DISCLAIMER: Please understand that everyone is processing what has happened in this country. Everyone reacts differently to change. Some people react more gently, some get angry, some cry, some throw raging parties, some celebrate quietly with their families, some are in shock, some need to process, some don’t want to talk, some want to talk to everyone they see, some will joke about it, some will remove themselves completely from it all. And that has to be okay. Friends, we have to let each other process the change that is coming for this nation. Writing just happens to be my way of processing, but I ask that as you allow me to blog, you allow others to take the steps they need to deal with  the same information. 

I honestly couldn’t have told you that I would have this reaction to the results of the 2016 Presidential election. 

I honestly cannot tell you exactly how I feel either.  

I cannot tell you what I expected to happen, because I do not know.

I cannot tell you how I would have reacted if the results had been different. 

I cannot tell you how the world would have reacted if the results had been different. 

I can tell you that I have been more moved by this election than any other politics in my entire 28 years of life. 

I can tell you that when I saw two beautiful black teenage girls walking to school on my way to work on Wednesday morning, I cried real, genuine tears for them. 

I can tell you that my heart sinks thinking about the future of this country. 

I can tell you that for me the sadness, confusion, and emotion is NOT about the man who has been elected as our next president, but rather about what the idea of him has awoken in the hearts of certain people across the nation. 

Seeing photos and videos of CHILDREN inciting racist, white supremacist, hateful ideals in their schools breaks my heart in a way I did not know that it could. 

Hearing stories of human beings – real people – being harassed in public places because they are not white or straight or “normal” absolutely confounds me. 

For me, it’s not about a man who was elected president. I can accept that and trust in the system of checks and balances that our country has set in place. While I do not understand the draw to him and his platforms, I am trying. 

Instead, it’s about what he represents in the hearts and minds of people who have found a new shiny, outspoken outlet to spew their hateful thoughts and actions. 

It’s about the people. The human beings. God creation. People on all segments of the spectrum. My heart cries to the Lord for them, because I feel the Lord crying for them. 

I feel Him crying for the women being harassed. 

I feel Him crying for the Hispanic boy being tucked in by his mother as they weep together for fear of living in THEIR country. 

I feel Him crying for the Somalian family afraid of how long they will be able to continue to live in the “land of the free”. 

I feel Him crying for the people shouting hate for the president elect and his followers. 

I feel Him crying for the people expelling animosity for those that are different than themselves. 

And He has broken my heart for them. All of them. All people from every segment of the spectrum. 

My heart. Me. Someone who has often abhorred politics and stayed far from them. 

But I have put my hope on the Lord. Our help comes from Him. Our strength is in Him. Our God. Our king. 

The One who is sovereign over us. All of us. 

If you’ve made it to the end of this blog post, thank you. I love you. Not because of where you land on the spectrum of this political debate, but in spite of it. I love you because God first loved us and sent His son to die for me and for you. 
Amen by I Am They: https://youtu.be/txwm368ViHM