Proud American?

I could hardly sleep last night. I tossed and turned and checked the clock every every hour or so. I was anxious to get to the polls. I didn't care how long the lines were or how long I had to wait. I had a made up mind that I was going to cast my vote and nothing could stand in my way. Not lack of sleep, long lines or the negativity that some have been spreading in their attempts to suppress the vote. I was voting and that was it! (Imagine how much better of we could be if we took that same initiative and applied it to other decisions we need to make in life.)

As I stood in line and looked around, I couldn't help but to Thank God. America has it's issues but I still believe we live in the best country in the world! Millions of people risk their lives every year illegally crossing our boarders and many more spend every dime they have just to get here. Many of these people come from countries where they aren't able to post their political thoughts and views publicly like we do here or they are intimidated by armed soldiers while heading to the polls. But we don't have to worry about that. (So maybe we need to spend less time complaining about Bush and thank God that we aren't living under a dictatorship.)

An overwhelming feeling of gratefulness overtook my body and yes, I nearly cried. I thought back to the first time I heard the "I Have a Dream Speech" and the first time I heard our eloquent Democratic Nominee speak and I imagined that if Dr. King were here today that he sure would be proud. I thought about racial inequality and how many feel that the minorities are still unfairly treated and discriminated against. For this one brief moment in time, I didn't care about any of that. I was proud of Barack Obama but more importantly I was proud of America. I never thought I would live to see the day where a black man was seriously considered for the office of Commander and Chief of the United States of America. It was beautiful.I thought about the long, dark difficult road that many civil rights activists (famous and non)traveled so that we as a nation could be where we are today and suddenly, the line didn't seem so long anymore.

Now I am not naive enough to believe that racism has ended and everything is honkey dorey but I do see that things are no where near as bad as they used to be. I thank God for all that He has done. If you'll take a moment and think back to the state our nation was in 40 years ago and look at it today it's hard to believe that we are talking about the same country. (Imagine what a little prayer and perseverance could do in our individual lives.)

I've decided to dedicate today's blog to Americans. Are you proud to Be an American? Why or why not?