A Time to Vote: Episode 40

You're probably thinking, Where in the world is the lovely and talented Lisa Anderson? Well, she's having a busy week preparing for her friend's wedding. Here's her e-mail begging off this week's podcast blog:

First I have to go to a final dress fitting and nail appt, then rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and a bachelorette party that I'm cohosting. Then I'm housing the bride and the maid of honor. Then Friday it's hair appts, getting ready, photos, the wedding, reception, etc. Saturday is Love Won Out, which I have to work, plus [my nephew's] birthday party. Sunday, [my church community] has a potluck with [another church community].

So she asked if I could write it. Which is awesome because we talk about politics in this week's Roundtable. And as many of you may know, I love talking politics.

A Time to Vote -- 0:00
I'm leading a book study this semester on Paul Tripp's "How People Change." There's a part that talks about how Christians should be "thankfully discontent" or "joyfully dissatisfied" this side of heaven as we long to be like Christ. The reason I bring it up here is because it perfectly describes my approach to politics. I am thankful for our political process even when I'm discontent with the outcome; I am joyful in the hope I have in Christ though I may be dissatisfied with policies that reflect a fallen world. You'll hear more in this week's Roundtable as we talk about this year's election.

Bebo Norman -- 17:45
For our Culture segment, Lisa sits down with Bebo Norman to talk about 13 years in the music biz, marrying at 30, and his latest, self-titled album with a song to Britney Spears. Afterward, Bebo and I shared some funny anecdotes about growing up in the South with unusual names. Oh, and he's also graciously provided his music for the show. Which is awesome.

The College Car -- 42:16
My first college car was 1980 Mercury Bobcat. Ain't she a beaut? Ah, the memories: the slip of the clutch, the crack in the dash, the really, really, really, really slow acceleration. This week Patrick Dunn recollects his college car and how he drove it to a little place called spiritual maturity.

Strong Community or Strong Preaching? -- 49:35
There's no such thing as the perfect church. So most of us find ourselves committed to a body of believers with strengths in one area and seeming insufficiencies in another. In this week's Inbox, Lisa, Ted, and I answer a question from a young woman who's benefiting from a strong 20-something community at her church but longs for deeper teaching. Should she stay or go?

Comments

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1. Charles H. said the following at 1:58 PM on Oct 25:

Bebo Norman, if you're reading this... I read about the Britney Spears song after hearing it on the radio (in an effort to figure out what you were trying to say through it), but I still don't get it. Why are we apologizing for problems someone else created? Hollywooders have tried for years to stay in the public eye through strange behavior. Michael Jackson (amongst many others) practically built a career on it. Sure, it's dumb, but what about this particular risen-and-fallen "star" makes it different?

2. Saidah said the following at 8:46 AM on Oct 26:

I think the Bebo Norman song for Britney is beautiful. I've been sad for that girl for years. That poor kid living like that for all these years. Sometimes I really wonder what the heck these kids' parents are thinking. But really if you could meet her and you could make a three-minute-max impact on her life, would you really give you the lecture of a lifetime, fire-and-brimstone and all? Frankly,I think Bebo Norman got it right. Love is an amazing thing.

3. DannieA said the following at 7:46 PM on Oct 26:

I loved the voting part...it's nice to know that even though some parts of the election can seem glum, there still is excitement in voting.

My college car was cool! I had to take a hammer and pound on the cables going to the battery to help it start...I miss that car! It was the car my parents gave me to drive when I was 17 and it was an old car then...I whined and complained about it, but truth be told, that has been my favorite car to date.

4. BDB said the following at 10:29 PM on Oct 26:

The FocusVoter.com site is pretty thin. Out of all the things on the ballot, the only things it pulled up for me were the presidential election and the Prop 8 marriage initiative. No other comments - nothing on judges, congressmen, etc. When I click on the CitizenLink link, it dumps me right back to the focusvoter.com web site. Seems kinda thin.

5. BDB said the following at 10:31 PM on Oct 26:

MY COLLEGE CAR

In 1990 my father bought me my first car. I had just finished my first year of college, and he promised me a car if I made it through successfully. He kept his promise. I flew from Southern California up to Seattle. We drove the car back to Southern California together.
It was a 1984 Mazda 626. It looked good. It had a little over 100,000 miles on it, but in 1990 we were all getting used to the idea that Japanese cars ran forever. I was excited! Pretty much everyone drives in California, so anyone without a car is really stuck. It was so nice to finally have freedom.
That freedom came at a cost. Other than regular oil changes, I really didn’t know how to maintain a car properly. This was exacerbated by the fact that I tried to “save” money by getting work done in little shops. As I put more and more miles on the car, it needed more and more work done.
Not understanding radiator maintenance, I ended up driving it too hot one day. My dad’s car had a steel engine. If it was too hot and stalled, you could just re-start it and keep driving, turning on the heater to cool the engine. So I did that with mine. But with an aluminum engine, I cracked the head. Cost? $800 on my credit card. But I had my freedom back.
Unfortunately, I didn’t understand transmission maintenance, either. One day a bad grinding noise developed. I took it to a transmission place. Bad news - $1400 to rebuild it. I had to split this one between two credit cards, but the car was working again.
I drove it home for Christmas to Seattle – 1300 miles. That year there were snow storms. Bad tires, I got into two accidents. One cost over $2000 to fix. The car was in the shop throughout Christmas break – so much for driving freedom. My insurance agent chewed me out. My grandparents offered me a plane ticket back to college, they suggested I could do just fine in college without a car. I insisted on driving back. In fact, I picked up a fellow student in Portland for the return trip. At least this time I was smart enough to drive along the coast and avoid the snow.
My supervisors at work were very concerned at how much the car cost me in maintenance. They counseled me to buy better gas. Indeed, I put one tank of Premium in from one of the higher-priced stations, and all my carburetor problems went away before I got through the first tank. But I couldn’t see my way financially to getting a new car.
I still had that car when I graduated college, and kept driving it. About a year after college graduation I had put new shocks and tires on the front wheels, but I realized that there were $2000 in repairs that I knew about. I’d been working my first job and was making enough to consider getting a car.
Still I was hesitant. I washed the car, tried to de-grease the engine (there was a pretty bad oil leak) and cleaned it up inside. I drove to the new Saturn dealer, telling myself that I would just get a price on a trade in.
While I was inside, someone came running in. They said they saw smoke coming from my car. I rushed outside. Sure enough, smoke from under the hood. I popped the hood. Flames. I dropped the hood.
Rushing back inside the car dealership, I breathlessly asked if they had a fire extinguisher. They did and one of the guys ran out with me. I lifted up the hood and he put out the fire. It had burned all the wires in the engine. There was no way I was going anywhere.
While I had been praying about whether to finally get rid of a car I loved, it looked to me like God decided to force the issue. I sheepishly went back inside and bought a new Saturn. Talk about a weak negotiating position. I’m glad they had a no-haggle pricing policy. Work needed to be done to prep the new car. Under the circumstances, they sent me home with a loaner for a few days. I was grateful for that.
The next day was Easter morning. At 5am I was up and started driving to the park where my church was holding a sunrise service. It was a chilly morning, so I turned on the heat.
And suddenly I realized – I had heat! For years I’d been driving a car with a heater that barely worked. When I drove home to Seattle in the snow storm I had to wear two coats and gloves the entire way because it was so cold in the car. Now, on my way to an early-morning meeting, I realized what I had been missing all those years.
When my new car was ready I turned in the loaner. The salesman was kind enough to take a few minutes teach me how to drive a stick shift in my new car. Six months later I realized that this car was running so well that I hadn’t needed to take it into the shop for any problems.
And that’s when it hit me – I got chills when I realized one of God’s truths: that He can take something away in order to replace it with something better.
Since then I’ve bought three more cars – two of them Saturns, since I was so pleased with how they treated me in my hour of need. And I no longer cling so tightly to a hunk of metal and plastic. Each of those other cars was a quick filling out of the paperwork, transferring the items in the trunk, and I was off – not looking back. Cars are just a tool now. But the lesson I learned on an Easter morning stays with me.

6. grace said the following at 5:25 PM on Oct 28:

I just listened to this week’s episode and I wanted to comment on ‘early voting.’ There is no such thing as ‘early voting;’ there is regular voting – going to the polls on election day, and absentee voting – where you fill out your ballot and send it in before Election Day. When all these people in the media talk about ‘early voting’ they are really referring to absentee voting. (I am a poll worker, and we just went over this issue this morning!) Whether you get your absentee ballot in the mail or physically go to your town hall and vote before Election Day; these are both absentee voting and the ballots are handled the same way on Election Day.
When you absentee vote your ballot is placed in an envelope and not opened until Election Day. The poll workers then have to physically stand in line with your ballot and run through the entire process; they are essentially taking your place in line.
I would encourage everyone first of all to vote, please vote!, but second of all to vote on Election Day. If the only way you can vote is absentee then yes, please do; but for the sake of your poll workers please vote on Election Day if you can. Thanks!

7. Bethany Pledge Erickson said the following at 6:53 PM on Oct 28:

Grace, I wonder if you are in a state that doesn't allow early voting? In IL, I don't think early voting is the same as absentee voting...

8. DJS said the following at 9:47 PM on Oct 28:

Early voting and absentee voting are not the same. Elections are governed by the states and each state can choose the general process that it uses. Some states have chosen to attempt to give voters more options and allow them to come and vote early so as to not have to wait in line on election day. However, I am 99% sure that none of these votes can be officially counted until election day. But, I'm sure that are pollsters who are running exit polls just outside these early voting locations.

9. grace said the following at 1:21 PM on Oct 29:

Bethany Pledge Erickson and DJS,
You can visit the National Conference of State Legislatures website at:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/absentearly.htm
for more information on absentee and 'early' voting.
And you are right DJS, no votes are offically counted until Election Day.

10. Rachel said the following at 12:08 PM on Nov 1:

Yeah I found focusvoter.com to be a very disappointing website.