The Vote, God's Sovereignty, and My Character

Disclaimer: This is my story of voting. Everyone’s story is different, even those who come from a background similar to mine. I cannot speak for anyone else.

My Voting Background 

           I grew up in a Beachy Mennonite community. Beachy Mennonites (and many other varieties of Mennonites) believe that they are citizens of Heaven before they are citizens of any earthly country. Because their primary citizenship is in Heaven, they don’t get too involved in earthly politics, including voting. In addition, because Mennonites are pacifist, there is never a presidential candidate whose policies they can support 100%. So I grew up surrounded by people who didn’t vote. And honestly, I’ve never really enjoyed politics, so I never missed it.

            After I became an adult, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about voting. I didn’t really want to vote because that would mean researching candidates so that I could make an informed decision. I remember at one point having a conversation with a friend at work, and she said that anyone who doesn’t vote has no right to complain about the president because they did nothing to prevent that person from becoming president. I agreed with her. I believe that whether you vote or not, you are called to respect those God has placed in authority. But I also realized that my laziness was really the only thing keeping me from voting. I believe that while I am first and foremost a citizen of Heaven, I am temporarily a citizen of America, and it is my duty to do what I can to improve the lives of my fellow citizens. (Now before you think I sound holier-than-thou, I’ll confess that I don’t do very well at that, but I try. I really do.)

            Four years ago, during the 2012 election season, I really planned to vote. Unfortunately, I was unorganized or lazy or something, and I missed the registration date. So this election season, I registered long before the cutoff date.

This Election Season 

           But those long years of being taught about not voting and the years of waffling in adulthood had an indelible impact on my view of voting. When I first started thinking about voting this election, I’ll be honest, I almost panicked. The thought of supporting a candidate whose character was extremely questionable was unthinkable. I didn’t expect to agree with a candidate on every single issue, but I did want to cast my vote for someone with integrity. This election has seemed to me to be full of mud-slinging and name-calling, the very things that made me dislike politics in the first place. But I was, and still am, determined to do my part, to be a responsible citizen while God has me here.

            That panic raged for months as I researched candidates, worried that if I voted for the wrong one, something terrible would happen, but I honestly didn’t believe that there was a right one.

God's Sovereignty         

Then I started listening to God’s voice. Here are the things I know to be true about God:

1.      God is sovereign. He is in control and will place in office whomever he chooses.

2.      Throughout Scripture, God allowed His people to be enslaved in order to bring them back to Himself and to glorify Himself. If it will bring more glory to Him and if it will strengthen the faith of His children, God will not hesitate to allow evil people to come to power, take our religious freedom, and/or allow chaos to ensue. 

3.      Even when evil people were in power, God was still in control.

4.      Even if the worst thing happens and “that candidate” (you know who I mean, even if “that candidate” is different for you than for me) is elected, God’s ultimate plan will still play out.

As I started listening to God’s truths, I felt that pressure lift. I realized that even if I vote for a candidate who does not win, God will place whomever He wishes in authority. He does not need me to accomplish His purpose.

My Choices and My Character  

          This conviction led to another. My vote has a much larger impact on my character than it does on the country. Who I vote for and give my support to says more about my values and character than about anything else. If I compromise my values and vote for someone who doesn’t try to minimize violence, both against the unborn and those who aren’t like him/her, that compromise will affect my character.* Compromising something I believe so strongly would lead to other compromises. How can I claim to be a woman of integrity if I am willing to compromise a belief that is at the core of who I am as a Christian? I am now at peace with the knowledge that I will vote for a candidate whose values I can, for the most part, support, and the outcome is not up to me. God will take care of the outcome, but I am responsible, with God’s help, for my own choices.

Final Thoughts

            If I could give one piece of advice to Christian voters this election, it would be this: Please don’t cast your vote out of fear. Fear is never a good basis on which to make a decision. Cast your vote out of faith. I don’t know who God wants you to vote for. That’s between you and Him. But don’t vote out of worry for the future. Vote knowing that the future is in God’s hands and that your character is indelibly affected by that choice.

*I bring up these two things because I am adamantly pro-life, not just for the unborn, but for all humans including illegal immigrants and Muslims, because I believe we are all made in God’s image. Violence against a group of people simply because they are not wanted or we are afraid of them is, in my mind, not acceptable. I also believe that human life is more valuable than my religious freedom.

Books I'm Reading

One of my new year's resolutions is to read more books, specifically books that make me think and books that are well written and in styles that I would love to have seep into my own writing.  My creative writing teacher reminded us that writers not only write, they also read, and there's nothing wrong with imitating writing styles to learn new things about writing.  So I resolved to go to the library, book sales, and yes, even to open my thin wallet when I visit Barnes and Nobles, and to read, read, read this year.

Here's the stack of books I'm working on now.

Forgotten God by Francis Chan and Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller were Amazon purchases. Even though I thought I would buy books at B&N, I actually sat with a cup of Caramel Apple Spice and read the first chapter or the introduction of about 6 books, decided which ones I wanted to buy and then went home and ordered them on Amazon. It probably saved me $10 minus the purchase of the Caramel Apple Spice. 

At first I couldn't decide which Donald Miller book to get since he's written quite a few that I haven't read yet. But after reading the introduction, I had to choose Searching for God Knows What. After all, it's not every writer who references M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, and that settled it.

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is a book I've seen floating around being read by this or that person and everyone of them would exclaim over how much they liked it. I just received it for Christmas. I'm about a quarter of the way through. She's a very poetic writer; her prose is descriptive and musical. I'm enjoying the book except for the little habit she has of using adjectives as adverbs which the teacher in me wants to correct.

The Pawn by Steven James was another Christmas gift. I requested this one. I had borrowed it from the library, read the prologue, and then let it sit on my shelf for weeks because I didn't think I would like it. (The prologue is incredibly weird and creepy.) Then boredom struck and I started again. Once I got past the prologue I was hooked and now have the 4th and 5th books on hold at the library but also want to add them to my own stash to read again when I need inspiration for the mystery/thrillers I have floating in my head.

Shattered by Dick Francis is the other fiction book in my stack. I found this one for fifty cents at the library book sale and had to buy it because it's the book that started my fascination with Francis. When I read his books I can hear the words in my head and I love the intelligent English accents of his characters. I'm about halfway finished rereading it.

Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler is fascinating book about China that a customer at the store recommended. I found it at the library. It's taking me forever to read but I find myself nodding at the way he describes China's culture and people. It's incredibly informative, making connections between China's past and present that make me say "Ohhh, I get it."

If you're lucky, I'll give you an update when I'm finished letting you know which ones I consider worthwhile reading. In the meantime, if you read any of them yourself, I'd love to know what you think.

I'm also taking suggestions for my next stack. Is there anything I just HAVE to read?

Where I'm From

A few weeks ago in English class, our teacher gave us George Ella Lyon's poem "Where I'm From" and asked us to use it as a template to write our own poem. It was almost like a mad lib asking for things like product names, plants, family traditions & tendencies, things you were told as a child, and more. It was so much fun and I was actually pretty pleased with the result.

Where I'm From

I am from library books in brown paper bags, from Lipton sweet iced tea,
and cherry Benadryl.

I am from the long gravel lane, the front porch swing,

and the scent of fresh-mown grass.
I am from the daffodil, the oak, and the tiny hemlock cone.

I am from broomsock and brown eyes,

from Jesse and Annie and Noah.

I am from the hard-headed and spunky,

From Be a lady! and Don’t be sassy!

I am from the Old Rugged Cross,

stiff white bonnets, and long swishing skirts.

I’m from Madison and Big Valley and sweet Georgia peaches,

From moonpies and Christmas fudge,

From Bibles smuggled across the Berlin Wall,

And the preacher at CO camp during the war.

I am from sticky yellow albums, dusty slide trays, and well-worn Bibles,

From patchwork quilts on display on my mother’s wall.

I am a part of them.

They are a part of me.

Like links in a chain

Or limbs on a tree,

We cannot be separated

And still remain whole.

A Dangerous Obsession Part 2

Here's part 2 of my paper on the way women are portrayed in the media and its effect on us. This part is a little more positive since I wanted to focus on how we could be part of the solution to the problem. 

Our sights are set on physical beauty, not health, not inner beauty, nor even on the beauty of others, but on our own narcissistic desire for outward perfection. Little girls are taught from a young age that physical beauty will get you fame, fortune, and an entourage of fans. Audrey Brashich, former teen model, says, "As a culture, we are on a first-name basis with women like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie. The most celebrated, recognizable women today are famous primarily for being thin and pretty, while women who are actually changing the world remain comparatively invisible" (qtd. in Hellmich). “Today little girls constantly rate the supermodels high on their list of heroes, and most of us know them by their first names alone…Cindy, Elle, Naomi, Iman. Imagine--these women are heroes to little girls, not because of their courage or character or good deeds, but because of their perfect features and poreless skin” (Kilbourne, 60). Our obsession with beauty rewards women who spend hours perfecting their appearance and ignores women who give of themselves tirelessly to others.



The American obsession with beauty may leave us feeling helpless and unable to take a stand for real beauty. What can be done to combat the unrealistic standard of beauty portrayed in the media? The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has started a trend in using women that are closer to average in their advertising campaigns. Their models are often freckled, wrinkled, or even a little plump. It’s a small step in the right direction. I don’t propose that the media display obese women in their ads. Health should be the deciding factor in portraying models in advertising. If the new standard of beauty would be health, rather than thinness, perhaps young girls would grow up wanting to be strong rather than thin. These are small steps, but small steps that lead in the right direction.


A large step in the right direction could be the realistic portrayal by the media of more women who have shown courage, strength, and intelligence--women who deserve to be called heroes. When little girls want to be like Florence Nightingale or Amelia Earhart rather than Paris Hilton, we will indeed be on the right track. Let’s give our daughters, sisters, and friends heroes worth emulating.


What can the individual do? A good start is to be aware of the problem. Simply being aware that we are all affected by the images we see in media everyday can help us realize the true “normal” that’s around us in the real world. Being aware of the problem is the first step toward the solution.


We can also look for beauty in others. “Statistical analysis reveals that women who are more satisfied with their beauty are significantly more likely than those who are less satisfied to believe that every woman has something about her that is beautiful” (Etcoff et al. 41). It’s a cycle spiraling upward. Finding beauty in others helps us to realize that beauty is as diverse and varied as the human race. This, in turn, helps us realize that we, ourselves, also possess beauty, even if it’s not the perfect beauty portrayed by the media. Seeing beauty in ourselves opens us to seeing beauty in others. When we comment on the beauty we see in others, they feel more beautiful and are able to see the beauty in even more people.


Imagine a world in which every woman knows that she and all women around her were created with a God-given beauty. The image of the ideal beauty perpetuated by the media may make it seem impossible, but we can start with ourselves and with the women around us. Let’s encourage each other to see beauty in everyone. Let’s make our own standard of beauty instead of letting the media dictate what is beautiful. Let’s start our own cycle of beauty that spirals upward and outward, letting every person on earth know that beauty is as diverse as the population of the world, and that strength, courage, and character make a woman far more beautiful than makeup ever will.






Works Cited


Etcoff, Nancy, Susie Orbach, Jennifer Scott, and Heidi D'Agostino. "The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report." Dove. Sept. 2004. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. .


Hellmich, Nancy. "Do Thin Models Warp Girls' Body Image?" USA Today. USA Today, 26 Sept. 2006. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .


Kilbourne, Jean. Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising. New York, NY: Free, 1999. Print.


Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, Pamela. "Just What IS an Average Woman’s Size Anymore? « Everyday Fitness." WebMD. 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .


Postrel, Virginia. "The Truth About Beauty." Atlantic Monthly Mar. 2007: 125-27. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .


Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used against Women. New York: Perennial, 2002. Print.

A Dangerous Obsession (Part 1)

     (This is the first part of a paper I wrote for school on the impact that images of beauty in the media have on women. I was stunned by some of the things I discovered as I did the research. This first part is a bit depressing (Sorry), but I promise the second part is a little more positive.)

The Media's Influence on our Perception of Beauty
     Are you beautiful? A study by the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty of over 3,000 women in 10 different countries discovered that 98% of women would answer no to this question (Etcoff et al. 4). Beautiful is a word most, if not all, women would love to use to describe themselves. The desire to be beautiful is almost inherent in our nature. Yet many women feel average at best and ugly at worst. Much of the way we perceive beauty has been shaped by our modern media. The media perpetuates a narrow view of what is beautiful and feeds a dangerous obsession with the superficial, but the battle for real beauty, that which begins with a beautiful heart, is one that is well worth fighting.



     Women today are bombarded on every side by images of perfect women. The average American is exposed to at least three thousand ads every day (Kilbourne 58). In the majority of these ads, women are portrayed as thin with perfect skin, hair, and bodies. Their symmetrical faces smile happily or pout prettily. These perfect women tell us that perfection is possible, even normal. If these ads are to be believed, with physical perfection comes success in career, romance, friendships, and family. 81% of women in the US strongly agree that “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can never achieve” (Etcoff et al. 28). According to a study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the desire of many girls to lose weight was connected to the frequency with which they read magazines. While only 29% of the girls were actually overweight, nearly half said magazine pictures made them want to lose weight (Kilbourne 132).


     Just how different are the bodies of fashion models from those of real women? Many models are 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11, average 120 to 124 pounds, and wear a size 2 or 4 (Hellmich). Today, the average American woman is 5-foot-4, weighs between 140-150 pounds, and wears a size 12 or 14 (Peeke). Not only is the average woman 20 to 25 pounds heavier, she is also 6 or 7 inches shorter than most models.


     “Media images, [Nancy] Etcoff notes in an e-mail, are often so rarefied that "they change our ideas about what people look like and what normal looks like … Our brains did not evolve with media, and many people see more media images of women than actual women. The contrast effect makes even the most beautiful non-model look less attractive; it produces a new 'normal'" (qtd. in Postrel). It’s like women are the victims of a huge brainwashing scheme that’s working all too well. We know, consciously, that these images are most likely photoshopped and airbrushed so much that they bear little resemblance to reality, but our subconscious mind absorbs them over and over and soon they become our standard of normal. This new standard becomes the one by which we measure ourselves. One wants to ask, “Who are they to tell me what is beautiful?” What or who gives the media the authority to determine what beautiful looks like? After all, ads are all about selling something. If the media can control what is beautiful, if they can convince a woman that she must have flawless skin or shining hair to be beautiful, then they can sell her products that promise to accomplish these things. “They [advertisers] are just doing their job, which is to sell a product, but the consequences, usually unintended, are often destructive to individuals, to cultures, and to the planet” (Kilbourne, 75). We allow people who are trying to sell makeup and diet products to persuade us that we need these things to be beautiful and by extension, happy and fulfilled.


     This drive for physical beauty becomes all-important. In fact, in a 1985 survey of thirty-three thousand women, it was discovered that women would choose, if they could, losing ten to fifteen pounds over success in love or work (Wolf 185). 45% of women believe that beautiful women have greater opportunities in life and 59% believe that men value beautiful women more than the average woman (Etcoff et al. 25). It is no wonder then, that many would choose weight-loss over success, since they believe weight-loss will lead to a better life. It is as if women have been convinced that the only obstacles to an amazing life are ten or fifteen pounds.


     This fixation on physical appearance does damage in more ways than one. Women diet, exfoliate, pluck, style, and paint their bodies in an attempt to achieve the ideal beauty set forth in the media. In extreme cases, women even throw up, starve themselves, take dangerous drugs, or have plastic surgery in their pursuit of this new “normal.” Not only do women wreak havoc on their bodies with dangerous diet regimens, but this preoccupation is also damaging to one’s mental health. One study of 350 men and women found that the “tendency to view one‘s body from the outside in,” giving precedence to physical appearance instead of to health or fitness, can lead not only to eating disorders, but also to anxiety, depression, and even lower mental performance (Kilbourne, 132).


 (I'll post part 2 in a few days. It focuses more on what can be done about this drive to look like supermodels)

Works Cited

Etcoff, Nancy, Susie Orbach, Jennifer Scott, and Heidi D'Agostino. "The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report." Dove. Sept. 2004. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. .

Hellmich, Nancy. "Do Thin Models Warp Girls' Body Image?" USA Today. USA Today, 26 Sept. 2006. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .

Kilbourne, Jean. Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising. New York, NY: Free, 1999. Print.

Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, Pamela. "Just What IS an Average Woman’s Size Anymore? « Everyday Fitness." WebMD. 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .

Postrel, Virginia. "The Truth About Beauty." Atlantic Monthly Mar. 2007: 125-27. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used against Women. New York: Perennial, 2002. Print.

Things I love about Ava

1. I love that she is independent. She always want to do things herself without help.

2. I love that if you ask her name her answer is Ava Broot(Brooke) YOder, with extra emphasis on the YO.

3. I love that she loves hats of any kind.

4. I love that her first question to me after she says "Hi" is usually "Read a boot(book)?"  I love when children love books!
5. I love that she will unconciously sign words as she's talking. She doesn't even seem to know that when she says candy her little finger is digging into her cheek or that she rubs her chest whenever she says please.

6. I love that when we go on walks, she picks up everything(dead and crumpled leaves, stones, sticks) and claims them as treasures to take home with her.
7. I love that she repeats words she hears around her. For example, one day I said something usually did something and the next thing I knew, she used usually in a sentence, too.  For a while her phrase was, "Oh Wow" which I think she gets from her grandma.

8. I love that she has a mind of her own.

We're going Chinese!

A few weeks ago, some friends & I went out to Huanglongxi. It's a town set up to look old with a man-made river running through it. We did some shopping and just walked around and looked at everything.  The highlight of the day was when we decided to dress in old Chinese clothes and get our pictures taken.

First, we picked out our clothes. I wanted to dress like a ninja, but unfortunately this shop had no ninja clothes. After we picked out our fancy clothes, the shop girls started on our hair. We got so much fake hair, both big black rolls and lots of little braids.

After they pinned the fake hair on, they started shoving flowers, pins, and combs and anything with rhinestones into our hair. It didn't matter if it matched or not. The more, the better.

This is the dress I chose when I realized I couldn't dress like a ninja. I'm still a little disappointed that I didn't get to be a ninja! And check out the hair: flowers, berries, pins, loopy braids, and that huge gold thing.  I'm just glad I didn't live when this was in fashion. Wait, was it ever in fashion?!

The always gorgeous Missy tried out a Chinese pose. Oh wait, she's got fur in her hair.

Missy, Bev, & Ali   Seriously, the hair astounds me every time I look at it.

Jo & Ali, As Jo says, this picture is romantic. I think they kinda look like they're dancing.

Ali, looking super sweet with red flowers in her hair, shades her lovely fair skin with a perfect pink parasol.

Gorgeous Jo striking another Chinese pose, tugging a leaf from the tree.

All 5 of us in our finery.  All in all, it was totally fun and totally worth the 10 kuai we paid to do it.