It seems as though I have an opinion about almost everything. I would venture to guess that not everyone always agrees with me or sees the world the way I do, and I accept that. I believe myself to be open-minded and accepting, so try not to bury me in the ground after this unloading of information that tends to keep me awake at night :)
1.) I believe in medical intervention. (insert duh here, if you must :) Clearly 3 of my 5 kids have received a surgical procedure which enabled them to use a sense that they were not born with the ability to use). Cochlear implants are not accepted by everyone and they don't need to be in order for me to feel like this medical, ground breaking, "new", evolving procedure was well worth the risk. My opinion :)
2.) Minimum wage increase. Sure, why not raise the federal minimum wage in an attempt to help people make a better life for themselves. Seems clean, cut and dry to not pay people such low wages that they struggle to make a life for themselves. But you know what else makes sense to me? Working hard and making a life for yourself outside of minimum wage. I work in the fast food industry, a place where people in the public have a general consensus that we don't get paid much outside of minimum wage. The fast food strikes and demands for $15/hour always make me chuckle. For starters, I will say that the company that I work for, usually recognizes and rewards talent when they see it. We do this thing where... if you are a good worker, show up and are reliable --- we pay you more money because we think you are VALUABLE!!! :). It's innovative and great, even inside a fast food joint!! However, this day and age it seems as the years pass especially, finding people that do what they say they are going to do is getting harder and harder. So instead of rewarding people for performance, the government is going to reward them for lack there of. The only people making minimum wage in the establishments I work, are 14 or 15 year old kids. My apologies if the place you work does not have performance reviews or raises, or start you out above the federal minimum wage. My advice, don't work for the slippery suckers out there that only want to pay you minimum wage. I have no doubts that places like that exist. Shame on them. Do better for yourself. Show up and be amazing, my experience tells me that it always pays off. Again, this is my opinion :)
3.) Church. Having a love-hate relationship with what was once a very close family to me. I've been driven out the door by a divided body of people who can't seem to find peace and a place in their hearts to agree to disagree. I have an opinion. A very strong opinion. I believe that where there is people, there will be conflict. I believe that conflict can either stretch us to see past where we can stretch our hand out, or it can eat us up and destroy us. I whole-heartedly believe in growing the body of believers here on Earth and using resources and tools and people and all other AWESOME means that God makes available to us. I found strength and started a relationship with the Lord in a building full of people. The church. What an amazing feeling it is to be a part of something where you all share such a passion. A passion for Jesus, and the belief that He carries all of our sins. That God sent his son in an act of merciful love for all of us. I don't know for sure the day that all of that changed. I can recall when my life changed and I can recall when I started to feel my church family slip away. Currently, my time in the Word has slipped, my prayer life has weakened and my time spent in fellowship has pretty well bottomed out. I can place all the blame in world on one thing or another, but in my heart I know it's the enemy. I'm full blown aware of this so now I have to decide what to do and how to move forward? My prayer would be that I could see some resolve in the place where I surrendered my life to the Lord. I pray that we could all move on to a place where we build eachother up, don't need to raise our voices at one another, can chose to agree or lovingly disagree, speak with honesty and integrity, accept and LOVE one another and ALL OTHERS, and go back to growing the kingdom. Whether it be through the youth, infants, adults or any in-between. My way is not the only way. Practice saying it with me: My way, is not the only way. Yes. I feel much better now.
4.) Have a couple kids, no kids or lots of kids. Whatever it is, I think thats just great! :) Can we just accept that, once again, our way is not the only way? Hey guess what, I have 5 kids and all but one have special needs and guess what??? I think my family is GREAT! I don't think everyone needs to have a lot of kids, but I have several young children and I happen to do a pretty great job raising each one of them :)! Each of them are loved, cared for, fed and bathed. Yep, all 5 of them are mine. Like it or love it, those are your options because they are all here in my life for a reason!
5.) Homeschool, unschool, public school, Christian school. Whatever, whichever, I happen to be completely satisfied with my experience this far with the public school system. My oldest is thriving academically and I couldn't be more pleased with the teachers I have had the pleasure of getting to know. I enjoy volunteering in class rooms, attending bike rodeos, volunteering to read at story time or surprising my kids at lunch time. I appreciate the efforts of my school. I'm proud of all that gets accomplished in those doors, socially, emotionally and academically. But guess what? I know that my way, is not the only way! I have no problem with the choice to homeschool. I think its great what you can accomplish before noon, or that you can do school on Saturday instead of Tuesday. I LOVE the flexibility, the ideas of doing nature walks and growing at your families pace. I think its fantastic!! The Christian school incorporating bible time right into your day, genius. Awesome way to start it out in the early years and build up those building blocks strong and tall. LOVE a sturdy foundation. I just think keeping an open mind is generally the more loving thing to do. Like I said before, my way, is not the ONLY way.
So what do we do when we find ourselves in a situation where our way is not the way the tide is going? How do we respond? Is there something wrong with fighting for what we believe? My not-so-educated-initial-response is: NO. There is probably nothing wrong with voicing your opinion. The point where I think it gets really dicey is when we get to the point of frustration. We lose all ability to be open minded and we start closing the doors. We can stand true to our beliefs and still be open minded. Often times, if we can admit that our way is not the ONLY way -- we can even grow ourselves into more mature and seasoned individuals. Huffy-puffy arguing, rolled eyes, nasty/closed off body language, quick rebuttals and hasty remarks are some of the first signs that our opinions and our ideas are sewn onto our person. I know all of that from experience.. I can be the queen of huffy-puffy. Not proud, just honest. Go ahead, have an opinion. Please, have an opinion and feel free to take a stand. However, be mature enough to be willing to rip it off if you change your mind. I get in positions sometimes, and have with all 5 of the above mentioned topics where I feel attacked. I want people to see it as I do. I still do to this day. However, I've taken some time to sit back in each of these situations and think to myself, where are they coming from when they say XYZ. What do I do when I feel the discussion turning into an argument and the heat getting turned on? Keep an open mind always and remember:
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh words stirs up anger.
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