society: we expect a request to be granted in a snap, our attention spans are shorter than the 7 second span of a goldfish, and at times our depth of contextual insight is limited. We do not understand history in its juxtaposition to today, and for many we are simply surviving hour by hour let alone making plans for the next 20 years. These are not necessarily criticisms but statements of reality. We, at times, seem to be more focused on quantity rather than quality or appearance and perception rather than integrity and character. Society says, run as fast as you can, catch the headlines, know the most amount of people, visit the most cities, rush in sand rush out of the stories, do as many things in a day as you can (and if you don’t get enough done, feel guilty about it by the end of the day) move fast, juggle more, wear more hats, and do more things. Don’t worry about going deep but go broad, accomplish more. Sound familiar? I’m very guilty of this. We don’t encourage deep personal reflection, and to know others on a deep level is foreign, as well. We suggest that if we don’t like someone - we should stay away instead of being committed to the fellow human for - well, humanity’s sake. We look to people as to what they can do for me vs what I can offer them. We have become a shallow society vs one of depth committed to longevity. Much of my generation loves to travel (as do I!!). Younger people are eager to “move to a different town” as soon as they can, to run away from the old and the normal of growing up, to “go off to college” and not always return. To some extent, we like that we are non-committal, hesitant to marry, delaying having children, and inconvenienced if we are asked to do a structured 9-5 job. We like living “footloose and fancy-free”, having fun, exploring, and going at our own pace. Some of these preferences have value - but too much in one direction for many things and it can be dangerous. One of the things I'm becoming more keenly aware of (thanks to this season of shut down): what if we are devaluing some of the most important things in our hurry to be everywhere and any place, free, and without strings attached? What if we have been skimming the surface without committing ourselves to planting the roots deep in one place, which would contribute towards sustainability, security, and durability? By being everywhere at once, how much are we really anywhere? We pop in and out of experiences, making short lived momentary friends. We add more social media followers and online friends but how deeply are we truly known and so - in essence - we do life alone. What if one of the things we are called to value about this moment is what is around us. Who is near us. What do I have in front of me that I can value. Who are those around me that can have what I can offer, and in essence increasing their value of life quality vs just focusing on my ability to rise and survive. How many people have you heard from this COVID19 adventure who have said, “neighbors are out talking to neighbors again!” We are “having” to get to know the people that live down the street. Why? Because we have time, or we have a need, or we want to help. What if, in many ways, this shutdown is causing us to wake up to how we are supposed to be as individuals, families, societies, and communities? Yet the question remains, what choices will we make now as to how we will live differently when everything “goes back to normal”. WHAT THE OLDER GENERATION DID I’m a Genealogist nut. I love piecing together the family tree, and asking questions and discovering new names and details. Many of my family left journals and old letters behind. We have real life stories from the 1800’s and 1900’s of family members who have gone before us. They didn’t have the internet but they did have the neighbor available to help them haul milk; they didn’t have social media but they did celebrate the neighbor who came by to sit and visit; they didn’t have endless tv shows but they did have community dances. They were there to help one another with crops, barn raisings, sick family members, hostessing, sewing a dress, hanging curtains. They knew each other. They were accepted. Supported. They were in and out of one another’s homes. They were in community. They suffered because times were hard - but yet “somehow” they really thrived. My dad was just telling me, he remembers very clearly when televisions in homes became a big deal. He said his family worked so hard throughout the week, but one evening they would head for town. The kids would go to the movie and the parents would get groceries and stand around talking to community members. But he said once personal family tvs came about, things changed. People didn’t have a need to be out and about, looking for entertainment, a break from the mundane and a desire to see friends or check in on the latest town happenings. Thus the community started to crumble. No, I'm not saying, throw out your TV, or go back to sewing your own clothes, or even stay cooped up and never travel. I’m challenging all of us to recognize this season in our lives is rare, unique and it won’t come again. And it is an opportunity for us to see “hmmm, what really matters to me, truly, and what am I going to do to make it a priority in my future?” Because yes, our choices impact our future. What are the things we want to take with us, to do differently, and how do we want to live differently? I suggest America specifically is being invited to return to our roots: to make our families a number one priority. It matters more the time you spend together than the time you spend on the road to sporting events or dance recitals. It is opening our eyes to the value of the neighbor. We are supposed to look out for one another, support one another, fellowship with one another. And so what if you can make all the money in the world but have no one to spend life with? Isn’t there more to our lives than what we can achieve, conquer, and acquire? WE CAN REDEEM THE SEASON Stories are endless of the amazing Pioneers, frontiersmen and women, innovators, hard working every day Americans, who formed the foundation of our nation. They are the ones who worked from sunup to sun down, taught us work ethic, set the example for what was honor and what was irresponsibility. They showed us what loving a neighbor looked like. They sent their sons off to war, and raised their women to be strong and independent. There was a grit that existed in the older American breed that in many places does not exist today. Our current crisis is that we cannot get our hair colored as normal or that we can’t hit the golf course. In older years, the crisis for them was if the weather destroyed the crops, or the fire burned down the barn or the mother died from childbirth. They didn’t usually give in when marriage got tough. They didn’t abandon the needy family member but gave them a trailer on their property. They didn’t look the other way when someone did something disgraceful but loved them through it. Thankfully much of what they dealt with is foreign to us today but the strength of character, the focus on what mattered - livelihood, love of country, love of family, commitment to one another, having roots (a place where you belong), having a community who knew you and valued you - there is something that ran deep. We have the chance to recommit to those values - if they really matter to us. I know they do to me. I think we are capable of the same kind of commitment and grit the older Americans have demonstrated for us. I believe that we are meant to have community, to be known, supported, and have people to love. I think that the “new” America (of the future) can be better than how we entered this shut down. We have a gift: an opportunity for a reset. A chance to do over, to readjust our place on the game board, to change the rules of engagement, to recalibrate to a different north and to “start over.” But the responsibility is on you and me as to what we will choose now as to what really matters. Our nation has become wobbly, self-focused, and isolated. But this is the moment when communities can rebuild, when families can recommit and when individuals can realize that what really matters is not what’s out there but what’s right here. It’s highly likely we will never be given this chance for a do-over again. But may future generations look back on us and say, this particular reset in America was a gift. It made all the difference. Hang in there. Better days are yet ahead.
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