Snippets

Here are few snippets from blogs I've been reading this week.  Some of these are presented out of context, so if you want more, take a few minutes to check out the blogs.  I've included links.

"The only unpleasantness was the smell of the smoldering ruins of my pride, self-respect, and civic virtue when I allowed myself to be fingerprinted for my new job. I understand why it is done. I believe the safety and security of children is sacrosanct. I do not believe, nor will I ever believe, though, that anyone's individual rights and protections should be sacrificed to the majority opinion. I will allow it to happen, though, despite private complaints and misgivings, because no one is coming for me. Pastor Martin Niemoeller is rolling in his grave, God rest his soul: 

 

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

I did it for a job. I am not a felon, a bail jumper, a pedophile, a drunkard, junkie, or "deviated prevert." I am certain, nonetheless, that there will come a day when secular humanists are targeted, and I just hope that someone will have had to courage to stand up for me before that time. The quote is the bedrock of my personal philosophy. As a teacher, I believe this is the most important precept I can communicate to my students. I couldn't care less if they know that Lincoln didn't really free any slaves. I am a failure, however, as a teacher and a "human bean" if my students do not take this lesson with them and remember it forever. When the evil building engineer threw away my 25 years of teaching memorabilia (may a weeping boil on his nose never heal), this was the only poster that survived. If I were to lose everything again every year, and only one thing could be preserved, this would be my choice, year after year."

from Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

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We've been talking about disappointment lately--how to handle it, how to avoid it, how to purposely not avoid it. I told Lainey we had plans with her friend Aleena the other day and, as plans often do, they went bust. She was devastated. Stomach jerking kind of cries and tears she couldn't hold back.

"This is why you should probably wait to tell her about plans," Brett suggested. "She gets her hopes up."

"Oh, but it's good for her," I retorted. "Disappointment is part of life."

We volleyed good opinions back and forth in an important discussion that affirmed our dreams and hopes for what our kids will be someday. That ultimately we want them happy. But the meaning of happy is intricate and subjective and dependent on a lot of things. Facing disappointment is one of them, and finding the tools to cope and adjust is something that is learned. I want my kids to learn this just as much as I want them to be happy.

from Enjoying the Small Things

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To say he faces challenges is quite an understatement. Every time we meet with a therapist or a doctor or have tests, I am overwhelmed. It seems that we continually have bad news or we have to pay an outrageous amount of money that we don’t have. I’m told he is cognitively 4 years old and can’t function in a normal classroom setting. Each doctor or therapist is so kind, loving and concerned…and honest. There are so many things that he needs. And today, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t provide it.

I lose my patience with him. I expect things from him that he cannot accomplish. I am much too hard on him. I do not have the money to pay for all the therapy and tests that need to be done. I cannot hire someone to work with him one-on-one like he needs.

In my super weak, most human moments, I can’t help but think, “What else?” What else does he have to face? Wasn’t the lack of love and nourishment enough to suffer? What else do we have to sacrifice? Wasn’t it enough for us to bring him home?

But when I watch him, when I really stop to observe him, I see joy. I see happiness and fun and a carefree spirit. I know without any doubt that God designed him to be with me. Me with countless shortcomings and flaws, Andre with such love and forgiveness to offer. I see a child whose rewards are far, far greater than I can count and I see a child whose shortcomings are nothing compared to many other situations.

from Unconventional

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A little after midnight, I finally pulled into the campsite. As I tried to make myself comfortable somewhere between a toddler seat and a steering wheel, I wondered some more.

“Is it worth the drive?“

This journey through life is not easy. I am often cramped in a position I see no way out of, sitting next to someone I don’t always get along with thinking all the while that somehow everyone else has it a little better. And if only I could change this little bit, everything would be better.

And now that I have had a taste of real suffering, the veil has been lifted. The veil that allowed me to say, “Smile and be happy!” while all of creation groans under the weight of sin has been lifted and I groan alongside it.

I used to look forward to the future, to the adventures each day brought, to the fulfillment of dreams painted on a canvas of late night conversations and musings about all that life could be. But the color has gone out of my dreams as I realize just how unimportant most of my pursuits have become. How unimportant they always have been, though I never recognized it before.

But now I look forward to a different future.

The children are better at it than I am. LE sometimes prays that God would let Tiggy sleep in His big bed. Bug wants to know if Jesus plays chase with him the way we did. They talk about Heaven the way I used to talk about this property: full of work and play and loved ones and life.

Sometimes I listen to them talk and I get glimpses of Heaven. Of eternity. Of life with God and the saints and Tiggy. Forever. I imagine the brilliance of Heaven and all I ever hoped for in this world pales in comparison. Standing at the gates of eternity, it is hard to imagine that the temporal struggles of this world will have quite the same importance as they seem to now.

from Roscommon Acres