This morning, I woke up in a funk.

I was tired from a busy Tuesday. I was tired from the drama and discourse of the last week. I was grumpy and really wanted everyone to just leave me alone. (So of course, they needed me even when I was going to the bathroom first thing in the morning. *eye roll*)

To be honest, I milked the feeling for a while. It felt good. I am tired. And it’s been a long week. And Tuesdays always leave me drained. But I also know it’s not good for me to hang there for too long.

So instead of sulking and claiming my right to a tired funk…

I called my mom.

I talked to my kids.

I started to watch and read stuff on Facebook, but that just sent me backwards. So I made myself close that tab and shift my focus again…

I changed the sheets on my bed.

I started a load of laundry.

I folded my girls’ clean clothes.

I played pretend with Tim.

I painted (and let Timmy paint, too) and then took a silly video of Timmy.

I called my Grandpa who’s in a rehab place recovering from open heart surgery. (He’s still having trouble getting good full breaths, so I talked most of the time. I know, I’m a giver. But he was really glad I called.)

I started another batch of apple butter.

I snuggled with Timmy and watched some cartoons.

And now, here it is, just after lunch…and my funk is mostly gone. It does me good to think about someone other than myself. How about you?

PS – There’s a woodpecker on the trees outside my window. They are really interesting birds to watch. I should get myself a pair of binoculars.

So there are now way too many reports of people being harassed, assaulted, demeaned, threatened by “Trump supporters.” And from one side, I’m hearing a lot of “This is all your fault” and “You’d better fix this” to the other side.

So, let’s get this (I would have thought) obvious point out of the way.

All of that stuff is NOT OKAY. It’s illegal, unfair, demeaning, immature, and unacceptable. The children in grown-ups’ bodies who’ve been behaving this way must stop. They must be stopped. They must be arrested, convicted, fined, whatever can be done. The little children who are doing and saying such things must be taken aside and dealt with. Preferably as a teachable moment, but with whatever punishments are appropriate and in place for these situations.

Are we clear? This is NOT OKAY. It wasn’t okay a week ago. It’s not okay today. And it won’t be okay on January 21 when Trump officially takes office. You cannot DO those things and get away with it. So STOP IT.

But just saying this on a blog post doesn’t really mean so much. Because I can’t DO anything about them. I’ve read the stories. And they are heartbreaking. I’m upset. But…I don’t know anyone who’s had it happen to them (that I’m aware of). I haven’t done it. No one I know has done it. I haven’t seen any of it. It’s all over Facebook. But it’s not where I am.

Now, I assure you, if I do see it, I won’t let it go. Absolutely NO ONE should be treated like this. EVER. And while I generally refuse to do empty gestures (I never wear pink in October, for example), I may actually put a safety pin on my purse or jacket. I really like using something so small to say, I’m a safe place. I will walk with you. I will protect you, help you, be there for you. THAT is a good idea.

But I still come back to this. Where I am, I don’t see much of it. I can’t DO much about it. So instead, I did something else.

Here’s what I did do this week:

I talked with people. With MY people. I’m sharing the articles and the stories people are posting. I want to facilitate discussion, get out of the echo chambers, and really engage with the other side. That’s what I’m doing where I am.

And I reached out to the “others” in my life. People who voted differently than me. Who think differently. Who maybe are afraid right now. I told them how much I appreciate them. I made a point of not letting silence fall between us. And I had wonderful, helpful dialogue. I learned new things That’s what I’m doing right where I am.

Then today, I was scheduled to teach children’s church. So we talked about kind words. Proverbs 16:24. Ephesians 4:32. We talked about what they do for the people who hear them. And why the Bible tells us to use them. And we listed practical, kind things we can say. And we remembered that it isn’t always easy to be kind, but we have to do it anyway. In a week where the adults seemed to have forgotten this basic principle, we covered it again with these 13 kids. Because that’s what I could do where I am.

And you can do these things…where you are. You can reach out. To your people. To your “others.” You can speak truth…IN LOVE. You can be kind. Of course, PLEASE, stop the bullying and harassment if you see it. And if you don’t see it, don’t pretend it isn’t there. Pray over it. Ask someone over for dinner. Send a message. DO WHAT YOU CAN…WHERE YOU ARE.

And if everyone did that, no matter who they voted for, we would all find ourselves in a much better, safer, and more unified place.

The election is over (finally!). The results are in. And America is now looking around at the debris (to some, the holocaust) and wondering … what’s next?

I, for one, am shocked and (tbh) pleased. I have been a #neverHillary for 20 years, long before hashtags were even a thing. But I honestly didn’t think she could be beaten. And yet, somehow, she was. So today, my first emotion is relief.

And my next emotion is uncertainty. I did not vote for Trump, and I really didn’t want Hillary. (I voted for McMullin because it became most important to me that I respect the person I asked to lead us.) But Trump is in. And I have absolutely NO idea what that means. Will he rise to the occasion? Will he show a maturity that we’ve only seen glimpses of? Will he inspire the hatred and vitriol he’s accused of pandering in? I just don’t know. Trump is…all of this is…a whole new ball of wax.

And as we move forward, life will continue. Pundits will talk. Trump will take Obama’s place in January.  Life will move on. But the important question is…what about the rest of us? How do we proceed? What will the next day, month, year look like? For us? Individually and as a country?

For me, it’s this. I hope it looks an awful lot like this (skip to the 4th paragraph from the end if you don’t want to read it all):

NOTHING WORKS BETTER (James MacDonald/Walk in the Word email 11/9/16)

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves (Philippians 2:3, NASB).

Are you having a tough day today? Been a little down in the dumps lately?

There’s a way to fix that—but not by “working on it.” The way to increase your joy again starts by doing “nothing from selfishness.” … Selfishness leads to every sin, and every sin invariably leads to discouragement, disappointment, disillusionment, and eventually to misery. Never to joy. … if you truly want to capture the joy that’s been so deftly escaping you lately, you must “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.” Nothing. Nothing from “rivalry,” as one translation says (HCSB), or from “selfish ambition,” as another puts it (ESV). Nothing.

This includes anything you do, whether intentionally or reflexively, to promote yourself and impress other people in hopes of getting them to see how great you are, how cool you seem, or how many good ideas you come up with. “Do nothing” to make sure your contributions at work or church or even just around the house are sufficiently admired and appreciated. “Nothing” to seek acknowledgement for yourself out of fear your talents will never be noticed if you don’t somehow point them out to people. “Nothing” to manufacture your own acceptance, promotion, popularity, affirmation, or happiness.

God’s Word would teach us that this grasping after self-promotion leads only to misery. But you can break out of this type of misery—you can choose to live in joy—right now, today, by doing “nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.” Choose instead to live in “humility of mind” by regarding other people as “more important than yourselves.” …

So instead of seeing people as a frustrating waste of your time, consider their need for being heard right now to be of more importance than what you’d otherwise be doing. Instead of making demands and asserting your rights, consider that what others need for doing their job or improving their skills takes precedence right now over whatever you were hoping to do for yourself. “Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 ESV).

You can’t be forced to live this way. You have to choose it, and most people don’t. So you and they can just keep sitting there under that oak tree, shaking your branches and trying to stand apart from the rest and from each other. But you will never live with joy if you continue to stay rooted and planted in selfishness.

Choose self, and choose misery.

But choose humility—choose others—and expect the leaves to start falling off that tree of sin and discouragement.