Meaning @ MindSay 
love
Hopefully if this is so, if I'm given the choice I could choose hell because that'd give me the oppertunity to do stuff, I'd be wasted somewhere without challenge, and I wouldn't want to rest knowing that there was more I could be doing, having seen how much it needs
When you have one of those things, the other doesn't matter (at least, not as much) - i.e. as long as you're happy it doesn't matter if you can't change the world, and vice versa :) Both are ways to cope, real joy comes from within (nurtured self esteem?), not outside.
Children and spouses have been doing it for many decades. Sending the flowers, calling long distance (the biggest day for phone calls of the year) and booking over-priced brunches to celebrate mom or spouse for all she does. And yet, somehow it always rings a bit hollow, like we're pre-programmed to do one or all three things on cue. We're like Pavlovian dogs hearing the "incoming message" bell to prod our actions. In an over-stressed, over-scheduled world, Mother's Day has become a "to-do list" holiday. We order the flowers, pick up mom, eat, thank, kiss, drive home, and check it off the list.
But it doesn't have to be that way. I'm lucky enough to share my house and kids with a woman who speaks her mind. She's never content with the status quo. She lets me know that a $9.99 bouquet of Roses from the Safeway doesn't actually say much more than, "Yes, I was at the grocery store and thought of you while in the produce section." It's not that she's ungrateful for little thoughts like that; she doesn't even treat mom's day that seriously, but like most women, she knows when she's being put on.
So, like many modern families, we spend more prep time for Hallmark holidays thinking about what the honoree really would enjoy rather than what we are told we should do. In some cases, this is a brunch in a fancy hotel at the top of California Street where we can fritter away our children's education fund in an over-eating frenzy accompanied to the sound of a harp. My mom likes that, but she doesn't get to San Francisco that often.
For my wife though, who loves the outdoors, almost anything we can do that involves hills, muddy shoes, and the complaints of small children asking "how much further?" is fine for her. No extra expense, no flowers, just a bit of dedicated time sharing the outdoors with the family. We'll head to Crissy Field and fly kites, or into the Marin Headlands to walk along the cliffs, or into Golden Gate Park to walk the Labyrinth. There are hundreds of places to go that will entertain the kids while satisfying her need to get some time outdoors.
We're not afraid to break out of the conventions of the traditional Mother's Day. On the plus side, that means that not getting a reservation doesn't mean I don't treasure her as a mom or partner. Not buying flowers doesn't mean I forgot the simplest of symbols. I can literally wait until right up to Mother's Day morning when we are setting the tray of burnt toast and orange juice in front of her in bed to give her what she wants most, a little time with the family doing something she particularly loves.
My advice on Mom's day: forget the card and the lines at restaurants. Do everything from scratch this year. Have the kids make their own cards and make breakfast at home, followed by something mom likes to do, whether it's a museum, flower show, ball game, or afternoon at home in front of an old movie.
And that goes for Dad's day as well. But remember, mom, if you're thinking of golf, you need to know one thing: Mother's Day is the best day in the year to get any tee time you want, but just try to schedule a golf outing on Father's Day.
Which is why it is, to me, enlightening to discuss what some words and phrases mean with them when I teach them. They haven't thought about what these words MEAN, only what they should make them do. And really, knowing the meaning of words is important. Yes, those results are necessary, but when one has a better grasp of the "what" the "how" is often made more plain. At least, in my experience.
I helped teach the "children's part" of a family seminar at church this past weekend. Any time you have one of these, the above verse will be part of what you teach the kids. Now, I was supposed to have fifth graders. No fifth graders came. Instead, I got middle schoolers that parents felt were too young to go to the "regular" seminar and too young to stay home alone for hours and hours. Why no other provision was made for this age at church, I don't know. But they came to me.
Which, of course, was extremely cool. They're my best group. :) I was allowed to modify some of the stuff we were doing (on the fly, which is always fun, but I got my first Varsity letter for Impromptu Speaking in competitive forensics...) and we spent Friday evening and Saturday morning hanging out together while their parents were in the main seminar.
So. We had that verse. Honor your father and mother. "What's that mean?" I asked the kids.
"Um. Obey."
First thing out of their mouths. Obey.
Nothing wrong with obedience, you understand. And yes, the Lord God Almighty does appreciate it when we do obey...but...that's not the end-all, be-all meaning of "honor your father and mother."
"What does it mean to show honor?" I asked my group. Honor is a word that comes up and I consider it to be a personally important concept, after all. Has no one taught these young people what it means?
They hemmed and hawed and looked at one another uncomfortably. And then, one of the lads sat up straight and offered me a salute. "Honor!" he said, a goofy look on his freckled face.
Thing was...he was right. And it was my great pleasure to show him.
What did he do? He presented his best self in that salute. (Even though he was messing around, the kids understood "salute.") He was tall, straight, and focused. He presented me, his teacher, with the best self he had, and gave me his undivided attention. Even if only for the time it took for me to grin at him.
See, he'd given the others something to take away with them. Not that they should salute their parents, as I told them, but that when we show someone -- anyone -- honor, we should present them with the best we have, give them our focused attention and...then...sure, we should obey if they request it. But that other stuff should be there with or without the need for immediate obedience.
So, a middle-schooler's goofing off moment turned into one of the coolest moments of my Friday night. I love it when kids toss stuff like that out.
The boy, when I had used his example as "the" example of this word, and incorporated all of the above into a lesson on how to interact with our parents, could only say, "Wow."
Moms have been celebrated throughout time of course, and in recorded events in Egyptian, Greek and Roman times. The origins of a specific Mother's Day go all the way back to the 16th century and the practice of visiting one's "mother church" once a year.
On that day, dark ages moms would be reunited with their children at church. In the United States, a mother and social activist, Julia Ward Howe worked to create a Mother's Day for Peace day during the Civil War in an attempt to organize mothers against war.
It was not until 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day to honor mothers whose sons had died in war. In some parts of the country, it is traditional to wait until Mothers Day to plant tomatoes.
Since then, Mother's Day has gone on to become the most popular day of the year to dine out in a restaurant and to make long distance phone calls and May is the biggest month for florists. Mother's Day is celebrated around the world, though the actual date changes depending on the country.
Mothers Day reminds dads that parenthood cannot be taken for granted and that life gives us an opportunity to celebrate it everyday and make it extraordinary.
Mother's Day is just around the corner. Here are five good places to order a Mother's Day gift basket.
| |
Ruby:
Ruby in Zoisite:
Snowflake Obsidian (black-and-white snowflake pattern) Snowflake obsidian, like black obsidian, is a truth-telling stone, but transmits the truth in a more gentle manner. 
Sodalite
Blue Topaz (light blue-green): it enables us to communicate powerfully what we are feeling. It is considered to be especially valuable for artists.
Golden Topaz (golden): This crystal helps us to balance our energies and also lends a quality of inspiration and confidence to our lives.
Tourmaline In general, helps to relieve stress.
Black tourmaline's particular function is to repel negative energy, whether from external or internal sources.It is a very good stone to carry when you're experiencing any kind of stress.
Green tourmaline is believed to be a healer on all level. It is also believed to be particularly helpful for creativity and abundance.
Pink tourmaline helps to transform unconditional self-love into love for others.
Turquoise: Helps to make our desires clear to us, and assists us in expressing them to others who may be able to help us materialize them.
Unakite (olive green/coral): Has a balancing and stabilizing effect. Helps us to discover the roots of illness.
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]