I often don’t know what I’m going to write about, until I sit down at my computer and start striking the keys. The words begin to flow about one thing or another and soon, a story emerges. A sweet, little anecdote about the importance of living in the moment, or a funny story about the everyday trials and tribulations of motherhood. Those, as you know, are my bread and butter.

But today, as I sit 33,000 ft in the air, flying unimpeded on an airplane back to my home, I know the story I am about to tell. Because last week, President Trump made it very clear to me and my family that we are first class citizens and many of our friends are not. He made it clear that people who look like us, talk like us and worship like us are better than the rest.

He signed an executive order that says, in our country, we can effectively do whatever we want. Many others can’t. But we can. Because we’re white. And Christian. And our lives are more valuable than the lives of people who aren’t those things.

And if the president said it, it must be true.

Unless…

Unless the president attempts to govern by gas-lighting.

Unless the president turns his back on widows and orphans – the very people we, as Christians are called to care for, above all others.

Unless the president violates the Constitution of the United States of America, ridicules a man with special needs, flip-flops on future trade relations with Russia and fundamentally undermines what it means to be an American. A Christian. A basic human being.

I know many voted this election based on the Pro-Life/Pro-Choice issue. And I understand that. I like to think I’m Pro-Life too*. But here’s the thing, if we are Pro-Life, we are Pro-All Life. And so we, as a group, need to use the same firepower that is used to defend an unborn baby to defend the lives of refugee men, women and children and any person who calls America “home.” Many of us already feel this way. I shared a post on Facebook yesterday about the necessity of Christians opening their hearts to refugees and a friend of mine pointed out that there are already Christians (and of course, non-Christians) everywhere actively praying and working tirelessly to help fight against Trump’s immediate abuse of power. I get that. And I’m SO excited about it. We, as a group, have so much strength to offer this fight.

Let’s freaking get after it.

So phone your senator. Use Lyft. Join a march. Do whatever you can do to take a stand here and now. Because we, as a group, have the power to do something. We need to exercise our power now, because God knows, Trump’s going to exercise his.

*Okay, the Pro-Life thing. Guys, I’m going to be totally honest and say I have a foot in both camps here. I am Pro-Life, however I don’t believe that constitutionally, I have the right to decide what another woman should do with her body based on my religious beliefs. Is this sort of the easy way out? Yeah. Totally. But it’s where I am right now. You can be where you are.

This piece was originally published on Oohbother.

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About the Author

Kelly Bandas

Half stay-at-home-mom, half speech language pathologist, Kelly Bandas is that sexy hybrid of SAHM/WOH* momma that just couldn’t commit to one lifestyle. is a peek inside her world of raising two boys, playing Yahtzee with her husband and doing all sorts of other grownup-y stuff, without having to act too grownup-y about it.