As much as I would like to remove myself from the mess our nation is in, and the changes that will be necessary to raise us up again to the status we once held...I cannot. 

We elected a new president this week in what was a historic election process.  It doesn't matter who you voted for...it does matter that you voted and it does matter that we now stand together as one, as this new president struggles to mend a wounded nation.

Yet I will say this...I sit here today with great HOPE. Hope for my country and hope for its people.

I've wondered why I have this feeling of hope. Is it because of the obvious...a change in leadership which will certainly give us new direction? Is it because without hope there is nothing to aspire to? Or is it because of my faith that I choose to believe in what has yet to materialize?

The election of Oboma as our new president will certainly bring change. I don't expect any quick results...the mess we are in as a nation and the threatening situations around the world are not going to be corrected overnight. My HOPE is that the downward spiral can somehow be stabilized.

HOPE is believing in what cannot be seen. We all have our personal hopes and dreams. These dreams are why I get up in the morning...Why I push forward with my drawing and painting, creating new pieces when all the news media says "no one is buying"...Why I'm continually striving to maximize the marketing of my work even though results are slow to materialize. I believe I have a future. Without HOPE, life would be dismal indeed.

My Faith has always sustained me and it does so today. I believe we are going to be just fine. We tend to measure our wealth, health, and happiness by the 'worlds' standards. Yet by God's standards if we have something left after paying our debts...we are rich!

I sit here today a "rich woman"...secure in my HOPE for the future. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see".

My faith in my God and my Country is strong.