Obama won... now what?

A quick 5 minute trip to Facebook this morning reminded me of the variety of emotions that people are feeling about the presidential election results from yesterday. "An historic event" happened (I love the proper "an") - you may be crying tears of joy, worried about the takeover of a liberal communist, apathetic, or somewhere in between.

Over the past two years of presidential campaigning, I've thought long and hard about what issues are important to me, about what kind of country I would like to live in. For me and many people around my age (20-somethings), this election was one that engaged us more than any other politics so far. As we processed our thoughts, a few most important values or issues floated to the top for each of us - what a great opportunity to think through them! And then we voted yesterday.

Obama won, and whether that is a dream come true or a nightmare, those values and issues shouldn't go away. Now that each of our votes are over and done with, what do we do with those values and issues?

I want to act on the things that I decided were most important to me. I cast my vote, but now it's really up to me. For example, I'm passionate about showing care for the poor, including health care and education, nutrition and family building. I contribute to those causes in small ways, but I'm challenged now to do more.

How about you? What values or issues defined your vote? Life? Peace? Education? Environment? Economic stability? Can you help at a crisis nursery, make peace at work, help in a local park, spend your money more carefully? You expected your candidate to do more - can you do more?

Obama won't fix (or break) the country, in spite of our hopes/fears. We will never fix all the problems of the world. But I will live, work, and pray hard at it.