building faith & being fearless

We had our first snowfall yesterday and as I was driving through the wet roads with the kids I immediately felt a sense of peace. Seeing the snow falling down from the sky the day after the election was an indication to me that every little thing...is going to be alright.

Watching my youngest daughter who literally cried the other night because of the results of the election didn't put a smile on my face...it made me realize that we needed to have "the political talk."

Chelsea will be eight years old in a couple of months, and she's pretty sharp for her age. She told us about her class voting, and mentioned only three voted for Romney, and 21 for Obama. It was anonymous of course, and she felt bad that her vote didn't count. I know that the sadness she felt was the disappointment we felt as we stayed up until the wee hours of the night waiting for the results. That's when we explained to her that even though "her Mitt" didn't win that he is still a "winner" because of how he handled this entire election from beginning, in the middle, and to the end! I also said to her that her vote will always count in her heart, and that it will "legally" count when she is 18.

As parents we explained to her about building faith. You've got to build faith to have faith, and in order to do that it takes a lot of praying. I told her to continue to pray for President Obama in hopes that he will rebuild our country and make it better. I said to her that as her faith grows she will be fearless in sharing her beliefs, her thoughts, and her opinions...especially when it comes to voting.

After all...our children are the future generation, and their voices will be the ones to be heard.

Same goes for the rest of our kids. We are not the type of family who likes to judge others, but I have taught them that it's okay to be honest, and to express our feelings as to why we feel so and so should be president. Our two oldest daughters have seen the economy struggle in the past four years and have learned a lot from it.

Especially from us.

Our children have seen us struggle at times in the past two years, but I count our blessings every single day that my better half is still employed while others don't have a job. I count my blessings that I am able to stay at home to raise and nurture our children while other mothers have to work. I count my blessings for having health insurance and that it is there in case we need it, while others just can't afford it.

This years election will go down in history because of how divided the nation seemed to be. This years election was different because a devout Mormon ran for office. This years election was different because it was all over Facebook, twitter, and every other social network.

Sometimes people are afraid of change, and it scares them to death.

I know that Governor Romney was willing to change things, but we will never know the outcome of his goals because he wasn't chosen. Still...it is important to me to help our children understand the economy, and why it has failed for a lot of people. But I also want them to love their country, to love & respect their leaders, and to know that as they grow up having faith, and being fearless will help them get through life easier. I may not be "extremely happy" with the results right now, but I know that with faith, and prayer we can get through anything, and that life will go on.

I am "extremely happy" though that I randomly stopped on the side of a country road to feel of God's creation, and to see the smile that it put on Chelsea's face as bits of snowflakes fell from the sky.

That was priceless, and a moment that will be etched in my mind forever.