Bernie & Me

This morning Nahom, Gary and I headed over to the university to hear Senator Bernie Sanders speak. I have never been to a political rally, never heard a candidate speak in person. While we were standing in line some volunteers asked if we wanted to stand on stage. I hesitated. Then decided You Only Live Once! And we went for it. I'm super glad we did! Nahom and I both got to shake hands with Sanders and I got a picture of Nahom which is, of course, adorable. But more importantly, it's incredibly memorable for him. I can't imagine what it would've been like to be 13 years old and meet a presidential candidate.

SO.....

Do I agree with everything Sanders says? Nope.
Do I think he can solve all our problems? Nope.

Am I going to vote for him? As things stand right now, yep. I like him. I respect him.

But this isn't a post about Bernie Sanders. This is a post about me.

Today was a big deal for me. So much of my life has been being on the outside, not fitting in. Just typing that makes me feel like a high schooler, but it's true. And who I am as a Christian is at the top of the list. When I look at the past 35 years I can identify times I've not felt Christian enough (because of my clothes or the length of my hair) and then there are other times when I felt "too" Christian. When Gary and I draw lines in the sand about what music we listen to, movies we watch, activities we expose our children to, I often feel like people think we are taking this Christianity thing too far. One place I've definitely felt like I don't match is politics. So, this might seem unbelievable, but up until 12 years ago I honestly did not realize that Christians are "supposed" to be Republicans. And I naively outed myself as a non-Republican in a small group at the church I was on staff at.

Now you read that and you immediately think "She's a Democrat." But here's where it gets fun...I'm not! I'm neither. I'm married to a Democrat. I tend to vote for Democrats, but I am not actually a Democrat.

So back to 12 years ago when I outed us in our small group. I told them that we were voting for Kerry and not Bush. In response to that I was told that it was impossible to be a Christian and not vote for Bush and that the Bible clearly told us we should be voting for Bush. {Not everyone in the group said these things and we're still friends with some of the people from that group, so don't freak out if that's you and you're reading this!} I didn't know how to process being told that I was not a Christian if I didn't vote for Bush. Honestly, I still don't.

And if you do get it, if that makes sense to you, that I can't be a Christian and not vote Republican, please don't tell me. I don't want to know that about you. If it's confusing to you? I get that. I can handle that. If you know that my relationship with my Savior, if my love for Him and commitment to Him is nullified because I like a candidate that isn't a Republican, seriously, don't tell me.

The biggest reason I hesitated going up on that stage is because of fear. What if people see us? What if they think we're not Christians? What if they say things about us?

Well guess what? BEEN THERE. This whole entire year.

So I'm going to be me. I'm going to do things that make me happy. And I'm not going to be afraid to put a picture of me being happy on facebook.

Let me be clear, I do not care who you vote for. I'm not going to try and convince you to vote for someone or anyone. And I would appreciate the same in return :-) I will post pics from a super fun day I had with my husband and son! What a wonderful country we live in and how amazing that we get to be a part of this process!

{And just for the record, I am completely and totally against any church or church leader using their platform to try and influence someone's vote.}