How does a Busy Catholic Family Vote Together? – The pre-dawn vote

All this autumn I went back and forth over whether or not to do an absentee ballot. Would I miss not going to the polls on election day? But in the long run, Mr. Pete likes to vote on election day. Since I procrastinated long enough, I went with him. My college girls went with us. Since one had an 8 a.m. class and the other had an evening class, this was our only option as a family.

Our polling place got changed again. It was moved to a high rise apartment full of seniors and disabled people with housing assistance. So that was great as far as helping people who might otherwise have a hard time getting to a polling place on their own. But it was bad in that there was NO parking. Our option was to walk a distance or park in the Fire Lane. That’s what Mr. Pete decided to do.

When we got into the building, by 6:45 a.m., there was already a long line and a 20-minute wait! abut the workers were pleasant and professional. When I mentioned that this was Rosie’s first presidential vote, the workers applauded for her – so that was nice! We had prepared to vote the day before. We knew all the issues and all of the candidates, so it didn’t take long to fill out our ballots and get out of there so that other people could have a chance.

When we left, the kind pool worker snapped a photo for us. Also, the fire lane had now become the official parking lot.

I was especially happy to vote for Kevin Coughlin for Congress. When Calvin was in high school, he helped pass a bill to help charter school students participate in sports and extracurricular activities at their local high schools. I will always be grateful to him for that and he will always have my vote as long as he remains a pro-life candidate.

I’m going to spend the rest of the day prepping for some concerts and for my co-op class tomorrow. And after a rehearsal tonight, I will sit in and watch the results.

What I’ve learned

Win or lose, no matter what issues pass or fail, or whether my candidates win or lose, Jesus is still Lord and I follow him.

In fact, I want to follow Him so much more closely that I don’t even bother to debate politics anymore. Inform and instruct? Sure, if I’m asked, and if it’s welcome. Other than that, I want to lead by living a just life.