so. we have a parent drop off lane at school.
do you?
there are posted signs.
do not pass.
and we have gotton literature instructing "us", the parents, do not get out of your vehicle.
the stipulation is to pull up as far as you can,
child hops out of car,
you move on.
HOWEVER...
it seems there is a BOATLOAD of parents these days,
who do not heed any written instruction.
and then we wonder why our kids don't listen?
fascinating to me.
why is it necessary for moms to pull up in the line.
not to the very front.
but right in front of the building.
(i guess so their child has the shortest distance to walk into the building.)
put their car in park.
get out of the car.
walk around the car, to the rear passenger door.
open the door.
kid pops out.
then proceed to hug and kiss child.
then walk back around the car.
get in.
look around.
and wait. and watch.
until your child walks IN the door.
proceed to pull away.
while the drop off line goes to 12 cars long.
this problem has become MUCH worse since the tragedy in CT.
i love to hug and kiss my kids when they first get up.
in my house. in their beds. or around our kitchen island.
now.
i am not a huggy/kissy person. ESPECIALLY in public.
shoot. my kids don't even want a hug and kiss in the car anymore. :)
i know we are all different.
but it irks me ~every~ morning.
and i am not exaggerating at all.
the line is for sure 12 cars long.
and when you have different buildings to go to...
it sure takes a lot of time to watch all these hugs and kisses take place.
it's especially funny.
because i see these kids pop out of the car, on their own, in grocery store parking lots,
at church on Sunday mornings, and even little league games.
but the school drop off line.
no way.
mommy better do it.
sorry for the judgement.
i just had to get that off my chest. :)
and if you are one of the mommies who do this.
i am sure i still love you anyway. but now you know.
this does get on my nerves.
my problem. i know.
i am working on it.
we now leave 5 minutes early. to wait in line. :)
*******************************************************
now. on to a book i have finished just in time for my trip to Chile...
7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. In the spirit of a fast, they pursued a deeply reduced life in order to find a greatly increased God.
have you read it?
it is astounding. astounding the way it REALLY made me think about my life...
here are some of my highlights, and i quote...
"In so many ways I am the opposite of Jesus' lifestyle.This keeps me up at night.I can't have authentic communion with Him while mired in the trappings He begged me to avoid.
i wouldn't dare call this negative reaction to 7 persecution since that would be laughable. Jesus, was always misunderstood for His counterculteral ideas:
~The least shall be the greatest.
~Blessed are the meek.
~Humble yourself like a child.
~Sell all your things and give to the poor.
~Don't gain the world only to forfeit your soul.
I can't imagine these were popular ideas either. He seriously knew how to thin out a crowd. He always gunned for less, reduced, simplified. He was the most fully and completely unselfish, ungreedy, unpretentious man to ever live, and I just want to be more like Him. It's as simple and hard as that."
"There is no end to my advantages. For whatever reason I was born into privilege; I've never known hunger, poverty, or despair. I have been blessed, blessed, blessed-relationally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. My life is so happy it's almost embarrassing."
"We were a crowd of women in ponytails and old jeans, not trying to impress one another or paste on a Christian face. I wish women could regularly enjoy this freedom together, liberated from competition and comparison. There is something so marvelous about women comfortable in their own skin...God reminded me that gathering the saints is powerful not because we look our finest or make a big production of the details but because we unite to seek Jesus. I suspect God is more glorified in a humble room of earnest worshippers than a massive production designed to sound "relevant" to the listeners but no longer relevant to God. When the worship of God turns into a "worship experience", we have derailed as the body of Christ."
"If the poor cannnot be enriched enough to become consumers, then grown-ups in the First World who are currently responsible for 60 percent of the world's consumption, and with vast disposable income but few needs, will have to be enticed into shopping...This is why I have 327 items of clothes in my closet....I am part of the problem, a contributing member of inequality. Every time I buy another shirt I don't need or a 7th pair of shoes for my daughter, I redirect my powerful dollar to the pockets of consumerism, fueling my own greed and widening the gap. Why? Because I like it. Because they are cute. Because I want that..."
"But all together, we've spent enough to irrevocably change the lives of a hundred thousand people. What did I get for that budgeting displacement? Closets full of clothes we barely wear and enough luxuries to outfit twenty families. This is hard to process, so it helps to imagine standing in front of the families of my Ethiopian children, who were too poor and sick to raise their own beloved babies. As I gaze upon their hopelessness, I imagine them calculating what I've spent on clothing alone, realizing that same amount would've kept their family fed and healthy for thirty years."
****************************************
so...i guess that's enough of some of my favorite thought provoking and guilt inducing lines...
I am not even a quarter of the way thru my highlites.
it was a very good read for me...
tried so kick some sickness out of the kids today,
by playing outside a bit...
happy friday.
"In so many ways I am the opposite of Jesus' lifestyle.This keeps me up at night.I can't have authentic communion with Him while mired in the trappings He begged me to avoid.
i wouldn't dare call this negative reaction to 7 persecution since that would be laughable. Jesus, was always misunderstood for His counterculteral ideas:
~The least shall be the greatest.
~Blessed are the meek.
~Humble yourself like a child.
~Sell all your things and give to the poor.
~Don't gain the world only to forfeit your soul.
I can't imagine these were popular ideas either. He seriously knew how to thin out a crowd. He always gunned for less, reduced, simplified. He was the most fully and completely unselfish, ungreedy, unpretentious man to ever live, and I just want to be more like Him. It's as simple and hard as that."
"There is no end to my advantages. For whatever reason I was born into privilege; I've never known hunger, poverty, or despair. I have been blessed, blessed, blessed-relationally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. My life is so happy it's almost embarrassing."
"We were a crowd of women in ponytails and old jeans, not trying to impress one another or paste on a Christian face. I wish women could regularly enjoy this freedom together, liberated from competition and comparison. There is something so marvelous about women comfortable in their own skin...God reminded me that gathering the saints is powerful not because we look our finest or make a big production of the details but because we unite to seek Jesus. I suspect God is more glorified in a humble room of earnest worshippers than a massive production designed to sound "relevant" to the listeners but no longer relevant to God. When the worship of God turns into a "worship experience", we have derailed as the body of Christ."
"If the poor cannnot be enriched enough to become consumers, then grown-ups in the First World who are currently responsible for 60 percent of the world's consumption, and with vast disposable income but few needs, will have to be enticed into shopping...This is why I have 327 items of clothes in my closet....I am part of the problem, a contributing member of inequality. Every time I buy another shirt I don't need or a 7th pair of shoes for my daughter, I redirect my powerful dollar to the pockets of consumerism, fueling my own greed and widening the gap. Why? Because I like it. Because they are cute. Because I want that..."
"But all together, we've spent enough to irrevocably change the lives of a hundred thousand people. What did I get for that budgeting displacement? Closets full of clothes we barely wear and enough luxuries to outfit twenty families. This is hard to process, so it helps to imagine standing in front of the families of my Ethiopian children, who were too poor and sick to raise their own beloved babies. As I gaze upon their hopelessness, I imagine them calculating what I've spent on clothing alone, realizing that same amount would've kept their family fed and healthy for thirty years."
****************************************
so...i guess that's enough of some of my favorite thought provoking and guilt inducing lines...
I am not even a quarter of the way thru my highlites.
it was a very good read for me...
tried so kick some sickness out of the kids today,
by playing outside a bit...
happy friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment