Can't believe it

Usually my kids have either an English muffin, bagel, oatmeal, or cold cereal for breakfast. This morning Oliver ate some pretzels then baby carrots and then a peanut butter and jelly sandwich A very nontraditional breakfast, but as long as he didn't ask for something sweet, I was going to say "yes" because he hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday (and he had thrown up around dinner time last night). Yesterday it took him all morning to eat his breakfast (a bagel), which I didn't understand until I discovered later in the day that he had a fever. But this post really isn't about Oliver. I feel compelled to write about the election. I again am putting out a disclaimer that this is a political post (so please don't read it if my political opinions offend you). If Hillary had won, I wouldn't be writing a political post today, but surprisingly that is not what happened. If any Hillary supporter is still reading this, let me say first of all I feel your pain. I remember how I felt when Obama was elected the last two elections. Some people view the parties as if they are sports teams and you are cheering for your "team," but I don't like that analogy because in this case both sides are hopefully working toward the same goal (the benefit of our country) even though we may have very different views on how to accomplish that. Hopefully now that the election is over we will all hope that Trump will be a good President whether we voted for him or not (I didn't). Secondly, if any of you are feeling really disappointed that we didn't end up with our first woman President, I too would like to see us have a woman President, but naturally I'd rather see it be someone who is far more conservative that Hillary (and also someone who hasn't broken as many laws as she has). Thirdly, since for much of his life Trump was a Democrat (and not that long ago gave Hillary money toward her campaigns), it's quite possible that we have elected a Democrat in Republican clothing. Time will tell.

Yesterday was the seventh time I participated in a Presidential election. In 1992 and 1996 I voted for the Republican candidates, and Bill Clinton won both elections. Paul and I started dating in 1997, and he shifted me towards a "vote your conscience" position rather than "vote for the lesser of two evils" position. I don't remember whom I voted for in 2000, but I know I didn't vote for Bush in 2004 (went with a third party) even though I was hoping he would defeat Kerry. In 2008 and 2012 we both went to the "lesser of two evils" position and voted Republican. In 2016 I voted third party, and Paul voted for the lesser of two evils. It was his eighth election, I know he voted for Ross Perot in 1992. Up until a couple of weeks ago Paul had planned to vote third party in this Presidential election, but as more came out about Hillary, he decided to vote against her (he couldn't bring himself to say he was voting for Trump). Although I understood his logic and agreed that Trump was the lesser of two evils, I just couldn't bring myself to vote for him. Of course voting the lesser of two evils greatly increases your odds of actually voting for someone who wins the election, which is what happened to Paul this year (maybe his first time of having that happen for the Presidential election?). In all the other races this year I voted Republican, which means that at least two of the candidates I voted for did win.

Early in the primary process I thought that the Republicans would have a shot at winning the election because I didn't view Hillary as a strong candidate. Her personality isn't as likable as Obama and carried a lot of baggage from her time as Secretary of State plus a little more baggage from her husband (defending him rather than his rape victims). But when I realized Trump was probably going to win the nomination, then I thought that meant Clinton would easily win the election even though our country seems to have established a pattern of going back and forth between Republican and Democrat Presidents every 4 or 8 years. I thought Trump was the easiest candidate to defeat because of his temper, inability to control his tongue, mistreatment of women, huge ego, waffling on the issues, the fact that he owned strip clubs and casinos, etc. I also have felt like the Media (news stations, Hollywood, etc.) have been in the bag for the left and that might make it almost impossible for a conservative to win. All that to say I truly was shocked to discover this morning that Trump had won. I think many that voted for him did so because like Paul they were more focused on preventing Hillary (who makes Nixon look like a saint in comparison) from becoming President than that they actually liked Trump. One friend told me she felt like she was going to throw up when she voted for him. It is sad to me that our choices were so despicable that people felt they had no choice but to vote for someone who literally makes them feel sick to their stomach. Paul stayed up until 1:30 am. I am not sure if he knew that Trump won when he went to bed, but I am sure he found out when he was driving to work at 4:45 am.

As I told the boys the news at 6:30 am when they came in to my bedroom, I said we need to PRAY earnestly for Mr. Trump, and we three prayed together right there in my bed for him. I have prayed from time to time for the Presidents over the past four decades, but I truly hope this time that I can be more faithful in praying for Trump. I am praying that God would surround him with wise advisers. I am praying that Trump will learn to control his temper, think before he speaks, show more kindness and respect to people, and actually keep some of the promises he made while campaigning - in particular to appoint a pro-life candidate to the Supreme Court. When Scalia died earlier this year, I thought it was pointless for the Republicans to try to delay the appointment of his replacement because I was assuming Hillary would win and there wouldn't be much difference between whomever Clinton or Obama would appoint. Now I am glad that they delayed the process because it gives Trump the opportunity to pick someone similar to Scalia. If Hillary had been elected, we would have had a very good idea as to what she would have done in office. She has been in politics for decades and hasn't waffled on the issues. Trump has been all over the map on many issues so it's hard to know if he'll actually do things in keeping with the Republican platform or not. His choice of Pence was very encouraging. I hope that wasn't just to get people to vote for him. I hope he will make choices like that once he's in office. Time will tell.

Recently the kids and I started praying more regularly for the three children that we sponsor in other countries. I am not planning on making any New Year resolutions this year, but as of  November 2016 I am trying to establish a new habit with my children that every day we will pray for Trump (and others in various levels of government) and also for our three children that we sponsor. It says in the Bible that we are to pray for those in authority so that we may live a peaceful life, and certainly those in government in Rome at the time when the New Testament was written were far worse than any President we've ever had in America. God is in control no matter who is the President.

I had told the kids yesterday evening that we'd probably have to cancel our plans to go to the Children's Museum today because of Oliver's bug, but it seems it was just a 24 hour bug. When I saw he had resumed eating, was playing, and had no fever at 10:00 am, I decided we could go. He did sleep in the van on the way there, but all three kids had fun. The homeschool hangout theme today was "Make it, Take it." At one table they were painting masks, at another making foam turkeys, making fossils, LED light flowers, leather tooling with a hammer, wood burning, building a circuit, etc. Then they played in the museum for about an hour before we left. So far it seems that no one else has come down with whatever Oliver had thankfully. Although I didn't like to see him feeling so miserable, I did enjoy the extra time holding and snuggling with him on the couch yesterday.