Adam: "Johnny, I'm going to climb on the roof and throw your Transformer over the fence and a car is going to run over it."
Jonathan: "Adam, don't be a neanderthal."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
poor girl
Rachel "Mom, my hair is as long as Morgan's (our babysitter, with shoulder-length hair)
Mom "Ummm, I'm not so sure that it is honey."
Rachel, more urgently, "Mom, it IS longer! I know it is!"
Mom "Honey, Morgan's hair is almost past her shoulders. Yours is just below your ears."
Rachel, in total exasperation, "MOM. I'm talking about the hair on my ARMS."
Hmmmm...scratch the college fund and just start saving for laser hair removal. But I get it before she does- I've definitely suffered longer.
Mom "Ummm, I'm not so sure that it is honey."
Rachel, more urgently, "Mom, it IS longer! I know it is!"
Mom "Honey, Morgan's hair is almost past her shoulders. Yours is just below your ears."
Rachel, in total exasperation, "MOM. I'm talking about the hair on my ARMS."
Hmmmm...scratch the college fund and just start saving for laser hair removal. But I get it before she does- I've definitely suffered longer.
Monday, February 16, 2009
giving
A young, disheveled girl approached me tonight in the parking lot of the grocery store and asked me if I had $1 that I could give her. She needed to get to some far-off destination and was all out of gas. I didn't have $1, but I saw a gas station across the street and said that if she could meet me there I would give her some gas. The kids peppered me with questions about her as we got in the car and waited at the light- "Mom, do you know that girl?" "Why doesn't she have money for gas?" "Where does she need to go?" "Where is her mom and dad?" - none of which I could answer, but I had those same questions too.
Her battered car really seemed to be on it's last leg as it pulled in behind mine and she waited while I filled my car with her hand over her face. She looked weary. I introduced myself and we chatted briefly as I filled her tank, and then it was over. I got in my car and we started to pull away. In the rear-view mirror, I noticed that she had gotten out of her car and was headed in to the convenience store. "Where is she going?" asked Rachel. I fought the momentary urge to turn around and see if she went inside to purchase something with her non-existent money. "Maybe she needs to use the bathroom honey. I'm not sure."
As I drove home, I started to doubt whether or not she had really been in need of my generosity. The more I mulled it over, the growing doubt threatened to change the spirit in which I had given her my gift. If she hadn't really needed it, my gift was somehow worth less to me than if she was truly in need. Down the road I drove as the thoughts rolled around in my head- Had she been telling me the truth? Had I been taken advantage of? There is no way to really know.
I remembered back to other instances in which I had given things to people in need. I remember my mom taking me to Carl's Jr in Selma and buying a meal for a man in that parking lot when I was very young. That was the first time I can remember doing anything like that, but it shaped my perception that if you can give, you should.
I tried to live by that and give when I could. I remember a homeless man grabbing me around the wrist and saying something vulgar to me as I passed him a grocery bag of food through the window in Houston. He fiddled with my car door for a second before I could drive off. I was shaken and frightened.
I also remembered going through the drive-thru and purchasing a meal that I was not really interested in eating. I distinctly felt that I would find someone who would need that meal, so I drove around looking for a little bit- but no one appeared. I began to munch absent-mindedly on the fries as I headed home. 15 minutes later I missed my exit and as I got off the freeway to turn around I saw a homeless man, with a "Vietnam Vet" sign around his neck, sitting in a wheelchair. He had no legs. My stomach fell into my shoes and I started to sob. I had forgotten, so quickly, the prompting I had felt! As I rolled down the window and the tears rolled down my cheeks, all I could say was "I'm so sorry I ate your fries." He said "It doesn't matter to me lady, thanks" and then I had to drive on, filled with remorse.
Being someone who loves to give gifts, it really matters to me how the gift is received. I know I can't always control that, even less so with people that I only meet for a few moments. I can't get over the thought that I want what I give to be really appreciated and valued- like it is to me. I know that in all the giving I've done to needy people, I've probably been taken a time or two. If I had seen that young woman buy something in the store tonight, would I have had regret for the gas I offered? I think so. What would I do if I knew that man was going to grab and frighten me? Would that have changed his need? Would I have kept my gift?
"For behold, if a man being aevil giveth a gift, he doeth it bgrudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God." Moroni 7:8
Why is it that my "giving" is all tied up in the "receiving"?
Her battered car really seemed to be on it's last leg as it pulled in behind mine and she waited while I filled my car with her hand over her face. She looked weary. I introduced myself and we chatted briefly as I filled her tank, and then it was over. I got in my car and we started to pull away. In the rear-view mirror, I noticed that she had gotten out of her car and was headed in to the convenience store. "Where is she going?" asked Rachel. I fought the momentary urge to turn around and see if she went inside to purchase something with her non-existent money. "Maybe she needs to use the bathroom honey. I'm not sure."
As I drove home, I started to doubt whether or not she had really been in need of my generosity. The more I mulled it over, the growing doubt threatened to change the spirit in which I had given her my gift. If she hadn't really needed it, my gift was somehow worth less to me than if she was truly in need. Down the road I drove as the thoughts rolled around in my head- Had she been telling me the truth? Had I been taken advantage of? There is no way to really know.
I remembered back to other instances in which I had given things to people in need. I remember my mom taking me to Carl's Jr in Selma and buying a meal for a man in that parking lot when I was very young. That was the first time I can remember doing anything like that, but it shaped my perception that if you can give, you should.
I tried to live by that and give when I could. I remember a homeless man grabbing me around the wrist and saying something vulgar to me as I passed him a grocery bag of food through the window in Houston. He fiddled with my car door for a second before I could drive off. I was shaken and frightened.
I also remembered going through the drive-thru and purchasing a meal that I was not really interested in eating. I distinctly felt that I would find someone who would need that meal, so I drove around looking for a little bit- but no one appeared. I began to munch absent-mindedly on the fries as I headed home. 15 minutes later I missed my exit and as I got off the freeway to turn around I saw a homeless man, with a "Vietnam Vet" sign around his neck, sitting in a wheelchair. He had no legs. My stomach fell into my shoes and I started to sob. I had forgotten, so quickly, the prompting I had felt! As I rolled down the window and the tears rolled down my cheeks, all I could say was "I'm so sorry I ate your fries." He said "It doesn't matter to me lady, thanks" and then I had to drive on, filled with remorse.
Being someone who loves to give gifts, it really matters to me how the gift is received. I know I can't always control that, even less so with people that I only meet for a few moments. I can't get over the thought that I want what I give to be really appreciated and valued- like it is to me. I know that in all the giving I've done to needy people, I've probably been taken a time or two. If I had seen that young woman buy something in the store tonight, would I have had regret for the gas I offered? I think so. What would I do if I knew that man was going to grab and frighten me? Would that have changed his need? Would I have kept my gift?
"For behold, if a man being aevil giveth a gift, he doeth it bgrudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God." Moroni 7:8
Why is it that my "giving" is all tied up in the "receiving"?
overheard
Adam, practicing the first Article of Faith that is trying to memorize: "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."
Jonathan, sitting next to him: "And, Legos."
Adam: "Yeah, and Legos"
Jonathan, sitting next to him: "And, Legos."
Adam: "Yeah, and Legos"
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