Thoughtful About . . . Half of a Unit

by Roseanna White | Oct 8, 2015 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

We’re surrounded by them. Couples. Siblings. Families that are super close. People we think of individually, sure, but also, always, as part of a unit.

Over the weekend my husband and I went to the airport to pick up friends flying home from a mission trip. As I was saying a prayer for them the next morning, they came to mind as they often do: Mike and Terri. I’ve thought of them this way for nearly 30 years. Mike and Terri. And it got me thinking.

What units have I been a part of in my life? Growing up, I was often grouped in with my sister: Jennifer and Roseanna. Just like my kids: Xoe and Rowyn. My nieces: Isabelle and Paisley. Because these groups tend to travel together. Share space. Live in the same home. Because when you see one, chances are you see the other.

But these units change as children grow up, don’t they? Then they’re often paired with their friends. In high school, my friend and I joked that people seemed to think our name was Jen-and-Annie.

Then it becomes the couples. David and Roseanna. Brian and Jennifer. Mike and Terri. And so on.

It’s a normal thing, in life. We spend time with people. So in the minds of other people, we’re a unit. We arrive together. We share time and space. We have the same stances on things, usually. We work together.

We’re a unit.

It’s a normal thing, in life…but one that shifts. Relationships break. People pass away. Move away. Things come between us. Distance, sometimes physical and sometimes emotional. The unit breaks down.

But there’s one unit that shouldn’t. I wonder though…

Do people ever think of us as part of a unit with Him? Do people know what when we show up, the Spirit does too? Can strangers ever glimpse Jesus walking with us as surely as our spouses do?

That’s what the Church should be, right? The bride to Jesus, the bridegroom. The other half of His unit. But are we? Can we be, when we fight so much among ourselves that one has to wonder what “The Church” even means anymore?

At the end of the day, that’s the only unit that matters…but the one so often neglected. I strive to keep accord between me and my husband, for example–do I strive to keep it even more between me and my Lord? Do I spend more time with Him than my family? My spouse? Am I in unity with my God?

These earthly relationships, the earthly units are important. But not as important as unity with Him. So that’s something I’m going to be thinking more about. How do we fill in this blank in our lives?

Thoughtful About . . . the Colors of God

by Roseanna White | Sep 24, 2015 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

What does it mean to be made in the image of God?

This is a thought that’s floated to the surface of my mind several times in the last month or so. I look at all the racial tensions . . . I look at all the unrest in the world . . . I look at all the gender issues . . . I look at all the sexual orientation topics . . . I look at all the religions . . .

And it begs the question: how can a species so very diverse, so very discordant, so very dissimilar be made, as a whole, in the image of God?

And then the answer sneaks its way into my heart. Quietly, stealthily, like mist over the mountain.

When God created humanity, He created us with burgeoning potential. In the DNA of those first people was stored the potential for every color of skin. For every variation of hair. For every size, every weight, every look. Beauty and ugliness. Generosity and stinginess. We have the potential for greatness, and for failure.

Some parts of our lives are choices, governed by free will. This is where sin comes in, and that’s a rainbow of topics for another post.

But other parts we’re born with, and–up until modern history, anyway–that means we’re stuck with it. This is where my attention is fixed just now. The rainbow over which we have very little say.

So often we say, “God doesn’t see the outside, only the in.” There’s truth in that . . . and there’s lie. God does see the outside. He created it, after all. When I look at my children, I see their hair, their eyes, the shapes of their noses. It’s silly to say God doesn’t. It’s silly, even, to say, “Fine, He sees it, it just doesn’t matter.”

It does matter. He chose it for us. He chose to make each of us who we are. But here’s the thing. He sees it as beautiful.

God loves that rich brown skin He mixed with Heaven’s pallet. He loves that bright blond hair that catches the sunlight. He loves the way this group tends toward shorter frames, and the way that one stretches upward and upward. God not only sees the beautiful in each trait, He fashioned us just so. He chose those particular traits for each of us.

When I look at my kids, I see their differences. I see their similarities. And I love it all. I adore Rowyn’s dimples. Xoe’s bright blue eyes. I wonder what color their hair will end up, and I know it’ll be lovely. I delight in how tall my little girl is, how short my son still is. I find it infinitely amusing how one of them will curl up in my lap at every opportunity and the other thinks “hugging” is a one-way activity in which one need only stand there passively. They are different. And they are the same.

We are all different. And we are all the same.

What is the color of God? Black, white, brown, red? Being incorporeal, the answer is, “None of these.” He is, in a way, like pure light.

Us? We’re darkness. Every time I hear one people group claiming that they matter more than their neighbors, their rivals, their former-oppressors, their enemies, their friends, their allies . . . something inside me just weeps. We take our differences and we glory in them. Or we hate them. We say they don’t matter. Or we say they’re the most important thing.

We miss the point.

Our differences are. And they are beautiful.

Our differences are. But they’re not all.

What is the color of God? Is He black, white, brown, or red? He is none of these. But He is more than that.

He is all of these.  God is, in a way, like pure light. Containing every color, even those beyond what our eyes can see.

And I just pray I can see through His eyes. Not beyond our races or genders. Including them. Because difference is a part of us. And that’s an amazing thing.

Thoughtful About . . . Kids These Days

by Roseanna White | Aug 20, 2015 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

I don’t often feel the need to take on Facebook memes. Especially not ones posted by people I actually like. And whose bottom line I can agree with. But I read one yesterday that really got my blood up. It said:

“Back in the old days we came home from school & did our homework, no game playing. We took our school clothes off when we got home & did not go outside & play in them! We didn’t sit & listen to grownups talk, we left the room until company left. We ate what was cooked or nothing @ all! When told to do something, we did it!!! We didn’t say I will do it later. I am thankful for the old days because it made me the person I am today…. Re post if you agree back in the old days was something America should of stuck to for raising kids.”

I’m still mad when I read this. Not because I don’t agree that America has lost its way, and not because I don’t fear how many kids are being raised today. And not even because the grammar in that meme makes me question that claim about always having done one’s homework (should of–really? I wasn’t aware that ‘of’ was a verb…).

But because if you were raised so well, what happened? Didn’t you raise your kids the same way? Didn’t they then raise their kids that way? And so on? If so, then why did things change?

Why? I’ll tell you. Because it’s not about the things parents don’t teach their kids today, that you were taught. It’s about the things parents still teach their kids, just like you were taught.

It’s not that you were told, “Eat this or don’t eat.” It’s that you were raised thinking, “I don’t want potatoes again. When I grow up, I want more. I want choices.” You told your kids, “You’re so lucky–I only had one pair of good shoes. Look how many you have! Look how hard I worked to give you something better!” And your kids grew up thinking, “My parents wanted better–I want better too. I want more. I’m going to work hard and make even more money. So I can give my kids even more opportunities.” And those kids now rush to ten different extra-curricular activities in their family with three cars, and pairs of shoes get lost and not noticed, and pantries are burgeoning with junk food.

And it’s not because one day a generation stood up and decided, “You know what? My grandparents were fools, and I think now’s a great time to destroy American society.”

It changed because every generation that is given something wants more. It’s because our constant quest to give our children better means they don’t appreciate what they have. It’s because it starts with a generation that’s just trying to survive…and then to be comfortable…and then to have a little extra…and spirals out of control.

And too, it’s because you’re looking at the past through those proverbial rose-colored glasses. You say you always did what you were told. I say, “Tom Sawyer.” He’s even from generations before, and he made a career of goofing off and putting off chores. You really mean to tell me you never did? Are you aware that the word “hooky” dates from 1848? I call bullcrap. You were a kid. Kids are kids. Kids have always been kids. They ditch chores. They test limits. They forget about obligations in the face of the promise of fun. Maybe some learn that the consequences aren’t worth it–but that rests on the parents. So what did you do with your kids?

This is not something new, this tendency. You can see it in literature hundreds of years old. Especially in literature dealing with the spoiled upper classes.

That’s what America has become–spoiled. And it isn’t the kids who are spoiling themselves–so who should we really blame? Why are you musing about when you were a kid…instead of when you were a parent with young kids?

A society doesn’t rot in one generation. It takes, so history tells us, three. Three generations of shifting morals. That means it started with those who are posting these memes, or even with their parents. Please don’t blame it all on my generation. We have plenty of faults, sure! And I certainly don’t agree with the prevailing mindset of many of those my age. But we’re not all like that. And do you know why?

It’s because I didn’t leave the room when the grownups were talking. I listened to them. And I learned. I learned how things change. I learned how they shouldn’t. I learned what I needed to do to make sure my kids grow up knowing what is right and wrong–and what I need not to do.

I learned it’s not just enough to say, “No. You can’t have that. We can’t afford it. When you grow up and get a job, you can buy that yourself.” We have to instead say, “No. We don’t need that. We can spend that money helping someone instead. When you grow up, you can do even more good.”

It’s not enough to say, “Back in my day, we didn’t have this problem.” Instead, we need to say, “When you grow up, you’ll be facing a new set of problems like this. How do you think you should handle it?”

It’s not enough to say, “We used to respect our elders.” True respect isn’t just given, it’s earned.  I respect my elders. But I’m also doing my best to make sure my kids respect me.

Don’t whine about “kids these days.” Don’t say, “we used to do it this way.” It’s the way it was once done that led to the way it’s being done now. We don’t change it by following the pattern.

We change it by breaking it.

Thoughtful About . . . I’m Not Called

by Roseanna White | Aug 6, 2015 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

I’m not called to build a wall.
Just a section of it.

I’m not called to change a nation.
Just a family.

I’m not called to right all wrongs.
Just my wrongs.

I’m not called to understand it all.
Just to seek understanding through Him.

I’m not called to single-handedly fund the church.
Just to give my part.

I’m not called to be the best friend of everyone.
Just of those God has given me.

I’m not called to win awards.
Just to glorify Him with my efforts.

I’m not called to have the best of the best.
Just to be a good steward of what I’m given.

I’m not called to be everything to everyone.
Just to be me…to be His.

I’m not called to do your part.
Just to do mine.

But if we all do ours…

Then the wall gets built.
The nation changes.
The world improves.
Understanding grows.
Things get done.
Love spreads.
Good deeds are the order of the day.
God is glorified through what our hands touch.

And the world will look and say, “There is a people whose God is the Lord.”

Blessed be the name of the Lord.