I voted! ... well, almost.

I have never voted. I am 25 years old and have never taken advantage of my voting privilege. I just really have never gotten into the elections. I let friends' comments, door knockers, commercials, and political emails go right in one ear and out the other. I'm not the type of person to complain about our government, economy, or US leaders. I just live in whatever circumstances that I'm given, which has played into my hesitancy to vote in the past.

As election day approached this year, I definitely didn't educate myself as much as I should have, but I was seriously considering voting (despite my lack of interest in the election), not that I knew exactly every issue that each candidate stood for, but I almost felt like it was my American duty to vote. That's until I read something that a good friend said about Obama. She said that she truly believed that if you voted for Obama, you would be held accountable [by God] for killing innocent lives (since Obama was for abortion). This struck me rather hard and scared me quite a bit. If that was true for Obama, wouldn't that be true about McCain (because not everything he stood for was Biblical), or any other candidate on the ballot? Could I potentially be held accountable for voting for someone if they didn't stand exactly for what God would?! It was at that point when I realized that I could not vote, not at all, not for anyone. I was scared.

I expressed my fears last night to Erik before he went to vote because I was still scared that if I voted, I was going to hell... and if he voted, he was going to hell... we talked about it for a little bit, but he really didn't see it that way. He still felt obligated (and honored) to vote in this election and was confident that he was voting for people who upheld more christian values than their opponent. He encouraged me to go with him to the polls and if I was scared to vote, I wouldn't have to vote at all, or I could just abstain from voting for a certain position. I thought that was a good idea, so with 20 minutes left until the polls closed in Minnesota, we were off!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous, yet excited to finally be participating in my first election! We were not registered voters, so before leaving the house we gathered anything we could find for proof of address. We had health insurance bills, car insurance, bank statements, and student loans. As I approached the older gentleman at the door of the polls, I was shaking as I handed over our proof of address (Was I doing something that I could go to hell for? By voting, was I turning my back on God because I was supporting a worldly person? I tried to tell myself that I was doing my best just by supporting the candidates who I felt best represented God and that none of the candidates were perfect people - in fact, none of us are!) As all my doubts and fears were racing through my head, the older gentleman was flipping through our papers and asked me if we had brought any utility bills. Utility bills? We don't pay utilities because they are included in our rent and utility bills were the only thing that they could accept for proof of address. He apologized and we walked out the door as fast as we had come in. All my fear, all my anxiety, and we weren't even able to vote.

Honestly, I feel good about trying. I also feel good about the election finally coming to a close. I know there were a lot of different emotions last night as Obama was announced the winner, but I have confidence that God will take care of our country, no matter who is in the presidency. God bless America! (I feel cheesy saying that, but I really do mean it.)