My thoughts on the Inauguration 2009 ~

Our adventure to the Inauguration began well before the Elections in November 2008. We called Senator Sessions office and requested to be put on the list to receive tickets to the swearing in ceremonies in January 2009. We did not know the outcome of the elections but because we had the privilege of attending the Inauguration in 2005 we knew what an incredible opportunity it would be to go again in 2009.

Before Election Night 2008 Randy & I began discussing what we would do if “our guy” didn’t win the election. When November 4th was over it was time to make our decision. We had hoped to be going for the Inauguration of John McCain and Sarah Palin but the outcome was different, Barack Obama and Joe Biden won the race for President and Vice President Elect of the United States. There were two main reasons why we decided we would make plans to attend the Inauguration on January 20, 2009. Most importantly, we acknowledge that God is Sovereign. We know that He is in control of all things. We know that He alone raises and tears down Kings (leaders). We are called to honor our leaders and to pray for them. Going to the Inauguration was our way to honor the new administration and to demonstrate that act of honor to both our girls and others that might be watching. President Obama is our President and we will pray for him as he seeks to lead this country. Secondly, this Inauguration will be extremely historical. As parents and educators what an amazing opportunity for our girls to witness this incredibly historical day!

We were able to make arrangements to leave on Friday, January the 16th to head to Washington. We arrived early Friday morning, made our way to the Russell Senate Building to pick up our tickets to the Inauguration. We had the privilege of speaking to Sen. Sessions, as well as many of his staffers. The next week was filled with trips to museums, monuments, the National Zoo, the Portrait Gallery, walks on the National Mall, a tour of the Capitol, visits to both the House & Senate Galleries, as well as surprise tickets to the Kids Inaugural Concert.

During these first days we met so many amazing people from all over the country, actually from across the world. They travelled from near and far to be here in Washington DC for Tuesday’s Inauguration. I watched as a group of older black women were moved to tears as they saw Barack Obama’s photograph displayed with all the other Presidents of the United States in a traveling Portrait Exhibit. Their emotion caused me to contemplate for a moment what they must have been feeling ~ feelings of pride, relief, sadness that their parents did not live to see this day, mostly I saw deep joy – they see hope in this man that on Tuesday would become our President. The tone of all the people we encountered those first few days was one of celebration, excitement, elation. Although, we did not agree with most of them politically, we were ALL American’s, all here for this historic day, all a part of the fabric of this amazing Nation ~ home of the free and the brave!

Tuesday came before we knew it; we were as prepared as we possibly could have been. We knew we needed many layers after our experience at the Inauguration four years ago where the temperature never rose above 16. We also knew that we needed to leave VERY early in order to make our way to our check point to be screened by security before entering the Silver Ticketed Area. Our friends, the Loggins’, would be meeting us at the Marta subway stop in Alexandria, VA. We met at the Braddock Road stop at 5:30am. We rode the Yellow Line across the Potomac River to the L’Enfant Plaza Station where we changed to the Blue Line which took us to the Federal Center station. This was the stop we were to take to get to the security check point for our ticketed area.

The crowds were as we had expected at the first two stations, but on arriving at Federal Center we were stunned. The train doors opened. We began to exit. There honestly was not enough room on the platform for us to exit, but we squeezed off the train with the rest of the riders. The platform, which was about 30 to 40 feet wide, was completely packed with people, shoulder to shoulder. There was little movement. The security officers attempted to keep people from getting too close to the edge of the platform, trying to prevent someone from getting hit by a train. The trains continued to move in and out of the station, adding more and more people to this already full subway station. We moved at a snail’s pace, slowly but surely making our way down the platform and up the escalator. Finally, the authorities opened the gates so that each person did not have to scan their card to get out of the station. This did not improved the time by much but it did help! From the time our train pulled into the station to the time we arrived at street level was over an hour! We were just thankful to make it safely out of the tunnel and into the fresh COLD air!

Once on the street, 3rd Street NW, we followed the signs and the crowds toward our Gate entry point. The streets were completely blocked to vehicles and were totally packed with people from one side of the street to the other. The time is now around 6:45am. This is where our experience with the people attending the Inauguration changed. There were several times when the crowd got riled up. They became angry because there was no movement towards the Gate. They began pushing, ignoring the direction of the FBI, Police and Washington Mall Security. Some would push around the barricades running across Independence Avenue SW toward the front of the line. Many in the crowd would say, “Go ahead… push through, they can’t arrest us all!” This was not an isolated comment. We heard this comment over and over throughout the morning as we pressed on through the crowd towards the security check point. At one point, when the mass of people shifted, we found ourselves at the corner of 3rd Street NW and Independence Avenue SW against the security fencing. The crowd began to push again, pushing all of us, but especially Emma, our youngest daughter, against the metal security barrier. They refused to stop pushing with a simple request; I had to raise my voice, asking them to please stop pushing, telling them that there was a child against the fence that was going to get hurt if they didn’t stop pushing. This was scary. Thankfully within a few minutes we were over to the other side of the street where we were not quite so compressed. We worked our way through the funnel and into security. By now it was close to 9:00am. We all went through security. Compared to the last Inauguration the security screening was far less thorough. The most surprising things, they NEVER checked our tickets, my camera was not taken apart, to verify that it was really a camera and several of our bags were not checked! We made our way from there across 3rd Street NW onto the Capitol Grounds into the front of the Silver ticket section. The area was filling up, we went first up to the edge of the Reflecting Pool, although closer to the Capitol the view was not so clear, so we decided to go back about 20 yards to an area dead center of the Capitol just out from under the trees right alongside the area blocked off for emergency vehicles to come and go as well as those needing handicap accessibility.

From our spot on the National Mall we became a handful of people among a sea of millions! It was truly incredible. We received many text messages and a few phone calls during the morning hours ~ with questions like: “Where are you?”, “What is it like?”, “Are you surviving the crowds and the cold?”, “Can you eat?”, most importantly, “Praying for you!”. My dear friend, Nancy, in Oklahoma asked me in a text message, “What is it like, how are you feeling about it all?” At that point, we were listening to the band playing God Bless America. I told Nancy, “It is incredible, to be here, singing God Bless America with all these other people, no matter who you voted for this is America and to witness the transfer of power so peacefully is truly amazing!” Standing there you are reminded of how faithful God has been to you and to your family. It was a beautiful time!

The sad thing is how the attitude of the people turned so quickly. First, this was experienced by the rushing of the people through security fencing, ONTO the Reflecting Pool and into the Purple and Blue section that was in front of us. This is sad in many ways, 1) the disregard for property: they were climbing onto statues and monuments to get a better view. 2) The disregard for persons: their refusal to remain in the area designated for them caused other check points to be closed keeping people who did have tickets for the Purple and Blue sections out of the Ceremony all together because those who were not obeying the rules filled up that area. 3) the disregard of the event they were attending: this was a ceremony, an event that should have been witnessed with honor & dignity & self control. Other than those that were kept out because of this behavior, as far as I know no one was hurt during that first security breech.

Just a few minutes had passed; others saw that there was now room up ahead because so many people left the area. This knowledge immediately began riling up the people around us. They were arguing with the police about why he wouldn’t allow them to fill in the emergency area. That didn’t get them any closer to the Capitol so this group of a couple hundred people decided to just push over the security barricade & press in closer. Upon doing so, they trampled a woman. She had to be taken out by stretcher to an ambulance. The extent to which people are willing to go to fulfill their own wants and desires was becoming more and more sobering.

The time is now about 11:30am. All the dignitaries are being introduced. This is when my heart broke and began to weep for the condition of our country. There were three events that concluded our time at the Inauguration Ceremonies. The first happen with President Bush was announced. The booing from the entire area we were in was so loud you could no longer hear the announcer, even through the speaker system. It was at the same noise level that a cheer might erupt when the winning touchdown is made at the Super Bowl. This was very sad to me. Now, I understand that Bush is a Republican and most of those there on the 20th were Democrats, but this was a ceremony, a final moment as our President. Never before has the crowd been so disrespectful of a President from another party, never. Secondly, as we looked around at the reaction of the crowd to Bush we noticed that the area in which we had been for hours earlier in the morning, down 3rd Street SW & Independence Avenue SW, was completely packed with people, and those people were charging the 3 different security barriers running full force towards the Silver section where we were. This was frightening to say the least 1) these people had not been checked through security 2) because at this point the police literally threw up their hands and walked away! We knew at the point we had to leave in order to protect our girl’s safety. We waited until the crowded calmed and began moving out. We paused to pray with Rick Warren and again the depravity of the masses broke my heart even deeper still. Rather than quietly listening to the prayer, the made rude jokes and when he began saying the Lord’s Prayer there were actually people who spat on the ground in disgust.

Through our tears we began to leave the area in order to get somewhere safer. I was alarmed that the mass media did not cover this side of the Inauguration. I was disappointed to read reports from the Inauguration Committee that things went smoothly and that the Secret Service was please with the outcome of the day because no one had to be arrested. They turned their backs and walked away from utter disregard for the law. Now, Randy says, he thinks we actually were safer because they didn’t do anything, because if they were willing to push through all that they did and go past military, Secret Service & police with machine guns on their sides, there is no telling what they would have done if any resistance was put up against them. I know that if President Obama had been standing there with us, his heart would have been just as broken as ours was.

Please remember that I shared with you about many amazing people we met during our eight day visit to Washington. The attitude around us on Tuesday seemed to be a very different group of people. But the voices were loud and the cries of godlessness were almost deafening. I have to tell you that I am thankful that I witnessed what I did on that Tuesday just three weeks ago. If I had not witnessed it with my own eyes, I don’t believe I would have been able to conceive the reality of what happen. I know that because of being there I will be all the more fervent in my prayers, 1) that my God will revive my heart, 2) He would begin a revival in the hearts of those in my family, and 3) because of those transforming changes I am praying that the believers in my church and the Church across the world will be revived to a passion for Christ & for the lost. Because then and only then can we reach out and tell the lost about a Savior who loves us in spite of our sin, a Savior who took our place to pay the debt we could not pay, a Savior who is able to transform us into His imagine. My hope is that you too may be burdened for the spiritual condition of your heart and of the hearts of men around you. May God humble us, hear our prayers & save us!