It Matters!

By Paula Miller

As the candidates are ramping up their campaigns to become President of the United States, we can readily see where the major battles are going to be.  Essentially, it’s the same battle as always.  It’s a battle for the preservation of freedom in various formats.  It’s important to keep on top of these issues as they affect us all.

These battles reminded me of the first letter of Peter.  The converted Christians being addressed in 1 Peter were once part of the pagan culture and were being severely persecuted for their beliefs.  Peter makes the correlation, in chapter 3, to Noah and his family and how they were ostracized from their community.  How foolish Noah and his family must have been perceived to be for building that enormous boat, when the world hadn’t even experienced rainfall yet!  Ah, but the Lord’s grace and mercy brought them safely through the flood and it was Noah’s family who began repopulating the earth while those naysayers and ostracizers were dead in their transgressions.

Peter would have us rejoicing in our affliction for it strengthens our faith, and this letter, along with its companion 2 Peter, can give us insight on martyrdom and Christian persecution.  Does it feel like as a Christian these days you have a target on your back? So much of what our culture saw as normal for decades has been changed in this century.

It can oftentimes feel to those in the front lines of the cultural battles that they are being persecuted for their Christian beliefs.  The second letter of Peter speaks to girding and growing as Christians and can be quite useful for prayer and consideration when faced with the changes in our society.

With the vivid images from the many Planned Parenthood atrocities so recently in the news, along with the various battles on Christian values and beliefs concerning how they implement those in their businesses, it may seem as if we are in a futile fight within our culture.  So much has changed in these last decades…or has it?

Also, there are entire Christian communities in the Middle East and Africa that are literally being wiped out.  It is hard to image the challenges they face, and I find it incredibly admirable for those who hold so steadfast to their faith even to the point of death.  May God give them peace as they hold resolutely to their faith in such circumstances.

How our country intends to deal with those domestic and foreign issues mentioned above, and other issues, are of utmost importance.  That’s why who hold the office and their ideas and philosophy on how to execute them are important.  The election next year will affect us all as citizens of this country whether we take part in it or not.  Why not try to influence your neighbors, family and friends?  It matters!

Knowledge is a useful tool that can aid us in these cultural battles and foreign concerns.  Many candidates at all levels have informational meetings, meet-and-greet opportunities, and websites describing their positions on various topics.  Go to those meetings, take your kids!  What better way for them to see our republic in action!  Raise your hand and ask questions.  If you can’t go to those, email the candidates and ask them your questions.  Don’t settle for non-answers full of nice sound platitudes but no plans of action.  In both cases, press them for real answers and see how they plan to put their ideas into practice. It matters!

You and your children can certainly get involved in campaigns by volunteering your time for the candidate of your choice.  Not only can you help with mailings, phone banks, stuffing literature into envelopes for a mailing, but also honk-and-waves where you can make and then hold signs for your candidate on busy traffic corners during high-volume traffic times (some areas may require permits or permission before doing that so check that out first in your community).

My children did these things with me beginning at 7 and 9 years old.  However, it wasn’t me dragging them along to do it.  My 9-year-old wanted to do it.  She persistently pestered me until I agreed to see what we could do.  As a home school family it was easy to incorporate an afternoon a week to work for the candidate we chose.  As the election got closer, it was exciting to be involved and doing things to help.  We met many and varied people who all had a passion for seeing the candidate get elected and hopefully affecting change in our government.  And he won!  That hooked us and we again were volunteering during the next election, and hosting some meet-and-greets in our home, arranging and attending honk-and-waves, and attending committee meetings and caucuses and state assemblies, etc.  We also started collecting signatures on various issues to have them added to the ballot.  In our state you can petition your ideas onto the ballot if enough registered voters sign the petition.  It’s long, hard work, but worth it to have the ideas added to the ballot so that all voters who care to exercise that privilege can decide on that issue.

You can decide how involved you want to be.  You can make a difference.  It matters!

Paula has homeschooled all three of her children, two of whom graduated in 2007 and 2009.  She is a life-long crocheter and crafter, loves teaching about government in homeschool co-ops, and is an involved political constituent. She has served as an Editor for a state homeschool magazine for 10 years and continues in that role.  She also was the Home School Support Group Leader Liaison for the same state homeschool organization from 2003 to 2012, communicating monthly with group leaders via a newsletter and by email as the leaders needed help.  A single mom for the last 5 years, she also is a proud grammy to two grandsons.  She loves attending Bible study and is that person who is always asking questions in class.

Photo credit to Chris Phan. Some rights reserved.