When the kids were little and we were homeschooling, I took advantage of a November election to teach about government.  We studied the three branches, the political parties and the candidates running for office.  We visited the state capitol and met our representative.  We wrote letters to the President and the Governor, assuring them of our prayers and asking for their pictures.  We learned the Pledge of Allegiance and said it together every morning.

The night before the election, one of the candidates made a stop in a town nearby.  We bundled up the kids and stood outside for an hour before finally seeing the top of the hopeful politician’s head.  In the distance.  For a split second.

But the atmosphere was electric — that political rally rivaled any big sporting event.  There was music and a cheering crowd and people holding up signs.  We got swept up in the frenzy.

The next morning, as the kids were eating breakfast, Sam asked who won.  When I told him that our candidate was not elected, he put his little head down on the table and started to cry.  PB and I looked at each other with wide eyes.  I guess we overdid it.  I had to convince the broken-hearted boy that the world was not coming to an end.

Smack dab in the middle of the Bible — the very center of all the verses in God’s Word — is this:

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”  Psalm 118:8-9

So I’ll vote today.

But my refuge is in the Lord.

I’ll watch the returns come in tonight.

But I won’t put my head down and cry if my candidate loses.

I’ll pray for those who are in positions of authority.

But the world will not come to an end until the Lord God Almighty says so.