A new beginning?

I hope so. I do know I am greatly relieved all the political ads are over.

I seldom talk about politics online, it can be too polarizing, but after staying up into the wee hours of the morning and now back up early to see how some of the things shook out that I was still watching with interest, it's still very much on my mind.

I have said over and over that I am a life-long independent forced to vote Republican as the only viable alternative I could see to stop an expanding and out of control government. Did it work? I was very encouraged last night to hear the new majority leader, Rep. Boehner, say he knew they were not being handed a mandate as a party but knew they were receiving a message about what the American people wanted and expected.

The message came from across the board, a major win in the house, narrowing the senate to virtually a deadlock, taking governor's mansions in 60% of the states and a huge number of legislative positions on the state and local level. Did the White House get the message this time? Or will they continue to push the agenda that the people clearly do not want? We will get an insight on that before the President goes jetting off again.

I believe people clearly want Congress working together, but they want them working together to reduce spending and reduce the size of government, plus the message on Obamacare was pretty clear to me as well. How do we go forward from here? We have a tendency to vote and then go away until it's time to vote again. This time we need to stay engaged and to try to have an impact on the way we are governed.

The Bible says we are supposed to submit to our leaders, but in a system of government where we select our leaders I believe a Christian has an obligation to be guided by their faith principles in selecting and then working with their selected representatives. "Separation of church and state" means the government can't mandate a religion, it doesn't mean Christians have to give up their voice in the government.

I'm a realistic optimist. I know what our track record is, but I am hopeful that this new crop of people going to Washington will not be changed by Washington but instead will change the way things are done themselves. I am hopeful that those who are returning will embrace this change. The clear message is "we are tired of government not listening to us" and I genuinely believe that failure to get this message will result in an even stronger message in 2012.