Before voting, think hard and carefully about your ballot choices

Opinion admin October 23, 2026 0 Comments

Before voting, think hard and carefully about your ballot choices | Opinion

Here we are, about to start a new week. I don’t take a new week for granted. I have always felt this way, but ever since I fell down a flight of stairs back in June, I am even more grateful for each day the Lord gives me.

It still amazes me how, I, an 88-year-old woman, could fall backwards down a flight of stairs and still be alive to testify of God’s amazing grace. Looking back, I still am in awe that I didn’t have any broken bones, or concussions. I realize that I could have been left paralyzed, or worse, dead. But God…

I know I have shared this story with my readers before, but sometimes, the blessings of God are worth revisiting. For me, falling down those stairs, and being able to talk about it, is one of those blessings. So, I’d like to share the story again because somebody might have missed it the first time.

So, if you are reading about “the fall” for the first time, and it so moves you, please share it with someone else. It just might strengthen their faith to learn what God did for me, truly a blessed woman.

While I was musing about my personal blessings, I thought about the season we are now living in. I’m not talking about the weather. I am talking about this election season, where we get to have a voice in who will be our next elected leaders.

Friends, to me, this is a serious season. Between elections, we hear a lot of complaining, and we see some terrible things going on. But remember, it was our votes that put the men and women in place to serve our communities and our country.

Voting is not a religion. But when done right, it is the best way we can put in place the men and women who will lead us. Therefore, those of us who believe in prayer should vote prayerfully.

We should not vote for a person because of his or her color or religion. Rather, we should ask the Lord to reveal the hidden messages in their political speeches, and then enter the voting booth prayerfully, asking the Lord to guide us in the right direction.

I know that not everyone believes the way I believe. That’s fine with me. This is simply the way I do it. While not everyone I vote for wins, I am convinced that God has a plan, even if I don’t understand it.

Some of you might even question how God would allow someone like Donald Trump, a convicted felon and a man who enjoys spreading discord, could become the president of the greatest nation in the world. I admit, when I first heard his slogan – “Make America Great Again” — I was concerned, and I’m still concerned.

You see, I am a Black woman who was born only 73 years post slavery, and who has lived through segregation and Jim Crow laws that told people who look like me, where we could live, be educated and work. I have had the experience of being called the “N” word, and as a woman, being denied equal pay for equal work.

I have worked as a maid, where I nurtured and loved white children like they were my very own, only to watch them grow up and be taught to disrespect me because I am Black.

Still, while I don’t understand all that God allows, I trust Him. I believe what the devil means for evil, God can turn it around for the good of us all.

Most of all, I pray every day for the president. He is not who I would have chosen to occupy the People’s House, but more people voted for him than Kamala Harris. I accepted that and looked forward to the next election time.

Therefore, I believe it is my duty as an American and Christian believer to keep President Trump and the leaders of this country, and yes, even the world, lifted in prayer.

I pray for them to ask for God’s guidance; to be wise in making decisions that will affect the people they have been chosen to lead. I do this because I truly believe God can change hearts.

I don’t intend to sound preachy. But if you have been a reader of my column for a while, you know that I am a woman of faith and that from time to time, I will share my faith and my opinions with my readers. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with me.

And, I am certainly not trying to tell you who to vote for, or even how to vote or what to vote for. I just want to encourage you to think hard and be serious about your choices. And then vote.

Free books for trick or treaters

While thousands of homes will be filled with candy to give to trick or treaters this Halloween, Ossie Hanauer has an alternative. Instead of candy, her yard at 10325 SW 99th St. will be filled with tables laden with books — 3,000 of them — to be given to trick or treaters.

The Halloween book giveaway is a tradition Hanauer, a former higher education professional whose career includes 15 years at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus, started five years ago.

“I have a free library in my front yard, that is open 24/7, where children come year-round for books. To me, this epitomizes the essence of what is important to children. They are more interested in reading than they are in the candy,” Hanauer said.

Last year, Hanauer gave out more than 1, 500 books. “The free library in front of. our house was the impetus for the Halloween book giveaway,” she said. “Neighborhood children tell us this is their favorite house and the parents are even more thrilled.

“One child told me she took one of the books for ‘show and tell’ at her school. Children of all ages come and rummage through the several tables of books, categorized to suit their interest. They can take as many as they can carry.”

The Halloween book giveaway will start around 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, and will last throughout the evening. It’s free.