A touching story - my teenage daughter, usually more interested in volleyball and her ipod than anything current events related - gave me money today to donate to Obama.
What's going on here?
My daughter is 14. Like most 14 year olds, she's a freshman in high school, and is eternally interested in...well, teenage stuff. Her volleyball team, her music, texting and guitar hero and stuff like that. Politics? Uh, not so much.
So this morning she walks up to me and hands me $5. Hmph, that's a switch. Usually she's begging me for money. She says "go online and make a donation to Barack Obama for me".
I said OK...but why? Why the sudden interest in politics? She explained that she saw part of Obama's tv program last night. But that isn't what did it. It was the three negative McCain ads that set her off. She saw them as blatantly unfair, since Obama seemed so "nice and down to earth" when she watched him on tv.
So Dad did his duty. I pocketed the fiver, went to my pc, and donated to Obama. Actually I matched her $5...and added $25 more. And believe me, I was smiling the whole time.
You see, I don't preach politics to my kids. My son is on his 3rd tour of Iraq, and he's figured it out on his own. Same for my daughter. They need guidance, and they need love. It's my job to teach them kindness and respect, to show them the basics and fundamentals of my Christian faith, and to instill a good work ethic in them. But beyond that, they need to make their own decisions.
I can't make them into Christians. That's a decision they have to make.
I can't make them Democrats or Republicans. Nor would I want to. They need to figure it out on their own.
Today; I can say that little girl made her Daddy very proud.
She gave $5. So can you. ActBlue - Donate to Obama