On Mondays Tom helps out with an English class at the BLTC. He always comes home with fun stories about questions that the students ask him since he is the native English speaker.
There is one student in the class who does not talk much. However, yesterday Tom needed to fax in our votes for the election in America. So of course the topic for the day became politics!! The gal who does not talk much helped get the fax machine up and running. She began asking Tom lots of questions about the Electoral College, the voting process, party affiliations and so on. She landed with the right person to ask because Tom is not Red or Blue… he is one of those highly coveted Independent voters!!
We received our Ballots here in the mail back in September. Tom took in the entire contents of the envelope and that became an item for show and tell. The students were interested in every little detail. How the ballot looked, how his Russian Address was spelled with English letters, the number of parties on the ballot and the instruction booklet that came in the packet.
Here are a few family voting facts:
This is our first presidential election with us not living in America.
This is the second time in almost 27 years of marriage that we voted the same way.
This is the first time that both of our children are old enough to vote.
Tom and I are thrilled that we had the chance to participate in the election from thousands of miles away. Like many other Americans living abroad we are grateful for our American citizenship and the rights that come along with it!
Here is an excerpt from my friend
Cyndi’s blog that I wanted to share:
“
Unfortunately battle lines are being drawn in the church. You can see it in the news, on blogs and even in the pulpit. God is calling us to be humble, we need to be careful about defining our own opinions. There is nothing wrong with being passionate. Passionate people thirst for God, hunger for truth. No political system can ever be perfect. So how do we find common ground? 1) We must move to higher ground, 2) keep our face to the ground, and 3) find the middle ground. Jesus Christ is our common ground. We must have humility and believe in God. Christians will be going to the polls on Tuesday and pulling different levers. When we wake up on Wednesday morning people will still need to be saved. At the end of the day take off the donkey and the elephant and put on the cross. Put your faith in Christ! On November 5th there is no us or them. Your brother and sister in Christ is never your enemy. Jesus can heal our land. Let the will of God be done.”
