When I was a child, children were to be seen and not heard. You were nothing. Stay out of the way. If people are around, put on a good show. Dress right, call them Mr and Mrs. Then get out of sight.
We weren't just beaten with belts, my mouth was bloodied many times as a child, by my mother. From time to time she would remind us that she had received an A+ in college in child psychology.
We put on a good show. Although we lived in a 900 square foot, one bathroom house, we attended church and belonged to the country club. We lived in an old neighborhood on the Missouri side, but we went to church and country club in the swanky suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas.
Life was more about show that reality.
Why am I telling you these things? Well, let us remember that most of us are products of good things and bad things. Good times and bad times. Today my sisters and I talk about "surviving" our upbringing. And there is some good news. No matter what has happened in your past, no matter what difficulty a person experiences along the way, we can choose to survive. We can choose to do better. We can choose to thrive.
I didn't have any choices about how I was raised. But today, I have all of the power to make choices in my life, and so do you. May we choose grace, kindness, and reality.
It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.
Send replies to jsbrink57@gmail.com
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I am leading a trip to Ireland next year. If you are interested in reading about it, or joining in, the link is below.....
Treasures of Ireland
July 13-22, 2020
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