God Shed His Grace On Thee

Okay, July's almost over. So where'd it go? We left on the 6th for vacation, returned on the 14th, then out-of-down company descended on the 20th. They just left this morning. My work life and writing life surround the computer, so I made myself set my laptop aside as much as possible. That's hard to do for a writer. We can be such reclusive types. And now my brain's full after our vacation with stories and characters and...um, now to finish my edits on my mystery.

One of the highlights of vacation for me was revisiting Washington, D.C. after 20 years. We drove up through Virginia and entered through the south end. I-95 winds and winds through the trees and suburbs, and then you merge onto 395. You can't see the city across the Potomac River. Not just yet, anyway. But I knew it was coming. I could feel it. That, and the map CJ held told me so. It was 4:59 p.m., probably the worst time to be entering D.C. But we were, because I wanted the kids to see the skyline spread before them.

Suddenly, we crested one last burp in the road and I gasped--there was the Washington Monumen, the Jefferson Memorial--and then the Capitol! Tears came to my eyes. The buildings and monuments dominated the skyline.

"Look--Zach! What's Hannah doing? --Hannah!" I was fairly shrieking and forced my attention back to the road. "Zach--take those pictures!"

"She was sleeping." Zach started using the digital camera.

"Look--look-look!" Goosebumps popped up on my arms. We prepared to cross the Potomac, but of course I had to put on the brakes as traffic crawled across the bridge.

God shed His grace on thee. On us. And He has. We are a blessed nation, yet a troubled one. The more I saw for those four days in D.C., the more I saw how much we need Him. E pluribus unum. Out of the many, one. We are many peoples forming one nation. The trouble is, some of the many are rising up wanting to divide. I saw how hard it is for us to agree on many things, as we sat in the House of Representatives gallery and listened to House members debate a bill. I'll have more to say on that later.

But y'all, we must pray for our leaders. So many issues clamor for their attention. And politics is politics. Just like I told Hannah, "This is how it starts in junior high. Some people want pink decorations for the dance. Others want blue." There are issues worth speaking up for. And some are just dance hall decorations.