I think the statement, "Buckle up, I think we are in for a bumpy ride" will be very fitting for the coming days! 
 
I don't know if you have close friends or family members who are on differing sides of this presidential race, but we have that situation at our home.  We started to see our personality preferences emerge in how we sift through the issues. With my personality being Powerful Choleric-Playful Sanguine, I lean toward the statement, "You can't have ultimate peace, until you have ultimate power," while my husband who is Peaceful Phlegmatic-Proper Melancholic, values "diplomacy" above all else.  Can you guess what the conversations are at our house? =0)
 

We not only found our personalities influencing our choices, but as we pushed into mid-age, the black and white of the issues started to bleed grey in a few places, like war, the economy, taxes and issues of compromise.
 
We have raised our children to be thinkers; seek the facts, weigh the consequences, pray for guidance.  This all sounds great until they have a differing opinion than ours.  Which lead us to enact our next family value - Agree to disagree!  
 
In our struggle to find a place in this politically charged atmosphere, we felt pushed to become Independents.  Over the years, I have found that being an Independent has not endeared me to everyone and has even set the stage for becoming the enemy to many. Through voicing my opinion, I have found many who feel and think the same way I do and this election has brought us out into the open. 
 
It's not that Independents don't have convictions - trust me, I have convictions.  It's just that my convictions fall in both camps; Gay and Lesbian men and women should be treated with respect and have rights as any other person.  Their sins are no more grievous than the sins that enter the church doors every Sunday.  In fact, my Gay and Lesbian friends have been kinder and more loving to me than many of the church people have been. I have been told this issue is a Democratic "platform."

 
I also feel the unborn should be protected from the first day of conception and women shouldn't be exploited by the lie that abortion whispers, that riding ourselves of unwanted pregnancies is a right that will keep us free to live anyway we choose.  Abortion renders more than the death of a potential life. It steals a piece of a woman's soul and replaces it with shame.  It has taken many years for some of my friends to deal with the emotional baggage of their abortions. It pains me deeply to watch them struggle with this wound. Apparently, you have to be Republican to be Pro-Life.
 
The lines are not as cut and dry as we might want them to be. There are so many issues and topics to talk through, pray over and form a decision on, that one could get dizzy just thinking about it.  I guess the guidelines we taught our children are good ones to follow in the coming days of this election: 

 Agree to disagree.