Have you ever found it "painful" to put on clothes for the day? :) "Painful" on a mental/emotional, physical, or even spiritual level? (And now I'm wondering if the answer to this question is why there are nudist colonies...)
Do people know that the doctrines they are so tied to aren't necessarily GOD'S doctrines? Just sayin'.
What is the point of perforation on things (i.e. paper towels, checks...) if it doesn't work?
Following Jesus is really very simple, so why have we/do we complicate it so?
When do you use the spelling grey and the spelling gray? Are the two spellings interchangeable or is there some sort of protocol? :)
What I lack for in education I make up for in heart. Which one matters most to God? (Rhetorical question, I already know the answer but do you? *smile*)
I saw a sticker on a car. "Twilight Mom" Really? What is up with middle aged women being obsessed with a teen fiction series? It seems awfully unhealthy to me...just sayin'.
If my parents hadn't married each other would I still be in existence and if so, would one of them be one of my parents or would I belong to completely different people? You know what I'm saying? :)
Why do "we" sing songs telling God who he is? He knows who he is!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me...REALLY?
"Sticks and stones may break my bones
but names will never hurt me."
We all grew up being taught this. As an adult I just listen to that and can't help but say...
REALLY?!? I DON'T THINK SO!
When I look back on my life to this point I don't remember the physical injuries people may have dealt me but I sure do remember the verbal injuries I have been dealt. Every "moo" that was directed my way in Middle School echoes in my brain and heart to this very day. Every word that has been spoken to me that communicated lack of worth/value, lack of purpose, or lack of contribution has wrapped their sticky tentacles around my heart and soul and acted as an anaconda, squeezing the life out of me - or threatening to.
I've never been a domestic abuse victim but from my observations what the victims have the harder time healing from is the words dealt them along with the physical blows. Oh sure, there is going to be some residual fear from the physical abuse. But verbal abuse is a weapon that drives far below the surface and strikes at the very core of who that person is. Verbal abuse attacks the character and personality, it introduces a death, it clings to a person and covers them like a blanket and then smothers them. Sticks and stones may break our bones but names will always hurt. ALWAYS.
"Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim." (Proverbs 15:4) Another translation says that we can speak either words of life (the kind ones, the ones that are truthful but communicated in love) or we can speak words of death (I'm pretty sure I don't need to clarify anything on this one). I'm willing to bet that each of us have been on both sides - we have spoken words of life and death (be honest) and we have been the recipients of words of life and death. As a recipient it's easy to see how kind words heal and help and cutting words wound and maim but let's take it a step further in the interest of being more like Christ. :) (Not interested in being more like Christ? Then take it a step further in the interest of being a better human. But if you are curious about being more like Christ, let's talk.)
Okay, so we are stepping out a bit...
I'm thinking about the times I have spoken words of life to people I love, and more importantly, I think, to people I don't love so much. (Just bein' real.) I walked away feeling good, feeling settled in my spirit. Speaking words of life doesn't leave a taste of regret in my mouth or a heaviness in my heart. In fact, a lot of times the words of life I speak over someone end up helping and healing ME in some way! So, now it's your turn. How have you felt when you have spoken words of life - truth in kindness - to someone?
I started with words of life because that's a whole lot more fun and enjoyable to think about than the words of death we are all guilty of uttering. C'mon, it's okay to be real. :) So, words of death.
Just like words of life, I have spoken words of death to people I love and people I don't so much. (Still bein' real.) Words of death are interesting because as humans we tend to speak them as much to people that we love as we do to people that we don't whereas words of life we reserve more for people we love. Some switch in us is flipped that tells us it's "okay" to speak cutting words to people we love because they won't leave us. HUH. I have never understood this about human nature but I, unfortunately, have fallen into that trap a "time or two" (or three hundred...ugh). Walking away from speaking words of death, because let's face it - I know better and I knew somewhere in me that they weren't kind but rather cutting, finds me feeling icky, unsettled in my spirit. Speaking words of death always leaves a bad taste in my mouth and a heavy heart. YUCK. And just like words of life that I speak end up helping me in some way, words of death that I speak end up wounding or cutting ME in some way. DOUBLE YUCK. So, now it's your turn. How have you felt when you have spoken words of death - words that wound and destroy - to someone?
{Remember this self -evaluation is in the interest of being a better human or being more like Christ - or heck, both - and will only work if you are brutally honest with yourself about yourself! Nobody else is going to know the answer so you might as well be honest!}
Does it mean we can't speak truth to someone? Nope. It means we speak truth in the kindest way possible because that's how we want truth communicated to us and we know, deep down, that is how truth is best received - if it's going to be received. Will or can kind words offend? Yep. But the offense is always meant for the betterment of that person and they know it as we speak it.
Words of life = healthy, growing relationships
Words of death = death of relationships
Do you feel caught in the trap of speaking words of death? Seek help, seek accountability, before you utter a word think it through, consider the words you want to speak being spoken to you - would you like it?
Do you feel like the words of death spoken over you are attempting to squeeze the life out of you? Seek help, seek Truth, reject the lies.
To end, a song - of course! This is Dave Barnes singing, "Sticks And Stones" (video/song at bottom of lyrics)
You would have kept those words on your tongue,
If you had known the hurt they had done.
While your fists stay by, right by your side,
Your words they bruise me deep inside.
I'd rather have sticks and stones and broken bones
than the words you say to me,
Cause I know bruises heal and cuts will seal
but your words beat the life from me.
Sometimes your words are thick as lead,
You swing them strong upside my head.
But what hasn't killed has made me strong,
So I'll take my scars and move along.
I'd rather have sticks and stones and broken bones
than the words you say to me,
Cause I know bruises heal and cuts will seal
but your words beat the life from me.
Goodbye is the best way that I know,
To forgive and still be letting go.
I'd rather have sticks and stones and broken bones
than the words you say to me,
Cause I know bruises heal and cuts will seal
but your words beat the life from me.
Hey, how many of those camels need water anyway?!
A long ago friend shared something with me long ago. And I have found it to be a useful piece of counsel to share with others through the years, I almost exclusively use it with single people who are wondering if they are ever going to find Mr. or Mrs. Right. BUT it hit me a while ago that really the counsel is good for anyone who feels caught in the middle of a huge waiting game with God or more accurately is disgruntled with God because they aren't getting to do what they think they should be doing "for" God. The counsel comes directly from Genesis 24 and the story of Isaac and Rebekah. (Click here to read the real story) The Beth Brief (quit snickering, I can be brief when I wanna be) Summary is this: Abe wants his boy to get a woman. Abe sends his servant to get the boy a woman. This makes the servant nervous so he asks God for help picking the right woman. God helps, the servant picks a woman, and the boy gets the girl.
And here's where you go...WHAT?!? Okay fine. I folded under the pressure to prove I could be brief but let me expand a wee bit more. Abe didn't want his boy, Isaac, to be without a woman when he (Abe) died. And for whatever reason Isaac wasn't looking for his own woman so Abe took it in his own hands and sent his head servant out with instructions to not return unless he has a woman for Isaac. The scared ?, intimidated ?, nervous ? servant implored the God of his master to help him by showing him through a specific sign who the Mrs. Right was. A woman showed up to water her camels and fulfilled the specific sign (think of it like God pointing a finger at her and saying to the servant, "THAT'S HER."). She agreed to marrying Isaac, sight unseen (and that's a whole different blog), and Isaac got himself a woman.
Okay. Now that you've got a wee bit more of the story let's dig in.
So many times when this passage is taught in churches the focus is the faith of the servant. Or it is about Isaac and Abe in some way. Rarely is Rebekah looked at. Guess what? :) I'm looking at Rebekah.
If you read the real story, answer this question: what was Rebekah doing when she showed up at the watering hole to water the camels? The surface, duh Beth answer is she was watering the camels. Okay BUT who told her to water them? Well, her father of course! So what was Rebekah doing? She was being obedient to her Father by doing what he asked. She wasn't sitting around waiting for a better task to come along or for someone else to come around to do it for her. It isn't said in the story if Rebekah was also wondering about Mr. Right. Was she also keeping her eyes peeled for one? Or was she indifferent to the idea (which I hardly doubt considering the importance her culture placed on being a wife and bearing children)? I wish we could have a little more of Rebekah's take on this whole circumstance. But we don't. All we have is what we have. So let's go with it, because we can.
Let me ask you a question, and at first you might be tempted to answer with a, "Duh, Beth..." but resist the temptation and think before you speak please! :) What has God asked YOU to do...today? Right now at this very moment? What "camels" has he commissioned you to water today? Now here's another question, how exciting or personally fulfilling do you think it was for Rebekah to be watering the camels? (Not to mention the amount of time and work it takes to water a herd of camels!) And so transfer that question to yourself, how exciting or personally fulfilling is it for you to be where you are at right now? When God asks us to obey it isn't so we will be excited and personally fulfilled. He's got a bigger plan and a bigger mission in mind than our personal excitement or fulfillment. It isn't about us, it's about HIM. Rebekah wasn't watering the camels because she was personally excited about that task or personally fulfilled by it. She was doing it because she understood obedience to her Father. Do I understand obedience to my Father? Do you? "But Beth..." But Beth nothing. You know what has excited me about watering the camels God asks me to? That I obeyed him and didn't moan and groan while doing so. You know what I have found personally fulfills me? When I obey my DAD with a pure and joyful heart. See, some camels that God has asked me to water haven't been so fun. They've "spit" at me, they've gone "stubborn" on me, I've been under appreciated by them, the watering hole was hot and dusty, the isolation just about did me in. But funny thing. On the other side of the watering hole was something I couldn't see, only God knew about and it changed my life forever. Rebekah's life was changed forever by obeying her Dad and showing up at the watering hole. Is it possible that my life, that your life could be changed by a pure and joyful obedience to God's request to water camels? Is it possible? Yes.
Yes it's possible when we aren't begrudging the Lord for the camels he's asked us to water while we wait. That's the other side of this. We want to be doing bigger, better, and what we think are more important things "for God" than this watering hole we feel stuck at right now. Hmm. We have placed a value on the types and kinds of work there is out there to do. And we think that because God sends off to water a big camel that we will always water big camels so we get disappointed, irritable, frustrated when he then asks us to water what we perceive to be small camels. Just a quick question that I've had to answer already so I thought I would pose to you: who are you to tell God which camels are more important than others? Do you realize that whining to God about the perceived small camels you are watering right now is basically telling him that he doesn't know what he's doing? So you feeling gutsy enough to tell God that he isn't sovereign? Because that is what you are saying to him.
I've sat in counseling offices and counseled women in a "professional" setting and I've sat in coffee houses and counseled women in a "casual" setting. For a (very) short season it felt like a demotion of sorts. To go from being officially recognized as a counselor to well, counseling by word of mouth! I felt whiny about it until I held my first un-official counseling session in a coffee shop and that shut me up. God so clearly showed me the benefits of the coffee house "watering hole" over the office one that I came away relieved to not be stuck in the office one anymore! Perspective. It felt like I was going from big to small but in God's reality I was being promoted. I'm gifted administratively. I'm wired to be an admin assist and let me tell you, I am a GOOD one. So why aren't I someones admin assist and instead sitting behind a front desk spending my working hours greeting people? I mean, God didn't I do good enough watering those big camels? Why would you ever ask me to sit behind a front desk and virtually let my admin skills go unused? Why God have you forsaken me? (You all know I'm just saying all this to make a point right?) The front desk might seem like small camels and a small watering hole to me or to others BUT it's no less important than the job I have done before as an admin assist, which some would say was big camels and big watering hole. Perspective. What if the watering hole you say and feel "stuck" at right now is actually a promotion in God's Kingdom? Are you still going to begrudge God because you have a higher view of yourself than you ought?
The nitty-gritty of the counsel out of Genesis 24 is this: obey your Dad with a pure heart and a joyful spirit and water the camels he's told you to and watch him reward you in unexpected and life-changing ways.
And here's where you go...WHAT?!? Okay fine. I folded under the pressure to prove I could be brief but let me expand a wee bit more. Abe didn't want his boy, Isaac, to be without a woman when he (Abe) died. And for whatever reason Isaac wasn't looking for his own woman so Abe took it in his own hands and sent his head servant out with instructions to not return unless he has a woman for Isaac. The scared ?, intimidated ?, nervous ? servant implored the God of his master to help him by showing him through a specific sign who the Mrs. Right was. A woman showed up to water her camels and fulfilled the specific sign (think of it like God pointing a finger at her and saying to the servant, "THAT'S HER."). She agreed to marrying Isaac, sight unseen (and that's a whole different blog), and Isaac got himself a woman.
Okay. Now that you've got a wee bit more of the story let's dig in.
So many times when this passage is taught in churches the focus is the faith of the servant. Or it is about Isaac and Abe in some way. Rarely is Rebekah looked at. Guess what? :) I'm looking at Rebekah.
If you read the real story, answer this question: what was Rebekah doing when she showed up at the watering hole to water the camels? The surface, duh Beth answer is she was watering the camels. Okay BUT who told her to water them? Well, her father of course! So what was Rebekah doing? She was being obedient to her Father by doing what he asked. She wasn't sitting around waiting for a better task to come along or for someone else to come around to do it for her. It isn't said in the story if Rebekah was also wondering about Mr. Right. Was she also keeping her eyes peeled for one? Or was she indifferent to the idea (which I hardly doubt considering the importance her culture placed on being a wife and bearing children)? I wish we could have a little more of Rebekah's take on this whole circumstance. But we don't. All we have is what we have. So let's go with it, because we can.
Let me ask you a question, and at first you might be tempted to answer with a, "Duh, Beth..." but resist the temptation and think before you speak please! :) What has God asked YOU to do...today? Right now at this very moment? What "camels" has he commissioned you to water today? Now here's another question, how exciting or personally fulfilling do you think it was for Rebekah to be watering the camels? (Not to mention the amount of time and work it takes to water a herd of camels!) And so transfer that question to yourself, how exciting or personally fulfilling is it for you to be where you are at right now? When God asks us to obey it isn't so we will be excited and personally fulfilled. He's got a bigger plan and a bigger mission in mind than our personal excitement or fulfillment. It isn't about us, it's about HIM. Rebekah wasn't watering the camels because she was personally excited about that task or personally fulfilled by it. She was doing it because she understood obedience to her Father. Do I understand obedience to my Father? Do you? "But Beth..." But Beth nothing. You know what has excited me about watering the camels God asks me to? That I obeyed him and didn't moan and groan while doing so. You know what I have found personally fulfills me? When I obey my DAD with a pure and joyful heart. See, some camels that God has asked me to water haven't been so fun. They've "spit" at me, they've gone "stubborn" on me, I've been under appreciated by them, the watering hole was hot and dusty, the isolation just about did me in. But funny thing. On the other side of the watering hole was something I couldn't see, only God knew about and it changed my life forever. Rebekah's life was changed forever by obeying her Dad and showing up at the watering hole. Is it possible that my life, that your life could be changed by a pure and joyful obedience to God's request to water camels? Is it possible? Yes.
Yes it's possible when we aren't begrudging the Lord for the camels he's asked us to water while we wait. That's the other side of this. We want to be doing bigger, better, and what we think are more important things "for God" than this watering hole we feel stuck at right now. Hmm. We have placed a value on the types and kinds of work there is out there to do. And we think that because God sends off to water a big camel that we will always water big camels so we get disappointed, irritable, frustrated when he then asks us to water what we perceive to be small camels. Just a quick question that I've had to answer already so I thought I would pose to you: who are you to tell God which camels are more important than others? Do you realize that whining to God about the perceived small camels you are watering right now is basically telling him that he doesn't know what he's doing? So you feeling gutsy enough to tell God that he isn't sovereign? Because that is what you are saying to him.
I've sat in counseling offices and counseled women in a "professional" setting and I've sat in coffee houses and counseled women in a "casual" setting. For a (very) short season it felt like a demotion of sorts. To go from being officially recognized as a counselor to well, counseling by word of mouth! I felt whiny about it until I held my first un-official counseling session in a coffee shop and that shut me up. God so clearly showed me the benefits of the coffee house "watering hole" over the office one that I came away relieved to not be stuck in the office one anymore! Perspective. It felt like I was going from big to small but in God's reality I was being promoted. I'm gifted administratively. I'm wired to be an admin assist and let me tell you, I am a GOOD one. So why aren't I someones admin assist and instead sitting behind a front desk spending my working hours greeting people? I mean, God didn't I do good enough watering those big camels? Why would you ever ask me to sit behind a front desk and virtually let my admin skills go unused? Why God have you forsaken me? (You all know I'm just saying all this to make a point right?) The front desk might seem like small camels and a small watering hole to me or to others BUT it's no less important than the job I have done before as an admin assist, which some would say was big camels and big watering hole. Perspective. What if the watering hole you say and feel "stuck" at right now is actually a promotion in God's Kingdom? Are you still going to begrudge God because you have a higher view of yourself than you ought?
The nitty-gritty of the counsel out of Genesis 24 is this: obey your Dad with a pure heart and a joyful spirit and water the camels he's told you to and watch him reward you in unexpected and life-changing ways.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
RSVP - seriously!
Okay, because this is my blog and I can talk about pretty much whatever I want I have to take a moment and vent. And yes, for the record this would be a convo I would have in a coffee house.
People. When a host/hostess asks for a RSVP they really do need to hear from you. And an RSVP doesn't mean just if you are coming. It means to respond with either a yes or a no. SHEESH. (Don't believe me? Click here for the lowdown.) It is one of my major pet peeves. It is rude and insensitive to the party planners who are trying to most likely stay within a budget, perhaps plan special favors for the attendees, etc. How long can it really take for you to repsond with a voice mail, email, or text that yes or no you will be attending the event you were invited to?
ARG!
People. When a host/hostess asks for a RSVP they really do need to hear from you. And an RSVP doesn't mean just if you are coming. It means to respond with either a yes or a no. SHEESH. (Don't believe me? Click here for the lowdown.) It is one of my major pet peeves. It is rude and insensitive to the party planners who are trying to most likely stay within a budget, perhaps plan special favors for the attendees, etc. How long can it really take for you to repsond with a voice mail, email, or text that yes or no you will be attending the event you were invited to?
ARG!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Facebook for Dummy Parents
On April 12 we sat down together and I helped her set up her account (yes, all privacy settings are as high as I can get them on FB, no worries people!) and I wrote a message on her wall welcoming her. That seemed to be okay so I wrote another one later on. Apparently THAT was pushing it. The next morning I thought she might want some pics of her and her art on her page so I went through and tagged a bunch of pics I have of her. QUIT LAUGHING. She didn't say don't do it so how was I to know? Her text to me later that afternoon went something like this:
Oldest Redheaded Wonder: O Mom u did not
Me: Did not what?
Oldest Redhead: Wat did u do?
Me: What are you talking about? I haven't done anything!
Oldest Redhead: There r pics of me on fb
Me: Oh yeah, I thought you'd want some of you for profile pics and stuff.
Oldest Redhead: Dont evr do it again. U need to ask me first
Me: Um, what? Are you saying that I the mom have to ask you the daughter for permission to post pics of you on FB?
Oldest Redhead: Yep
I was perplexed. They were cute pics of her. So about this time a teen boy comes in to work (who I am also friends with on FB btw) and I ask him if its so bad that I tagged pics of her. He just laughed. I asked if he was friends with his parents on FB, his answer was yes. I then asked well do they post pics of you and he gave me the strangest look and said nope. Huh. Seems my learning curve on this one has just begun.
So here it is. For all you parents out there about to enter the teen waters and the world of Facebook with your teens...
Facebook Tips for Dummy Parents:
- Don't tag your newly teenaged child in any of the pics you have on your page of them. Apparently this is a huge no-no.
- Don't refer to your child at all in any status update because someone might accidently see it and smirk in their direction. This will label you as the "embarrassing parent".
- If you feel the urge to write on their wall then limit it to something like, "Wat up?" Do NOT, and I repeat NOT, write on their wall how awesome they are or how much you love them or heaven forbid how handsome/cute they are. This is possible grounds for de-friending by your own flesh and blood.
- By using proper grammer you will be made fun of by your child who writes in some sort of code that doesn't include vowels for the most part. Be prepared for the mockery.
- Don't ever expect your child to write on your wall or even visit your page. You may have given birth to them but in the world of FB you are equals and you are, GASP, old!
Oh. That's not acceptable either?!?
Monday, May 09, 2011
Stunted Growth
Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.
John W. Gardner
How many future artists, entrepreneurs, engineers, musicians, athletes, philosophers, pastors, noble prize winners, politicians, etc have we "buried"?
"What Beth? What are you talking about? "I" haven't buried anyone!"
Perhaps we haven't but "we" (as in the world) have. We have buried our future under a mountain of depravity. Our futures are suffocating under all the weight of this world. The weight of poverty, addictions, money, fear, hopelessness, lack of education and so many other weights that can be and are specific to different countries and cultures.
A few months ago I watched a docu (Born into Brothels) in which kids of Indian (India) prostitutes were seeking out a better and different life than the brothel they were being raised in. It was amazing to me that these children knew that the life their mothers (and grandmothers and great-grandmothers) were living wasn't going to get them anywhere. One of the boys, it turns out, is a brilliant artist! I mean really amazing. But living in that brothel, destined to follow in the footsteps of his drug dealing, prostituting family he wasn't going to be able to share his art with the world. It, and he, were getting buried. Whatever light was shining from him was slowly, day by day, getting snuffed out. So what to do?
An interesting thing is happening here in America. Slowly our school music and art programs are getting snuffed out. The "budget" doesn't allow for those things any longer. Huh. Can you guess what is next? Yeah, that would be physical education. In fact, I know of some schools in Colorado who already have cut it out plus recess! So if "we" remove the art classes, the music classes, and the PE classes then what have "we" done? We have buried future artists, musicians, and athletes, amongst other careers. We have buried our children and our futures under a mountain of depravity. Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize." Apparently todays' education administrators haven't taken FDR's thoughts very seriously even though he was 100% correct. In America the depravity consists mostly of money. We have valued money over our children and their futures, our futures. *Can I ask, why doesn't the "budget" allow for those programs any longer? I'll tell you why. (Oh yeah it was a total rhetorical question!) Because district superintendents have hefty salaries. Seriously. I am so tired of hearing about schools - private and public - who are raising costs, cutting vital programs, laying off teachers, offering the lowest quality of food possible, etc and yet the supers are still sitting pretty with their hefty salaries. Tell me, Superintendent, do you really NEED that hefty salary that is no doubt paying for your sports car, huge house, and country club. C'mon. Get rid of the sports car, the huge house, and the country club and start thinking about the kids - for real. We don't want any more lip service from you about how much you care about the education of children. PROVE IT.
Another mountain that has buried our American children is the severely skewed "No Child Left Behind" act that introduced some of the worst testing ever. I have a whole soapbox I could stand on about this particular attempt to make sure no child gets left behind. In regards to this particular post, the problem is that in an attempt to make sure no child was left behind (a phrase, btw, that I can't stand since it represents so much contradiction) in math and science (because by golly we have to beat the Chinese at everything) we put our children behind in everything else! Art, Music, PE - these are vital parts of developing a well-rounded human being. In fact look at some of these statistics regarding art education (art and music). Kids who are able to have art education are:
* 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
* 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
* 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
* 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
* 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem
Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:
* Attend music, art, and dance classes nearly three times as frequently
* Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently
* Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
* Perform community service more than four times as often
Those kind of facts point to a well-rounded person. Regurgitating math and science facts so that a stupid test can be passed doesn't a well-rounded person make. Just sayin'. The fact of the matter is that we have left our children behind when it comes to being expressive, creative, well-rounded, cultured because we have removed the very opportunities they had to experiment. Why do we think we have to turn our children and therefore future adults into robots instead of expressive, well-adjusted humans? Not only have we left our children behind and done them a great disservice but we have buried them under "our" drive for competition as well as money.
In countries like India the children are getting buried by lack and in countries like America the children are getting buried by greed. In either case a burial is occurring. It is a burial of our future artists, entrepreneurs, engineers, musicians, athletes, philosophers, pastors, noble prize winners, politicians, etc.
What should we do about it? What can we do about it? The University of Michigan - GO BLUE! - published an article about what we can do. Click here to read it. It's worth the read I promise! But the bottom line of the article is your first step of action is to get involved at the local level with your district. Don't allow your district to think that you don't care about the children in the community becoming well-rounded, well-educated humans. And my further challenge on this is that if you are a homeschooling family still get involved and fight for all the children in your community. Because while your children are your future so are the other children. So fight for them! If your district plugs their ears and favors the Super's heavy salary and CSAP teaching over well-rounded children then go to plan B. Search for a local organization that might be offering arts education after school or on weekends. (An example would be Wingspan Arts in NYC - check 'em out for ideas!) Get creative! (After all we adults, or most of us 25 and older, got a well-rounded education in school and should know how to be creative.) If there isn't a local organization but YOU know some musicians, some artists, some theater people ask them if they'd be willing to do a child friendly workshop once a month or something. Something is better than nothing. Check into music lessons, acting lessons, art lessons, etc lessons for your children as extra curricular if there is no organization. Do something to help your children and other children become all that they can be.
The boy in India? Wondering what happened with him? Well a woman by the name of Zana started teaching beginning photography to a group of these brothel kids in India a few years back. It's grown into an organization, Kids With Cameras, and this boy attended the class and was essentially rescued out of the downward spiral he was living in. 10 years later he's studying at NYU and is in the midst of creating a positive life for himself and future generations of his family. (Click here for the update on him) And to think it all started with...art education.
Which would you rather have?
A generation, or more, of children who are "cut flowers" or "blooming, flourishing plants"?
******************************************
For informative articles on the death of art education in America click here and here.
For further statistics on education click here.
For further information on art budget cuts click here. And here.
For teacher testimonials and further reasons why art is important click here.
For information on how to make arts education a priority in your school district click here. (PDF file)
For Current Art News click here.
*I realize that I only present two reasons for the budget cuts and there are, in each district, many more reasons than the two I present here. And I also realize that not ALL Super's are getting hefty salaries, that there are a few who have good intentions. Unfortunately those well intentioned Super's are getting the heave-ho these days in favor of, yes you guessed it, the bottom dollar. Kinda like what has happened to our Farmers...but that's a whole different blog! :)
Friday, May 06, 2011
In this little room
From my heart to yours...just replace songs and singing with writing stories and speaking. :) Can I sing? Actually yes but do I want to? Actually no! This song has always been a "theme" song of mine for writing. I always pray that I only speak what God wants me to and it accomplishes a work far greater than I and that I could ever imagine or hope for because it doesn't come from me. It all comes from HIM.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)