Early Christmas.

This weekend has been our early Christmas, and what a delight it has been! A work party where I felt so loved and felt the weight of Christ-like love and friendship. I am beyond blessed by my coworkers and the relationships that we share. A Christmas with David's family where we ate delicious food and spent time together. Christmas with my love and best friend complete with surprises and Swedish pancakes and Christopher the Christmas tree. And this beautiful trunk! My husband is the best.

Poverty.

I thought this article was interesting:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2011/12/12/if-i-was-a-poor-black-kid/

And I especially enjoyed the responses to it.
http://www.good.is/post/an-ode-to-a-poor-black-kid-i-never-knew-how-forbes-gets-it-wrong/

http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2011/12/what-i-want-you-to-know-if-i-were-poor.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RAGEagainsttheMINIVAN+%28Rage+Against+The+Minivan%29

I know I don't actually know what it's like to be a "poor black kid" (or a poor kid of any minority), but I think and talk with people about this a lot. It breaks my heart that people think like the man who wrote the original article, and it breaks my heart that people just look at the behavior of children and not the cause. Like the kid in the first response that I posted, there is always something going on under the surface. It's so hard to remember when the behavior is frustrating or unnerving or just plain scary, but kids desperately need us to understand that fact.

I'm so thankful for my job that reminds me every day that we're all the same. That no one race is better than another. That the fact that I came from a middle class, white, Christian family doesn't mean I'm better or smarter than anyone else - it just means I had it easy. It means that now I need to do something with that, and work to understand where everyone is coming from.

My thoughts aren't all figured out on this topic yet, but I'll get there eventually.

Adoption.

I know I said I was going to link to these posts, but you can just go on the website and read them yourself! They've all been really interesting, but this one stands out to me. Please read it.

I know my job isn't anywhere near as hard as the job that girl has, but sometimes I feel similar. I know that where I work is a temporary solution for the families and that they will leave (be it by graduating or leaving the program prematurely). My heart breaks when they leave. I have invested so much in those kids and haven't held back from loving them. Most of the time I don't get to say goodbye and I never get to see them again.

Anyways, those "what I want you to know" posts on Rage Against the Minivan are so interesting and eye-opening, and this one struck a chord with me.

Weekend.

This weekend was so restful and good. It snowed both days which gave a good excuse to stay inside. I made Christmas gifts all weekend, and love that this year I have the inspiration to make so many of the gifts I'm(/we're) giving. I love it. I hope my family loves it too!

We rested so much and got to catch up with friends. I love the times we spend with both our college friends and our Bloom friends. Two different times in our lives, but I'm so thankful for all of them. It was so nice to catch up last night and be reminded of how connected I feel to my precious friends from college. And it was so nice to be at Bloom tonight - to be serving and running around, but also have time to catch up and talk. I love that place.

Understanding.

I struggle with understanding sometimes. Sometimes I feel too deeply what others are feeling, but at other times I don't try to understand where someone is coming from at all. I think the latter is detrimental and I want to change that. Getting inside someone's head and heart is so painful, and I need help to know how to handle it. But I think it's worth it.

All that to say, I think I'll start linking up to this other blog every day. There has been a series called "What I want you to know"lately, and in the month of December she will be posting a story (submitted by readers) every day. It has helped me understand the situations that people come from better, and I want to share!


Please take a look!

Rage Against the Minivan - What I want you to know series