Tag Archives: hope

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Election Results

This is NOT a prediction of who will the 2024 elections on the local, state, or national level. As someone who has personally participated in 3 elections, I refuse to predict the outcome of any election. I won my first election, lost my second, and won the third. Election results will be reported when all the ballots are counted. I do believe we have dedicated individuals working to insure the integrity of our elections. This is one of the foundations of a democracy.

I am writing this instead to share my response to the results of the election – no matter what they are.

My daughter’s friend gave me a beautiful copy of a book I treasure. In “Every Moment Holy” there are prayers that help me focus on God’s purpose in a particular activity or circumstance. The following is “For Election Day” *

Whatever the outcome of this election,
let our citizenship and our hope be rooted
first in your heavenly kingdom, that we might 
live in exile here as winsome ambassadors of our
soon-returning King - 
         always in grace loving our neighbors well.
Amen

As a follower of Jesus I take elections seriously. I pray.

  • I pray for wisdom James 1:5 “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.“
  • I pray Matthew 6:10 “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”
  • I pray that I have an attitude of humility, knowing that – “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then (when Jesus returns) we will see everything with perfect clarity.” I Corinthians 13:12

Then I read about candidates, I read articles by individuals I respect who are writing about the election, and I talk to those I respect in certain fields of work (i.e. law enforcement, lawyers, business owners, etc.) who are also seeking God’s wisdom in how to vote. I try when possible to meet local candidates personally and find out their motivation for running.

One “test” I apply is finding out if, and how, candidates have served in their communities prior to running for office. (again if possible) I think that is a significant indication of how they will serve after elected. We are electing “public servants” not people who want to further their own agendas. Jesus clearly states that he who would be the greatest among you MUST be the servant of all.

So, how do I respond once the election results are confirmed?

  1. thank God that I live in a democracy where I have the privilege to vote
  2. pray for each one elected that they will seek God’s wisdom to serve and lead – again James 1:5
  3. accept the results as the will of God who places who He chooses in authority. Romans 13:1 “Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something.“

When Phil and I were praying in 2018 about whether or not I should run in my first election, I came across the following verse while doing a Bible study I attend. Jeremiah 29:7 NLT – 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” The word peace there is “shalom” in the original Hebrew and shalom means “peace and wholeness that comes from God”. (I heard this in a recent sermon)

I felt the Lord impressed this verse on my heart for two reasons –

  1. work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you – God led Phil and I to live and raise our family in Jackson County. This is where we were “sent”, so I should work for the wellbeing of our community
  2. where I sent you into exile. My true citizenship is not in the United States, North Carolina, or Jackson County. It is HEAVEN! I am in exile here until Jesus comes back or He takes me home to heaven.

The context of this verse in Jeremiah is a time when God ALLOWED His chosen people to be captured by their enemy and sent into exile in – BABYLON!! Babylon was the epitome of godlessness in that day – yet God had Jeremiah tell His people to work for the peace and prosperity of that very place. God sent them to this pagan culture to learn a lesson they had failed to obey in the promised land.

And we complain about the state of our current culture…..which is undoubtedly of great concern – yet not compared to Babylon. God said their welfare will determine your welfare. God said that.

I am writing this two days before the election in 2024. God already knows the outcome.

My response to the results of this election will reflect if my hope and trust is really in the faithfulness of God. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Amen.

“Every Moment Holy” Volume III, For Election Day by Jessica Smith Culver & Douglas McKelvy, paragraph 3

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Hope That Doesn’t Lead to Disappointment

Back in May I wrote about the freeze that killed some of my plants and left me wondering about the viability of others. That blog post is below.

https://wordpress.com/post/ourfathersdaughters.com/5632

I love flowers and thanks to family, especially my father, and generous friends, we have a large variety of flowers that bloom in our yard year after year. Last year my various hydrangeas bloomed profusely.

  • purple (from Deanna) I gave away over 30 blooms and had vases full on our table for weeks
  • pink (rehabbed from “reduced for quick sale”) about 20 blooms
  • blue (from our daughter Salem’s first home in Virginia) too numerous to count.
  • white (here when we moved here – planted by Peggy Queen Mason) bloomed so abundantly I gave bunches away.

This year –

  • no purple
  • no pink
  • blue – just now blooming! 8 blossoms so far
  • white – lots like last year

Blue hydrangeas are my absolute favorite flower and they set their buds early in the spring. A late freeze is always a concern for these non-native perennials. A late freeze in April killed the buds on the blue, purple, and pink varieties. No blooms in late spring. Yet this year, because we have not had a freeze yet, those plants that didn’t bloom in May are blooming now. There are buds ALL over them, but most will not fully mature before a freeze sometime later this month. So, I am enjoying the few I have.

My family can attest to the disappointment I feel when my beloved hydrangeas freeze. Yet I also realize that compared to the deep sorrows many in our world are facing, frozen flowers are insignificant. All throughout our lives we will face disappointment – and worse – because we live in a broken, fallen world. Sorrow and loss are a part of living on this planet. The challenge comes then in the way I face disappointment and loss. Will I focus on the loss – what I don’t have? Will I enjoy what I do have? Will I view my adverse circumstances as barriers to following Jesus or opportunities for Jesus to meet me in the midst of my suffering? Paul wrote about this in Romans and Paul recently had experienced beatings and imprisonment!

Romans 5:4-6 NLT
4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, our ultimate salvation is assured. Jesus died and rose again and broke the power of sin and death.

That hope and assurance will NEVER lead to disappointment.

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Refuse Pile

I have spent a lot of time in the past three weeks cutting off dead parts of plants so that the new growth is not obstructed. I put all these clippings in my wheelbarrow and haul it to the edge of the yard where I throw it over the bank – out of sight. (we have 5 acres and much of it is very steep)

As I was ready to toss my latest pruning efforts, I noticed something green poking up from the refuse pile. I looked closer.

It was a peony!

Somehow I had dug up a peony tuber and thrown it over the bank. Phil and I had transplanted several plants lately but I don’t recall moving a plant near a peony – yet there it was! There were three fresh green stalks with peony leaves pushing up through the refuse pile. I carefully inched my way down to it – VERY carefully because I have a history of falling down banks that is NOT pretty. (ask my family for the gruesome details) It was easy to remove the plant from the pile because it was growing in loosely thrown leaves, stalks, etc. Apparently the tuber had all the nourishment it needed to send out those new leaves even though it was not planted in soil. Peonies are my all time second favorite flower and I treasure the peony plants I have, some given me by friends.

Here was a plant overcoming all odds and growing in a refuse pile!

I moved it to a prime location near my other peonies in good, well drained soil and watered it well. Peonies do not like to be moved, so it probably won’t bloom this year, but the leaves are looking healthy and are growing well. I had almost buried it by emptying my wheelbarrow on it.

This “peony in a refuse pile” has made me think about the times I have given up on a situation – or a person – maybe myself – and in a sense thrown it away. I have become disappointed or discouraged by someone or something and given up.

How thankful I am that God never gives up on us!

peonies from 2019

We have been studying Acts in our Community Women’s Bible study and I think about Paul who persecuted Christians even facilitating Stephen’s death by stoning. Paul was committed to destroying the TRUTH that Jesus and his followers were spreading. Yet God chose Paul to be his apostle and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all nations.

1 Timothy 1:15-17New Living Translation

15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.

Paul should have been “thrown on the refuse pile” of truth deniers. Instead God saw in him the potential of new life in Jesus. Paul chose to follow Jesus and each of us is given that same invitation. We must never give up the hope of the new life that Jesus offers.

Only God knows what will “grow” out of the refuse of our lives.

Isaiah 61:2-3

He has sent me to tell those who mourn
    that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,
    and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
3 To all who mourn in Israel,
    he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
    festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
    that the Lord has planted for his own glory.