Swing Vote isn't about voting. It isn't about the American process, democracy, civic duty, the electoral college or any of that stuff. Swing Vote is about a little girl who just wants to be loved and wants to matter to someone. It's about a little girl who desperately wants her father to care. Sure, all of those political elements play a part in making up this movie, but at it's core it's a film about something we all want and need: to be loved and to matter.

As a father of two little girls myself, I found it really hard to watch this movie. I couldn't imagine treating my girls the way Kevin Costner's character Bud treats his little girl Molly (a very solid Madeline Carroll). It broke my heart to think any father could be that... uncaring. Yet, as I watched Swing Vote, I realized that Molly really represents us all; after all, what all of us want most is to be cared for, to matter to someone, to know that someone cares for us. Unfortunately, most of us don't know where to find that, which makes our experiences just as tragic as Molly's.

One of the main places we turn to in order to get those needs met is the government, which is where all the political stuff comes into play. We as Americans expect our government to take care of us, to meet our needs, to make our lives better; that's what our last election was almost entirely based upon. We didn't feel like our government was living up to its responsibilities and therefore it was time for change. The unfortunate truth, however, is that no matter who's elected, government can never really meet our needs. Sure their policies and agendas may have good intentions to do their best to help us out, but ultimately they'll let us down.

And as Swing Vote also demonstrates, people will let us down: even the people closest to us. So then the question becomes: if we have a need to be loved, to matter, and to have someone care for us and the government can't do that, and people can't do that, then where will we find the fulfillment of that need?

Two thousand years ago a man, who by the way claimed to be God, was accused of crimes he didn't commit and he was tortured and killed despite being completely innocent. What made this particular case strange was that this innocent man didn't protest, but in fact willingly went forward to face a gruesome death he didn't deserve. Why? Because he was showing the world just how much God cared for them.

You see, our biggest problem isn't the economy, it's not foreign policy, and it isn't even energy; it's sin. That's our biggest problem because it's an eternal problem, and it's a problem that separates us from God and will keep us out of heaven. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything we could do about that problem; it was just too big for us to take care of ourselves. So God sent his son Jesus Christ to die in our place because death was the only thing that could only take care of the sin problem.

Christ died in our place because God loves us. He took care of our greatest need because he didn't want to be apart from us. Jesus made a way for us, imperfect and messy though we may be, to have a personal relationship with a perfect and holy God. It was the greatest act of love this world has ever known. Now, many people may be thinking "if God cares so much about us, then why doesn't he take care of all these other problems?" That's a fair question since what I'm suggesting is that Swing Vote is about our need for someone to love us, to care for us, and let us know we matter to them. And, if our government isn't be able to meet those needs, and if people will ultimately let us down, and here I'm saying that God loved us so much that he died for us, then it's only fair to ask why he doesn't take care of our needs. Well, my question is to you is, "Have you asked him to take care of your needs and have you been willing to follow his instructions?" Sure we want God to care for us, but we want him to do it on our terms.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) God cares about us too much to do things on our terms. He loves us so much that he only wants to what's best for us, which often flies in the face of what we want. Yet, when we're willing to do what he wants when we ask him to care for us, we'll find the very things we all need the most. We'll find love, we'll find that we matter, and we'll find that there is a heavenly Father who wants to take care of us. All we have to do is vote him into our lives, and then let him run it... kinda like we do with a president, but with eternal results.

So if you've ever felt like Molly, if you've ever felt the desperate, deep-seated need to matter to someone, to be loved by someone, and to have someone care for you, I exhort you to run into the arms of Jesus. The reason I started my review with all of that is because as I watched Swing Vote, especially from the perspective of a father with two girls, I felt that burning need afresh in myself, and I was so thankful for the fact that I know God cares for me, God loves me, and that I matter to him.

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