Just over 50 years after the African-American Civil Rights Movement started Tuesday night our country witnessed an historic event as the first black American was voted in as our 44th president. I admit I was emotional.

Despite who you voted for let’s be praying for our president-elect and our president during this time of transition and during this hard economic time. This is a hard time for our country and despite things looking, feeling and being bleak we need to remember that God is ALWAYS in control.

“In between one place and another, we’re vulnerable to the discomfort of our transitory state. If the trip is long or taxing, at odd mile markers our restlessness overrides expectation, or even drifts into despair. When trouble comes we may wonder why we ever embarked at all - or simply stop short of our intended destination, insisting (like the Israelites east of Jordan) that the spot we’ve settled for is adequate enough, thank you. The best of all journeys may be a hard road to a good place; perhaps fully experiencing the hard, unpredictable road helps us to recognize the good place when we arrive…”

This is the first section of Leigh McLeroy’s book entitled The Beautiful Ache. It is a fantastic book that I highly recommend. The subtitle of the book is “Finding the God Who Satisfies When Life Does Not.” And life doesn’t satisfy, sometimes I think that it does, but the satisfaction is always fleeting. I really like the quote above, mostly because I see so much of myself in it. I am so like the Israelites sometimes, camping out where I am… telling God, “okay this looks good, I’ve got it from here.” Instead of letting Him lead me to better (though most likely harder) places.

I was privileged to have the opportunity to hear Leigh McLeroy speak at a retreat with women from Reformed Theological Seminary this past weekend. She is a really cool lady and a fantastic speaker and writer. Check out her website at www.wednesdaywords.com.

If you’re like me and waited for Tuesday to vote, don’t forget to get your “I Voted” sticker.

Dunkin’ Donuts is offering a free doughnut to those who have the sticker on tomorrow, and Starbucks is offering a free cup of coffee.

Voting Ideas for long lines.
~ Go with a friend to help pass the time and get some good quality time together.
~ Take a book you’ve been wanting to read.
~ Catch up on phone calls.
~ If you have kids ask your spouse or a friend to stand in line for you until you get close to the front.

Go to Orangejack for more voting resources.

Yesterday’s sermon was the second part of a two-week series on marriage.  It focussed on the husband’s role in the marriage and laid out the husband’s calling, his weakness, and his power.  I missed the sermon for the wife last week, so I’ll have to go back and listen, but hearing the message yesterday was a blessing and encouragement for my marriage.  I really liked the challenge to take part in The Marriage Prayer as well.

One thing that I found particularly interesting is that Mike pointede out that a lazy, unresponsive, and neglectful husband can be just as harsh to his wife as a domineering, controlling husband.  I thought this was a very good point (one that is not talked about often), and Mike preaching boldly about it is sure to challenge many men of our church in their area of weakness.  Praise to God who is our power for our marriage and life!

If you weren’t at church yesterday, you can listen to the sermon here.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian was an Oprah’s Book Club pick back in 1998, so it’s got to be good, right? Well, I haven’t read every book that Oprah has chosen for her club, but all the ones I have read so far have been good!

A caution: don’t read it while pregnant. It’s about a respected lay midwife in Vermont who finds herself in this nightmarish situation: she’s been called to a patient’s (or is it client’s?) house during a winter storm. The strom worsens and there’s absolutely no way to go for help when complications develop and the mother dies before delivering. Sybil, the midwife, knows that the baby is still alive and needs to be delivered in order to survive, so she decides to perform a c-section – without anesthetic, of course, because she has none and the mother is dead anyway. Or is she? What follows is the trial of Sybil Danforth, which looks into whether her client really was dead at the time, or if Sybil inadvertently killed her. Between the small town’s upheavel, the growing antagonism of the medical community toward lay midwives, and Sybil’s own shifting thoughts of what went on that icy night, this book will grip you – I couldn’t put it down – but now you see why you really shouldn’t read it if you’re pregnant!