Friends and relatives

As a child I toyed with the idea that I was adopted.  These people couldn't be my real family.  But I did love them so I wasn't afraid to introduce my friends to my family.  You may have heard of the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."  Ruprecht in the top video represents the relative you hope you never have.    My relatives weren't that bad but when my grandfather came to live with us for a time  he was sure that we had kidnapped him.  He ran away several times but we always got him back.  One time, when my husband and I were first dating, he asked my husband to help him as we had kidnapped him.  My husband says my family reminds him of the family in the movie "You Can't Take It With You." Above is a video of the young woman who had an eccentric family and her fiance who was from a well to do family.  She is insisting that his parents meet her parents to make sure there are no surprises after the wedding.  I identify with her completely. How about you?

Self Esteem

My mother taught me that I was perfect.  I believed her until I was 30 years old.  It’s called being a slow learner.  But God is patient.  When I was 15 I wrote a letter of complaint to God.  This letter was caught in the paper on the back of a mirror at my parents house.  It was hidden there for over 40 years.  I found it after I received the mirror from my parent's estate.  In the letter I said that I couldn’t control myself.  If someone said something mean to me and hurt my feelings I would say something mean to them.  I was disappointed in myself but didn’t know what to call it.  I was beginning to understand what sin was. 

At the tender age of 30, because of difficult family members, I came to the end of myself and realized I couldn’t live according to my own judgments anymore.  It was admitting that I wasn’t perfect after all, that I needed God to guide me, and this helped me to turn away from my sin and live fully for God.

Many children have been told “no” all of the time and have never heard that they did anything right.  I admit that constant criticism would be harder to overcome than being told you are perfect all of the time.  So there is a delicate balance between positive parenting while setting boundaries for children.

Now I know that I’m not perfect, that God loves me just the way I am, but He loves me so much that He will not leave me that way.  This is the beginning of developing healthy self-esteem.   Kids need exactly the same thing.  The following video is a Saturday Night Live skit on self esteem.

Peer pressure

Peer pressure hasn't been too much of a problem for me or my ancestors.  We seem to march to the beat of our own drummer.  Maybe that is the English and Scottish heritage or maybe it is the environment we experienced.  But what may have been the greatest influence was our Christian heritage.  My parents studied the Bible most of their lives and had a strong faith.  The following is a 9 minute video of a history teacher and a student interview at the 35 year reunion at my high school in Alexandria, VA.  The reunion  took place in the late 90's. While our classmates in the 60's were experiencing upheaval with changing morals our family continued to be the nerds we had always been.  We were delighted that integration was finally taking place and were happy about the way the administration at the high school handled it.  We were never in the "in" crowd and had trouble at times "counting it all joy" when we weren't accepted.   Maybe we needed to try a little harder to be "all things to all people."

Favorite commercial

Recently my favorite commercial has been the Capital One commercial with the wonderful baby who has so much character.  I identify with that baby because sometimes the things of this world are too much.  I have never been a shopper and blamed that on never having any money.  Then suddenly I could buy anything I wanted but I would become depressed and overwhelmed by too many choices.  I couldn't see the trees because of the forest of stuff!  We are blessed in this country with material things but many have noticed that those who have fewer things, and work less, are much happier.  So in this commercial the baby is asked if she would like more money.  She says an emphatic ,"No!"  Good for her!  She doesn't fall for something that has strings (high interest) attached!  My motto is "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."  I've learned though that God is a generous God and He wants us to be the same.  I'm trying to overcome my stinginess with myself and others.  It is good to simplify belongings but at the same time we should enjoy every good and perfect gift from above.


What is your favorite commercial and why?

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