Pain in the Arena and What to Do

There is pain in the arena of civic engagement. It is not all sunshine, lollypops, ease, and convenience. It hurts. It is slow. It gets personal. And at times there are setbacks. 

For those who have been involved in the civic process of America for longer than 10 years, you know that there are ebbs and flows but that the high waves will calm down and the calm moments will get high again. You have to pace yourself, and keep your eye on the bigger picture. We are needed now more than ever. We cannot stay away because of the discomfort. We must admit sometimes the pain is worth it if it gets us to a better place. 

NEW YEAR NEW YOU
So as you start this new year, committed to being involved, what are the top 2 things you can do to make a difference? 

1. Spend time seeking God, praying, listening, and gleaning from His wisdom and strategy 
2. Show up. 

Show up, Amy? That’s it? 

That’s it. 

JUST SHOW UP?
Show up at the local civic meetings. You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to bring a 100 people with you. You don’t have to give a big speech or rant and rave. You don’t even have to understand what is going on. But show up. 

By showing up you let the leaders know that you care, that you are paying attention, and that you will hold them accountable. Your presence - aka “showing up” - is significant. It also rallies others, encourages them that they are not alone, and strengthens those who also feel called to do something. 

HOW TO SHOW UP? 
Here is what I mean by showing up: 

• Show up to the school board meetings with a smile on your face, eager to learn, listening for ways you might be able to help 
• Show up to Township meetings with hope in your eyes knowing that it all starts on the local level and these are people in your community that you are called to love 
• Show up to County Commission meetings with a backbone confident that you are made for such a time as this and you are needed and you have something to offer 
• Show up to City Council meetings with a pen and paper in hand, ready to take notes and write down questions you want to follow up to Council Members, or information you want to share with your neighbor
• Show up to the State School Board meetings and let the liberals in leadership know and understand you care and you are watching and waiting

DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO? 
I know. I can hear you now. You are thinking, “But Amy, I don't know what to do.”  Welcome aboard. I have never lived in this moment of history either and I don’t have all the answers but … I know I can show up. 

And as you and I show up, doors will open. Conversations will start. Connections will be made. Opportunities will be revealed. 

But the worst that could happen is that men and women of faith stop seeking God, and continue with the tradition of not showing up in the public square. 


BUT WHY DO IT IF IT’S PAINFUL? 
I can hear your next quip, “But Amy I can’t handle the pain you talk about or the awkward position it may put me in.”

Congratulations. You are human. And you were not meant to understand it all or bear it all before you show up. 

God never said “hide from the world” or “avoid the discomforts.” What we have right now is a society that is displaying the fruit of men and women of class and integrity not being involved and not showing up for eons. 

When you look at the crime ridden cities, the corrupt councils, the big government local township boards, and the deceived school boards: the reason things are so bad is that the people of God have not shown up for decades in the public square. If men and women had even SHOWN UP to vote, shown up to community meetings, shown up to be a presence in the audience while never running for office, I guarantee you things might have been different in this hour. 

But alas here we are. 

WHAT DOES OUR INACTIVITY SAY ABOUT US? 
By our inactivity, we have said:

• Our lives are more important than the local community 
• Our personal jobs and families are more important than holding leaders accountable for 2 hours a month 
• We care more about our evening TV show than we do about speaking up at a local school board meeting on policy that could radically change the future of our youth 
• We don’t believe our lives matters enough to truly make a difference 
• Someone else will do it. We are not really needed or wanted. 
• We don’t have time - our time is more precious now than the future for our children. 
• Our comfort is more important now than the discomfort future generations will have in the land of no freedom or liberty 

IT'S UP TO US
The way I see it: we don’t have a choice. We have to start seeking God - because our country is desperate for answers and His intervention - and we have to start showing up. No one else will.

It is time that we show up in the arena. We are needed now more than ever. What the future of our county, state, and nation looks like is up to God and us. It's time we start showing up.

​Will you join me? 


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- Amy Hawkins (Jackson Michigan) is a small business owner with 20 years in statewide politics, movement building, and inspiring action for civic engagement. 
 

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