I can see right now I'm gonna have to expeditiously get back to my fighting weight to straighten my kids out. Every now and again too many words come flying out at me, or a gesture which can be considered taunting or disregarding is made, and I find myself talking me out of doing bodily harm. But I think I should reassess this whole thing and take that charge (grab a pony tail, a neck, clip 'em, etc). The older one got suspended for having way too much mouth and not enough sense to avoid the issue altogether (this time), while the younger one keeps pushing for rights he thinks he's entitled to, and voicing way more opinion than anybody his age should be able to conjure. I feel I've been instrumental in allowing them to think they're "entitled" to anything, because I work so hard to provide and accommodate needs, but I'm up for the task of retraining their thinking. I'm talking kidneys, chins, or whatever gets in the way at the time. Gloves off, back in the day training.
It's ridiculous to me how many bad ass kids there are in the world, and how often people on the outside look and...
It never ceases to amaze me how certain sisters in my life can relate so closely to what I'm going through or have been through, and how right on cue we have the right words for each other because we understand--completely. It's almost like we live in parallel worlds. That's just another example of how God works in my life. I always knew that people were in my life and space for a reason, but it's reinforced when I talk to them how very easily I can be understood, how not so out there my thinking is, and how everything aint for everybody and some people just couldn't possibly get it just because they don't have the right stuff. Well, that was rather interesting to me based on a conversation I had today, and every time I call this particular person.
But anyway, now I should be calling somebody asking what I need to do to avoid shaking this little boy at my house, looking for my real son in there. Talk about acting out! I don't know what he's rebelling against at this point (8 years old), but every time he comes back from his scheduled weekends away,...
My past keeps trying to catch up with me, mostly people from my past actually. Only they can't catch me because I'm busy, doing things to improve my way of life, status in life, secure a better life for my kids and me, and our place of residence. I just don't have the time; I thought I would after I took that last final exam on Monday, but still I keep it moving. On to the next thing, and later for you. Basically. It's really nothing personal, but I have to think about what will happen to my kids should something happen to me. That means I don't have the luxury of chilling out. I have stairs to climb, toward something, and I gotta do it while I have the health, energy, and strength to.
Okay, that could easily sound like stroking my own whatever, but the point is that there's something you could and should be doing, but are you doing it? Focus. Head up, eyes forward. But do keep it moving forward. If you look around and you're still doing what you were doing last time you looked around, it's time to be making some kind of...
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John Mayer sings, "Fathers, be good to your daughters. Daughters will love like you do. Girls become lovers who turn into mothers, so fathers be good to your daughters too." It got me to thinking about how kids pick up tendencies from their parents--both voluntarily and involuntarily--and how we girls tend to pattern our love lives and relationships depending on our relationships with our own fathers. I've even heard people say over the years, "You can tell she didn't grow up with her father around," and I sort of started observing different women and young women I know to see just how affected we really can be. Well, based on my calculations and observations, it's all true. Fathers play a significant role in formulating girls' approaches and attitudes toward relationships with men.
Think about it; what do they see you do? How do they see you treat women? Do you "honor them as the weaker vessel," do you dote on your woman, respect your mother, show affection, or do you treat them as if they're toys, or do you rely on them way more than any man should depend on a woman, as if they are only there for your whims and to...
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Life is good!
May 8, 2009
Most stuff here is small stuff. What matters is your relationship with God, the bonds you share with your children, the respect and love of your spouse (do your best; God holds you accountable for you), and how you walk daily through this life--mainly are you doing what you are required to do? You'll note that the focus of the Bible is first on seeking God's Kingdom (what is it, and where do you fit), on family--'a man will leave his father and mother and stick to his wife,' while raising God-fearing children--and on personal development, putting on the new personality, following Christ. 'Everything else is vanity, and a striving after the wind,' according to Solomon (Eccl 1;14). I don't make this stuff up; read it for yourself.
Life only gets overwhelming when you take things out of context, and when you yourself are out of order. Yeah, I know I make it sound real simple, but it's anything but. Still, the reminders are there for us to examine, and the examples of those who did and didn't do it right are there too. Pull up a Good Book and see what you find out. Peace and love to you.
Since all the rave this week is about Mother's Day, I thought I'd give my version of what's special about the mothers I know. They--no, we--are the ones who have been there from conception, or from the day we met the kids (some of us have never given birth), and have taken all the precautions, read all the warnings, and avoided all the dangers we heard, read, or learned about somehow. We nurse the mind, body, and soul, and provide a level of comfort and security nobody else could understand. We abandon some of our own ways, needs, and plans for the sake of those entrusted in our care, and it makes us stronger for having done so simply because that little person needs us to.
You should be able to get the gist of all that intangible, emotional, spiritual stuff we do; let's talk about the tangibles. Oh I know I'm gonna miss a lot, but this segment is just a thought--not a monologue. So anyway, let's talk about finding the diapers that won't give the baby a rash, the formula that makes them throw up less--or how about that breastfeeding because we don't even want that drama, and the brain...
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The concept of personal responsiblity is simple: Regardless of who does what to me, says what to me, or says what about me, I am responsible for my own actions. The rewards or consequences resulting from my actions are my own. What I say, think, and do reflect on me--what I send out into the world, I do of my own free will no matter how hard the choice may have seemed.
Ephesians 4:26, 27 says: "Be wrathful, and yet do not sin; let the sun not set with you in a provoked state, neither allow place for the Devil." So even Jehovah God himself knows that people will try you, push you, step on you, disrespect you, and provoke you, but there are positive steps we can all take to avoid making ourselves responsible for actions we shouldn't take. Pray incessantly for a pure heart and a peaceful spirit. Pray for the offenders. Fill your mind with spiritual things; you can never know it all. Apply what you have learned through scripture. Find a project. Focus on your next goal. Work out. Write a book.
Whatever you do, avoid actions that will have you answering to God for violating His...
