Happy 250th Birthday America!

This post is a long one, but it’s worth it. Stay with me to the end.

I want you to know that It’s okay to be disappointed by what our president does or says.

AND It’s okay to still love your country though because we don’t pledge allegiance to a president, but rather to our Nation & Constitution.

It’s okay to still love your neighbor even though they have different political opinions than you.

Today marks the 250th anniversary of what our founding fathers called the great experiment.

We weren’t the first democracy nor will we be the last.

Empires rise and fall.

But for the last quarter of a millennium we have stood on the shoulders of the previous generations. We have righted the wrongs and fought valiantly to preserve the freedoms we so deeply cherish.

Millions of men and women have died for our country and tens of millions more have fought for it.

And when I look at Wilson County, and when I speak to voters, do you know what I see? I see humanity who so desperately needs hope.

That same hope that was promised of a better tomorrow.

The hope in a more perfect union.

The hope that every man, woman, and child would be given the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as their neighbor.

I see the man who saw me putting a sign in his neighbors yard and came out to greet me. Telling me how he had never voted for a Democrat before and how there was a first time for everything. I simply said “none of those labels matter. How about you just vote for your neighbor?” And his response?

With a smile on his face “yeah, that sounds about right, I can do that. You’ve got my vote.”

I see also the high schoolers who stop me at the store or at campaign events who thank me for seeing them beyond labels and being a voice for them.

I see parents who are struggling, who just need a break, and so desperately want a community to have their back.

I see folks who have lost their faith because of the actions of one person (or sometimes many) and the inaction of the God they once worshipped.

I see the parents who have lost children to miscarriage, gun violence, abuse, and a myriad of other problems.

I see, you.

Our founders wrote in our constitution:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

We the people… we are all one people. E pluribus unum. Out of many one. The sooner we come together instead of falling apart the sooner we can get back to agreeing problems exist and finding solutions. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a democrat or a republican. It only matters that you want the best for our country, for our people, and most importantly our community.

My ask today is that we as a community look past what makes us different and look at what makes us the same.

We are all God-breathed, divinely inspired, and made in His image. So when something is broken, we don’t discard it… no, we rise up and fix it.

When our school systems start failing because of intentional actions far beyond our control; when the Department of Education fires employees covering primary education, secondary education, special education, and civil rights; when the state starts stripping funding from our public schools to give to private schools; when everything feels like we’re losing…

We must come together and form a more perfect community here in Wilson County. That’s what I want us to do. This is my home. This is your home. Our children are depending on us to give them better than we ever had so that they can do the same for their children.

And the hopefulness we so desperately want? It’s here - is our community. We can find the hope to build up even when others are trying so voraciously to tear down. We can do it and all you need to do is vote.

Our right to vote, the direct answer to “no taxation without representation” is enshrined to us in our very Constitution. In fact it’s so important, we’ve needed to amend it 5 times so far to get where we are today.

The 15th Amendment: ended race-based voting bans
The 19th Amendment: gave women the right to vote (TN was the decisive 36th state to ratify on 8/18/1920)
The 23rd Amendment: allowed DC residents to vote for President
The 24th Amendment: abolished poll taxes
The 26th Amendment: lowered the voting age to 18

Voting is imperative and one of the few duties we the people are assigned in the constitution.

Be safe this holiday. Have a ton of fun! And remember, even if you mourn what could have been or what was don’t forget to look forward to what will be.

God Bless you all, and may God truly Bless the United States.