I was a lot surprise by a post I saw on Facebook tonight. It said that a Pastor told his congregation "...eff you!..."
I was appalled, shocked, and, even, a little embarrassed, and a lot protective/defensive.
I read some of the comments in response to the posting and decided to brave the video to see what was going on.
WELL.
After seeing the video, I join with the pastor.
If you've offended me before or offended yourself, I say "...eff You..." and here's why:
Granted. It's a little excited.
It's a little loud.
But the point is made.
FORGIVE is the F word of the day.
FORGIVE YOU
FORGIVE ME
FORGIVE OTHERS
Just Forgive.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Blue Independence...
So...it's the day of the elementary school talent show. (Not literally as I type this...but the day this took place.) My nine year old daughter is going to sing God Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. She'll sing a capella. Of course, I want to be there early to get a good seat but seeing as how the show starts at nine--a reasonable time, I am running late in trying to get one single solitary 4 year old ready to leave the house ready for public interaction. This means not only getting clean clothes but her "pretty pants" and her "nice shirt" (her definition, not mine) and her sparkle shoes. She's a princess, you know, so DUH, we must look very pink, and pretty, and beautiful, and sparkly... I find all of these essentials and allow her to go into her room to independently dress herself as all big girls have to come this ability and duty at some point in life.
We all want our children to be independent. In some way we know this is a good thing but at such early ages as we desire, I wonder if it's because we're really trying to instill something crucial and vital to life or if we're just trying to cut something out of the things we need to be apart of...if we're not passing the buck just a little...making things easier for ourselves for the sake of making things easier--in theory. In this pursuit of teaching or throwing them into the appearance of independence, sometimes we get problems that take way more time out of our day than assisting in the first place, sometimes we may find it would have been better if our children were not actually independent at the moment.
As I said, I was running late. Here we are at 8:45, clearly we need to be leaving. Instead of aiding my youngest daughter in the dressing procedure, I was in my room painting my face with a little allusion of life and combing my hair--doesn't this seem innocent and reasonable? One would think. Oh, but think not, my friends.
Sometimes the word independent is just another way to say "unsupervised". Let me just say that an unsupervised giggling 4 year old may SOUND cute and sweet, but...um...that is the sound of things looking blue. BLUE? you ask. Yes. Blue.
I call her name and ask, "Are you dressed? We need to go now. Are you ready?"
She responds that she's dressed...opens the door, walks into my room to reveal the amazing and beautiful BLUE princess that she was, ready to see her sister sing at her school!
Me? I gasped. I was less than happy but recognized with a small portion of my brain WAY back in my head than this could be a humorous situation, though at that moment I was at a loss to access that emotion though the manual movements of documenting the changing of my daughter into a Smurf were readily available.
While I was adding color to my face with cosmetics, my daughter, on her own, without my guidance was independently adding color to HER face........
......and hands.......
.......and feet......
with a Blue Marker.
I was late to the talent show but me and Smurfette arrived to see a very impressive performance of God Bless the Broken Road by our talented 9 year old girl.
We all want our children to be independent. In some way we know this is a good thing but at such early ages as we desire, I wonder if it's because we're really trying to instill something crucial and vital to life or if we're just trying to cut something out of the things we need to be apart of...if we're not passing the buck just a little...making things easier for ourselves for the sake of making things easier--in theory. In this pursuit of teaching or throwing them into the appearance of independence, sometimes we get problems that take way more time out of our day than assisting in the first place, sometimes we may find it would have been better if our children were not actually independent at the moment.
As I said, I was running late. Here we are at 8:45, clearly we need to be leaving. Instead of aiding my youngest daughter in the dressing procedure, I was in my room painting my face with a little allusion of life and combing my hair--doesn't this seem innocent and reasonable? One would think. Oh, but think not, my friends.
Sometimes the word independent is just another way to say "unsupervised". Let me just say that an unsupervised giggling 4 year old may SOUND cute and sweet, but...um...that is the sound of things looking blue. BLUE? you ask. Yes. Blue.
I call her name and ask, "Are you dressed? We need to go now. Are you ready?"
She responds that she's dressed...opens the door, walks into my room to reveal the amazing and beautiful BLUE princess that she was, ready to see her sister sing at her school!
Me? I gasped. I was less than happy but recognized with a small portion of my brain WAY back in my head than this could be a humorous situation, though at that moment I was at a loss to access that emotion though the manual movements of documenting the changing of my daughter into a Smurf were readily available.
While I was adding color to my face with cosmetics, my daughter, on her own, without my guidance was independently adding color to HER face........
......and hands.......
.......and feet......
with a Blue Marker.
I was late to the talent show but me and Smurfette arrived to see a very impressive performance of God Bless the Broken Road by our talented 9 year old girl.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Being Bipolar Means...
Having two teens being treated for Bipolar Disorder--also know as Manic Depression--I live within my blender life on a higher setting that some. It is difficult to understand all the complicated feelings of your average teen on any given day anyway, but when their brain is working against them, too, it can be a very isolating and frustrating experience for them. Here is a video clip from YouTube I thought was touching.
The Broken Road
Today my 9 year old daughter sang in her school talent show. She sang Bless the Broken Road to her school and was so brave. She was scared and nervous but she totally conquered it. She came out, stood straight and let it go. Did she hit every single note perfectly? No. Did she melt my heart and carried the the tune well.
Her older 13 year old sister told her not to sing the song in front of he school because it was too scary. I'm so proud of her for choosing to look that fear in the face and knock it down.
Her older 13 year old sister told her not to sing the song in front of he school because it was too scary. I'm so proud of her for choosing to look that fear in the face and knock it down.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
It's ON
SO...two of my awesome teenage children are bipolar. Yep! Bipolar. Which means, we live in a world where the floor is a teeter totter covered in egg shells. You just never know if you're going to have a pleasant day, a pissy day, a day where you kinda just want to hide, super energetic and fun day, or a very aggressive day where violence or shredding communication will abound,...you just never know if you're going to be tossed up in the air or not and if you do if it will be fun or painful.
So, the last few days my son has been sleeping and sleeping and sleeping...just sort of being "blah" and today...WHAM! I pick him up from school and he's just chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter... I took him to the store and he was off the hook...kinda like Brendan Fraser in the 1997 movie "George of the Jungle" when he eats all of Ursula's coffee grounds and has an overly dramatic killer caffeine buzz. My son was skipping here and there and was ON, so on if he had a switch it would have been set to TURBO. He was trying to strong arm the cart to push us in one direction and then BLAM...SWITCH directions!
WHOA! Buster. Stop. Breathe. F O C U S. Pump your breaks.
This would be an introduction to ONE type of mania. The cranked on high, full throttle, busy brain activity--except the frontal lobe, that's where reason happens, logic, the filter for which you realize something may not actually be a bright idea after all, yeah, THAT part sorta gets lazy and just, well, goes on strike, takes a break, blows it's circuit. What you're left with is GO GO GO GO GO.... for better or worse...
Now we just have to see if he's going to trigger his sister and in which direction that running duck with go...
So, the last few days my son has been sleeping and sleeping and sleeping...just sort of being "blah" and today...WHAM! I pick him up from school and he's just chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter... I took him to the store and he was off the hook...kinda like Brendan Fraser in the 1997 movie "George of the Jungle" when he eats all of Ursula's coffee grounds and has an overly dramatic killer caffeine buzz. My son was skipping here and there and was ON, so on if he had a switch it would have been set to TURBO. He was trying to strong arm the cart to push us in one direction and then BLAM...SWITCH directions!
WHOA! Buster. Stop. Breathe. F O C U S. Pump your breaks.
This would be an introduction to ONE type of mania. The cranked on high, full throttle, busy brain activity--except the frontal lobe, that's where reason happens, logic, the filter for which you realize something may not actually be a bright idea after all, yeah, THAT part sorta gets lazy and just, well, goes on strike, takes a break, blows it's circuit. What you're left with is GO GO GO GO GO.... for better or worse...
Now we just have to see if he's going to trigger his sister and in which direction that running duck with go...
Yes...a bunch of challenges it is.
I live in a home with lots of children ranging from little to teens with a whole bunch of in between. Each day I wake up hoping the day is going to be full of " Awe" and "Ooooo" but frequently I get lots and lots of "AAAAHHHH" and "Grrrrrrrrr" and UGH!". I hope for the sparkling sounds of laughter to tinkle through the air and find more than I like that the sounds blasting through are more like SLAM!, Stomp, "WAHHHHHH", "MooOOOooom!", which all have a different feel and level of desire than the sweet and loving sounds of the perfect family scenario I conjured up in my head many years ago when I was still young enough to believe my fantasies of the future took little more effort than dreaming them up. haha...jokes on me.
Listen as I choke that humble pie down....Yes, "LOVE" DOES take work. dang it! It really is service and sacrifice just like the old people said it was way back when I was smarter than everyone else...
Now my world is filled with teens and children who let me know all about myself; my flaws, my weaknesses and short comings. They clue me in on my fashion flubs and hairdo misses. They swing me around like a rag doll emotionally. I guess that's their job. My job is to take it, to lead, to love, and to endure the ravages of young perspective. and so I do.
They trick me, my children. They turn on the charm, the cuteness, the sweet, the vulnerable, which I fall for hook like and sinker, then they turn into miniature 'Godzilla" type tornadoes which bulldoze their way through my house and across my heart.
Here, I intend to voice my feelings, observations, triumphs and challenges. After all, I'm out numbered by young people who aren't really so interested in how much I can say and verbally share, they're more in search of how much I can listen, watch, and serve. So, here, here, is where I can pour out my thoughts and concerns over the ten young people I have a real responsibility and love for in this world...the ten keys to my heart. This is where I will lay out a bunch of challenges...and hopefully successes to them.
Listen as I choke that humble pie down....Yes, "LOVE" DOES take work. dang it! It really is service and sacrifice just like the old people said it was way back when I was smarter than everyone else...
Now my world is filled with teens and children who let me know all about myself; my flaws, my weaknesses and short comings. They clue me in on my fashion flubs and hairdo misses. They swing me around like a rag doll emotionally. I guess that's their job. My job is to take it, to lead, to love, and to endure the ravages of young perspective. and so I do.
They trick me, my children. They turn on the charm, the cuteness, the sweet, the vulnerable, which I fall for hook like and sinker, then they turn into miniature 'Godzilla" type tornadoes which bulldoze their way through my house and across my heart.
Here, I intend to voice my feelings, observations, triumphs and challenges. After all, I'm out numbered by young people who aren't really so interested in how much I can say and verbally share, they're more in search of how much I can listen, watch, and serve. So, here, here, is where I can pour out my thoughts and concerns over the ten young people I have a real responsibility and love for in this world...the ten keys to my heart. This is where I will lay out a bunch of challenges...and hopefully successes to them.
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