This past week I had the opportunity to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Last Friday morning, I dropped our children off at school, and I climbed into a car with three other dear ladies from our church. We headed to Washington, DC., to attend the Million MAGA March!
Regardless of whom you voted for in this past election, you’re kidding yourself if you think that there was not election fraud happening! Last Monday, I happened to see a post about the Million MAGA of march in Washington DC. There was some chatter about it in our ladies group page from church, and I asked, “Who wants to go?” I never really thought that some of us would be able to actually attend! I mentioned it to Roger, but said, “I don’t see how I’d ever be able to go, especially on such short notice.” He replied, “Well, you could try. You could see if any of the other ladies from church can make it work.” I called our school administrator and asked if I could take a day off on Friday. She agreed. One step down! We were able to arrange for lodging near Washington, DC. Two steps down! Our pastor’s wife, Beth, and another dear friend, Robin, were also able to say yes to coming with us. It was truly of God that all the details could be worked out on such short notice!
We left on Friday morning around 7:30am, and we arrived about 8:00pm near Washington, DC. The day in the car had been spent with great time of fellowship, prayer time, and discussion about the state of our nation. While we were excited to attend this rally and support our President, this is also a somber time in our nation as we look to the future. What a privilege that we can cry out to our Heavenly Father and we know that He hears us! While He may not answer in the way that I am praying, I can rest confidently that He does hear our prayers.
Around 7;30 am, we left our place of lodging to head into Washington, DC. We were able to find the metro station, and we purchased passes for a day of riding the metro. We got on the metro that was about 25 minutes outside of the city. As soon as we entered the metro, we knew we were headed in the right direction. There were already people inside that were wearing Trump hats, carrying American flags, talking about the election, and patriotism was running high! As we settled into our seats, a gentleman sat behind us. He was probably in his early sixties. He looked so sad that I couldn’t help but smile (yes, I pulled down my mask to smile). He smiled back, and we struck up a conversation with him. Beth and I talked with him about where he had come from for the rally. He had driven from Kansas City, Missouri, to come to the rally. He had driven seventeen hours by himself. His eyes filled with tears as he talked with us expressing his deep sorrow over the state of our nation. He said he just felt like he needed to come to this rally to show his support. He had no idea how many people would come, but he felt like he needed to come. His comments echoed much of ours as my friends and I had discussed that we hoped it wasn’t going to be a rally for the President with just the four of us! The man introduced himself as Preston, and we continued to talk. He went on to explain that he had spent several years in Washington DC during the Reagan and Bush administration. This man had a wealth of information! As we neared the city, he encouraged us to be sure to stick together and stay on the main streets. As Trump supporters, he wasn’t sure what the atmosphere would be like.
Preston got off the metro at the same station that we did. He was/is very familiar with the city and he directed us towards the Freedom Plaza. We walked past the Trump hotel, and we encountered more and more Trump supporters (but not close to one million!). Because we were in the city so early and the rally was slated to start until noon, we had planned to wander around a bit and see what we could see. Preston offered to take us to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the White House and the Washington Monument. We agreed! This was a nice older gentleman and certainly none of the four of us knew what we were doing or where we were going! It ended up being Preston and I in the front as we started off walking. We had several deep conversations throughout the morning and at times both of us had tears or were shedding tears. This man has a deep love for America, but what struck me is that he also had a clear knowledge of the Bible. We talked about several parts of the Bible, our relationships with Jesus Christ, and God’s love for His children. I am absolutely convinced that God brought Preston into our life for that day in Washington, DC.
What a morning! Preston mentioned that he had never seen the city so boarded up or the White House so protected. As we walked past the White House, the motorcade went by! Yes, President Trump! I was only able to see him give a thumbs up, but Robin got to see the President! That was exciting! We enjoyed the opportunities to see the memorials, and there were American Patriots walking around everywhere. It still didn't feel like a million people, but it was probably about the safest day ever to walk in Washington DC! It was truly a day that I will never forget.
Around 11:45am, we headed back towards Freedom Plaza. As we got closer, we could see throngs and throngs of people! It was an amazing sight of American flags, Trump flags, banners, posters, and the American spirit of patriotism. Preston’s eyes filled with tears almost immediately as he said, “I never expected this. This is amazing! I never thought all these people would come to this rally!” As far as the eyes could see, there were people. People that had never met each other came together in a spirit of togetherness. The atmosphere was pleasant, happy, upbeat, and really, really amazing. As the time loomed closer to noon, we weren’t sure what was going to happen. We knew we were marching to the Supreme Court, but someone had to start the march. Suddenly we heard a voice over a loud speaker. It wasn’t a loud enough microphone for the amount of people, but we managed to ease up closer. Someone from the Concerned Women of America welcomed us to the rally. Next someone prayed which I was not expecting. I have no idea who prayed, but whomever it was, I could agree with as he prayed. He prayed for God to give us mercy as a nation. He prayed that evil would be stopped. He asked for forgiveness on our land as we recognized that we had sinned against a Holy God. Surprisingly enough, people were quiet and respectful for the most part. There was a group of young men who rudely interrupted the prayer every once in a while with their chants of “America First” and that was annoying. But others also found it annoying, and the preacher continued to pray. It was encouraging to hear him pray. Following the prayer we sang the National Anthem. Do you have any idea what it is like to hear almost a million people singing the Star-Spangled Banner?! It’ll give you goosebumps and send tears to your eyes, let me assure you! Shortly after the National Anthem, there seemed to be a surge to turn around and start walking towards the Supreme Court. It’s about a mile and one-half to the Supreme Court, and there were people everywhere. At every intersection, throngs of people merged with the Main Street to head towards the Supreme Court. So many nationalities of people were represented. We passed a group singing “God Bless America”. We walked with people with signs stating, “Teachers for Trump”, “Stop the Steal”, “God bless the President”, and many many more signs. It was truly magnificent. As we neared the Supreme Court, we could see a group of Antifa on the outer fringes trying to stir up trouble. They were yelling obscenities and trying to engage people. However, no one was engaging them. There were plenty of people taking pictures, but we just walked on by. As we approached the Supreme Court, we weren’t really sure what was going to happen next. We assumed that someone was going to speak, but we had no idea whom. We visited with the people around us and met people from Connecticut, South Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin, and many other states. Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing, “We had no idea how many people would come to this, but we felt like we needed to be a part of this rally.” We were all really surprised at how many people came. Another lady from the Concerned Women for America got up in front of the microphone to say that the speakers were having trouble getting to the Supreme Court due to the crowds of people. We were near someone who had a wireless speaker playing some worship music. It was beautiful. Preston asked Beth and I if we felt like God could use something like this event to bring a revival to America. Oh, yes, I absolutely do. He said that he felt the same way, and he is also praying for a great revival in American.
Someone named “Alex Jones” got up to speak, and I was not a huge fan. I can appreciate his heart for America, but I can think of better ways to state the same thing. He doesn’t have the authority to say that we are starting the next “revolution”. He was a little too far right for me to feel comfortable with, but like I said, I can appreciate his enthusiasm. He did pray, and he did pray for many of the same things that I would pray for in America. After he spoke, there seemed to be a lull and no one seemed to know what was next in the order of events. People starting to leave as it was nearing 1:30pm. A lady got up and began to speak. Unfortunately, her voice was so terrible in the microphone that it was awful. Her voice should be used on the enemy not on Patriots! Preston said that he needed to get headed home, and we also decided to begin to leave the rally. Preston said that he could get us back to the metro station, but we decided that we weren’t quite ready to leave. He said his good byes to us, and he headed toward the metro. We looked at each other for a moment, and then decided that most of us didn’t have a lot of energy left. We sat on the grass outside our national capital building, and we prayed. Nothing magical or mysterious happened, but to pray on the grass outside the capital was a memory for me. I’ll never forget this day. It was about two pm, and we decided to head out of the city. We found the metro station, and headed back to our place of lodging.
It was good to sit and reflect on the day’s events, and we all felt so glad that God had orchestrated the events so that we could come. We left for Maine around 5:30 am. What a day! I spent most of the day in the car making lesson plans, writing notes, and trying to find out where I could get a Covid test! In my opinion, our governor has no business telling people that they need to have a Covid test when it is so hard to get one! I tried for endless hours to get a rapid test scheduled somewhere in our state, but to no avail! I finally had to ask for a substitute teacher for Monday, as I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get a Covid test before school on Monday morning.
So on Monday morning, I dropped the kids off at school and began hunting for a place to get a Covid test taken. Every place I called said that because I didn’t have any symptoms they would put me down for a test that you get the results in three to five days! I don’t have three to five days! Ugh! I finally managed to snag an appointment in Portland but it wasn’t a rapid test. The lady at the CVS place told me that it would possibly take up to 48 hours to get my results. Great- not! But what choice did I have? I asked for a substitute for my class again on Tuesday, and checked often for my results...nothing! By Wednesday, I was about to go crazy as I have now used up all my personal days, and I wasn’t even sick or on vacation! I called an area clinic and asked if they had any possible openings. She replied that she could get me in at 2;15pm on Wednesday, but the results might take 24 hours. Seriously? So if I am dying, no one is urgently telling me that! I decided to go ahead and take another Covid test just in case they were able to get my results to me sooner than CVS. Let me assure you, while both Covid tests that I took were different, there is nothing comfortable about anything going that far up your nose! I did not sleep well on Wednesday night, as I was fervent in prayer that I would get these Covid results back. Praise the Lord! By five am. the results were in my email....negative!(Which I suspected I would be negative all along! Not to mention the fact that if I did actually have Covid there is no way that I could’ve caught it while being out of the state for less than 72 hours!) About ten am. on Thursday morning, I got the results from my Covid test at CVS. Another negative test! So, I guess I’m good for hugging for a while!
So, on Thursday morning, I was finally able to return to school. I had certainly missed my class, and I am so thankful to be back at school with them. Yes, I would travel out of state again. Yes, I would set up a rapid Covid test before I left the state. Yes, I will continue to live my life and live it abundantly! Yes, I think the virus is real. No, I do not think it should control my life. No, I will not be manipulated by fear, chaos and confusion. Yes, I will still love people who disagree with me. No, I don’t need to argue with everyone who does not see my opinion.
It was an amazing day in Washington, DC. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of making history. God is so good!
The weekend reminded me that we are not alone in our prayers for our nation. There are many, many like-minded people who are also praying for our nation. There are still American people who want to do the right thing, who want America to be a God-fearing nation, who desire America to be a place they want to raise their children and families. May God grant us mercy we do not deserve, but so humbly and fervently ask for on our nation! Please continue to pray with us!
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