Going for Top Dog

Watch out Obama. Move over McCain. Abby is running for president! President of her Freshman class, that is. That's right, Abby came home Friday announcing her candidacy. Why should this shock me? She seems to know no bounds and isn't that the way I've tried to raise her anyhow?

We created bookmarks for her to pass out at school and posters to hang in the halls, all announcing, "Be Happy! Vote Abby!...Vote Abby Harms for Freshman Class President." We stuck a bright yellow smiley face right in the middle. They look mighty fine. Unfortunately, Abby doesn't look so fine herself. She's sick with either a bad cold or allergy problems. We don't know which because we've assumed it's just allergy problems, but all four of us have "caught" the same allergy bam, bam, bam, bam, four in a row. Coincidence or bad cold? We don't know. At any rate, Abby left for school this morning armed with posters, bookmarks, bottled water (to get the sinuses moving), and the will power to win this election. She'll campaign all week and the students vote Thursday and Friday.

That is, all 900+ students will vote. Yes, Abby's freshman class has over 900 students. This election should be a breeze since she knows about 25 of them. In my attempt to soften the blow in the event of defeat, I've tried to assure Abigail that she shouldn't take a loss personally. If she doesn't win it won't be because people don't like her; it will be because they don't have a clue who she is. Of course her opponent can't know more than about half of the kids herself. So who knows. Maybe a little anonymity will even play in Abigail's favor. She'll be the mysterious girl with the cute smiley face posters and the happy name. Just in case, I think she might better pass out candy later this week.

Well, I'm preparing for a grand celebration. Whether Abby wins the election or not, I'm proud of her for trying. It takes a lot of guts to run for president of a class of 900+, especially when you don't know 875 of them. And if anyone can beat such odds, Abby can. If you read this (and you are, evidently), please say a little prayer for Abigail. Pray that she feels a lot better as the week goes on. Pray that she'll effectively campaign and in the process meet lots of new friends. Pray that she'll either win gracefully or lose just as gracefully, but preferably win. And pray that God protects her sweet heart regardless of the results.

And if you know any 9th graders in her class, tell them to be happy and vote Abby!