Proud Parenting Moments

I know... we've had so much going on lately I haven't had a chance to update everyone on the comings and goings.  More on that later, though.

First, I want to tell you about one of the moments when I realized I was doing something right as a mom.

I think it is safe to say that every parent has moments when they wonder if they are doing the right thing by their kids.  Personally, I tend to focus on the things you can count and measure: can Little J say his ABCs and count his 123s?  does he know shapes and colors? Can he read words?  Tell me what words begin with certain letters?  Tell me what letters are the first letter in certain words? Is K-Man in the right place developmentally - can he do all the right motor skills? verbal skills?

But really - that's kind of easy stuff.  The real test, I think, is whether or not I am modeling responsible, kind, open and loving adult behavior.

This weekend, I realized I was probably doing okay.  Right around the time Little J asked me "who is Ben's husband?"

See, I never told him Ben was gay.  Nor did I tell him Ben had a boyfriend or a special friend or any other euphemism.  I just said "this is Ben."

Little J figured out the rest on his own -- but he really didn't think to care one way or the other.  He was just trying to match the adults together.

I realized Big J and I are doing something right.  If our kids can accept people just as they are, without any preconceived notions or standards -- and like them for who they really are, I think we have done something right.

(c) Lessons from Cooper

What does Prosperity really mean?

On Wednesday morning, I headed to a Christian business owners meeting in may area.  A friend had invited me to attend and learn more about the group. 

I knew where the meeting location was, however, since the roads are a little angled in our area and I'm still not sure on timing and I was running a little late, I decided to use my GPS Navigator to tell me the best way to get there.

The GPS had me drive through a residential neighborhood just north of my location, which I thought was odd.  After all, the main roads lead right to the location.  But I thought there might be a back entrance or something and so I followed the Navigator.

I drove through a neighborhood filled with huge houses.  Two stories, three and four car garages.  The yards were beautiful, and even in a residential area the homes were set back from the street at least forty or fifty feet.  Standard upper middle class development, I thought at first.

And then I saw the kids.  First the two at what was probably the bus stop, and then a teenage girl walking back in to her house.  The kids were so small against the houses.  And the girl especially, almost looked lonely surrounded by all of the expansiveness.

At the meeting, the devotion was centered on verses about money. In particular that the love of money is the root of trouble.  The writer of the devotion then went on to explain that money, just as money, isn't a problem in and of itself.  Money is a tool that we can use for good, for the benefit of others, for sustaining ourselves.  It is the love of money -- above the love of God and others -- that gets us in to trouble. 

I flashed back to my drive through the neighborhood on the way there, and realized it was definitely a learning moment. In some ways, our society expects us to want the big house with the four car garage and all the trappings that come with it.  But maybe, instead of using the money to gratify our own egos, we should use it as a tool to benefit others.

(c) KJD Legal