PRAYING FOR PALIN

Hey Everybody,

I would much rather blog about parenting than politics, but I'm going to venture out here to say a few things on behalf of Sarah Palin. A couple of weeks ago, I was disturbed to stumble upon a few conservative moms' blogs that were adamantly opposed to Palin. Without mincing any words, they swiftly handed their judgment down: First, they thought she should stay home with her newborn. And second, they believed if she had been the kind of mother she ought to be--a "Titus 2" woman, that is--then her 17 yo daughter would not be pregnant.

This is one of the problems I have with blogging. I read all this a couple of weeks ago, and I can't just respond off the cuff. I have to have time to think it through! That also explains why I'm not great at commenting either! It takes me a while to come up with what I want to communicate. But now that I have thought all this through, here's my take on Sarah Palin and two issues in particular

First, would I have left a newborn to go to work? Especially a newborn with special needs? No, I don't think so. But no one was asking me to be vice-president. Therein lies the dilemma that many conservative women face with Palin. She's doing what we wouldn't do or what we wish we didn't have to do, but we certainly want her to do it! She's the more conservative one on the Republican ticket! So many women I know didn't feel like they were represented by either party until August 29th, when McCain announced his running mate.

She's the one who is like me! many of us thought. Same age, same place in life, same love for family, country, and ... JESUS! She's not some shallow church-goer; she's the real deal! By all that I can surf/read/listen to/watch about her, she's born again! So perhaps this isn't just a job, ya think? Maybe, just maybe, this woman feels CALLED to this. Don't you think she would have to?

By all accounts, Sarah Palin has experienced more of Christ's suffering since August 29th than I have in my entire life. The woman has been persecuted, no doubt about it. America's late-night "entertainment" has accused her family of the most abhorrent moral crimes, and the tabloids have had a field day with her and their photoshop tools. The media treat her with disdain, like they just stepped in doggy doo; they wrinkle up their collective noses when they see her.

But this is what I want to make sure you understand: Sarah Palin, the woman who is like us, is us. Did it ever occur to you that if any of us had run for office, and by us, I mean conservative women--born again Christian women who love Jesus Christ unashamedly, who are okay with more than 2.5 children, and who can love one man for a lifetime--if it had been any of us, they (the media) would have treated us the same way? Y'all, they hate her, and they hate us. The beating she takes every day she takes for all who believe what she believes.

That puts a different spin on it, for sure.

Second, to those dear souls who think that the daughter would not be pregnant if her mother had stayed at home and been a Titus 2 woman:

I meet Titus 2 women every summer at homeschool conferences. They are precious. They have given their lives for their children. They have invested every waking moment in their offspring. They have baked their own bread, made their own clothes, written their own curriculum, homeschooled, home churched, and homesteaded, just like some of you. And they want to know why their kids have made mistakes. What have I done wrong? they ask with tears running down their cheeks, brokenhearted with the weight of their grief.

But those moms have done nothing wrong, because every person is responsible for her own choices. Why are we so quick to take the credit for the good choices our kids make and so quick to take the fall for the bad ones? We are not responsible for either one! How 'bout that? You do the best you can, and then you have to let go. That is the nature of parenting. You are working your way out of a job. You cannot take the credit for a spiritually successful kid. God did the work in that heart. And you cannot take the shame for a child's wrong choices. It's called free will, and one day, that child's free will will lead her down a broken road to the only hope for man, JESUS. And that child will have to choose. Some Titus 2 women have daughters that get pregnant. Some Atheist moms raise children who find Jesus anyway.

So here's what I'm doing: I'm praying for Sarah Palin. Only a true calling from God will keep her in this race. Some in the media are saying she needs to step down. She's not got it in her! She's out of her league! She can't even go toe-to-toe with the perky Ms. Couric or the "wise" Mr. Gibson.

She needs us, ladies, because she needs us to pray! She needs His strength, His focus, His determination, and His purpose flowing through her spirit. I'm praying for Palin, and what I'm doing today is inviting you to pray with me. From now until the election, you may sign up in the sidebar of this blog to receive a Scripture verse each day to pray for Sarah Palin. I've never done anything like this before, and I am *not* suggesting that we pray for the McCain ticket to win. No, it's nothing like that. God will choose the one He wants to rule this country, and I trust Him to do that. What I am going to do is simply lift another mom up in daily prayer. Why?

Because it's what I would want others to do for me.
Because there are only a few weeks left.
Because if the media is openly harassing her like they are, can you imagine how the enemy is messing with her mind and heart?
And because I cannot shake the notion that it is quite possible that Sarah Palin is where she is at this moment for such a time as this.