silent no more

My kids are my everything. They are my heart and soul. They are the reason I stumble out of bed every morning. They give me hope for the future, joy that fills me, and love that I will never fully understand.

My kids are frightened. They woke up yesterday to a country that felt hostile. Their beloved schools are now places where kids talk openly about grabbing girls' private parts and others freely joke about lynching people who are different from them or hanging them or putting them in camps. A place where a child yelled in my eight year old's face that Hillary Clinton is a dirty liar who will soon rot in jail.

They are uncomfortable about expressing their political views. They have overheard thoughtless people call them shameful Christians. They are carelessly, unknowingly mocked for daring to believe Hillary Clinton isn't a crooked, opportunist liar and that President Obama is a good man.

My kids have been hurt and terrified. They fear for their friends. The bright future in front of them has warped. This is inexcusable. It is a wound that will not close.

And yet, there are millions of other kids who will go to sleep tonight with even more fear and uncertainty than mine. Kids afraid their families will be torn apart by a deportation force. Kids who are now openly and aggressively being called racist names and bullied for their religion or the color of their skin or the country their families come from by voices empowered by a man who will soon be the most power man in the world.

This is the America my family woke up to yesterday morning. The weight of this suffocates me. It has awaken a sleeping giant within me. It has convicted me in ways I never imagined. It has broken me in ways too deep to mend. It is a moment too big to define and far too powerful to deny.

I have promised my kids I will do everything I can for them and for every child in this country: to fight for them, to value them, to show them that the love and God we believe in is NOT this, would NEVER be this. He would deny this, refute it, cast it aside without a single thought.

What that looks like is beyond me now, but my conviction is strong, my determination is growing, and my belief in a Creator of love, kindness, and compassion who cherishes ALL people and gives them free will compels me not to stand silent in the face of such a time as this.

I love the United States of America. I respect the office of the president. I will do everything I can to be a voice of grace and hope. I want the United States of America to prosper. I am rooting for our country.

But I refuse to forget what has just taken place. I refuse to accept this old, poisonous reality is one we must quietly accept again. Deleting pages on a website and pretending horrible, terrifying, dangerous words said were nothing more than political rhetoric will not satisfy me. I cannot forget and it will be hard to forgive. And I refuse to stand idly by while my country stands on the brink of history. What we each do now will define us for generations to come.

My kids are the next generation. They are smart, compassionate, capable people with promise and hope and unending potential, just like so many other kids I know from different religions, cultures, races, and backgrounds. Kids with two moms or a single mom. Kids who believe in multiple gods or no gods. Kids who deserve to be loved and viewed as important by their country.

They ALL deserve a place in the United States of America—our beautiful, diverse home. They all deserve respect and to feel safe. And I will fight for them all to gain back that safety no matter what it takes.