Buckle your seat belts

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”

Every day is something new with two boys who are full of life and think they are invisible. I can't understand their tendency to risk life, limb, and reputation for no good reason.

All we can do is love them unconditionally, but set strict consistent boundaries regarding behavior - make sure those boundaries are consistently enforced. Communicate with them often not only about right/wrong and boundaries, but also about good character and decency. Have dinner together and find out what is going on in their lives. Show an interest in them and their lives (not just show - be interested). Teach them the social skills to carry on a balanced conversation. Encourage them to ask and care about other people.

With all of these plans - there are wrecks now and again. We pick up the pieces, go through a healing process and begin again. A wreck is an opportunity to start fresh and get back on the right road.

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an
unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways
give more life than the ways of the world, and that following
you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to
take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance
for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you,
and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.

You Might Be a Racist If. . . . .

Shameless lifted from my friend and blogger "Birmingham Blues"

You Might Be a Racist If…

…you’re a justice of the peace who refuses to issue marriage licenses to interracial couples.

Keith Bardwell, who has been a justice of the peace for 34 years in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, says he always asks couples who call to inquire about marriage if they are interracial, and if the answer is yes, his answer is no. Louisiana law, of course, makes no mention of race. It requires only that the parties present their birth certificates, Social Security cards, and $35 (and proof of divorce if either was previously married).

Bardwell, bless his heart, invokes the “black friends” defense:

“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

And he further defends himself by pointing out that he treats all interracial couples the same:

If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

“I try to treat everyone equally,” he said.

So he doesn’t discriminate in his discrimination. Or something. And, hey, it’s not like he keeps those couples from marrying. They just have to go elsewhere. It’s just like pharmacists who use “conscience” clauses to refuse to dispense legally prescribed medications. No harm, no foul, right? He only wants to protect The Children^tm.

“There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage,” Bardwell said. “I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it.”

Seriously, did I just stumble through a temporal rift? I thought this was 2009, not 1959. Mr. Bardwell, I believe it’s time to retire. You can spend your golden years going to Klan meetings and pining for the good old days of racial purity.

Time Warp

In many ways it seems like yesterday, but at others it seems like a lifetime ago. On September 24, 2008 my close friend Cindy Wall died suddenly. I remember the shock and pain I felt as I learned of her death. The pain feels like it happened a few minutes ago. But on the other hand, I feel like I have not seen or talked to her in years. Time has little meaning.

When my Daddy died a few years ago, I didn't think I would ever get over it. Hospice sent me a pamphlet on the one year anniversary of his death. I pulled it out yesterday. It helped me when he died and it helps me now.

Even though grief does not end with the first anniversary, hopefully you can say that you have learned many lessons this past year.

PERHAPS you have learned to receive and accept the love and support of those around you.

PERHAPS you have learned that your tears and memories are healing.

PERHAPS you have learned that although your life is changed, there is still a joy in living.

PERHAPS you have learned that the memories which hurt so much can become a healing bridge from the past to the future.

PERHAPS you have learned that the pain of loss is diminishing and the purpose and meaning in your life is growing stronger.

PERHAPS you have learned to treasure each day and to show love to others.

PERHAPS you have learned to never, never take for granted the gift of life.

The first anniversary is an important milestone. Look backward at your progress -- Look at today and congratulate yourself for the major achievement of coming this far -- Look ahead to the opportunities that are yet to come.

Thank you Daddy and Cindy for teaching me these lessons. Thank you Hospice for helping me realize what I've learned.

God's Peace+