Whitney Houston was RIGHT

Ok not about every choice in her journey. But in 1986 she was right. I was 10 and I still know every bit of a song that she belted out.

She belted out quite a few so I will give you the answer. The song is The Greatest Love of All. It is about finding strength from within to take on your own life and not to give up. The line of it that she was right about was that I believe the children are our FUTURE, teach them well and let them lead the way.

I am here to say that I agree whole-heartedly with Whitney. Recently an important vote was counted in my town on education. It failed by 280 votes and only 9,288 voted. And that is really sad. Really a concentrated effort to vote by all the parents in our 11,000 student school district population could have turned the vote. It would have been amazing. 280 votes short makes me sick. Sure not all have to agree, but those who could have voted yes we need you to be ready next time.

I am a daughter who is proud of her mother and her teaching career. Her time shaped lives, dreams and hopes and that was not lost on me. She then helped, supported and taught families for 25 years with Parents As Teachers. I have a deep belief that every child deserves the best education that we can provide for them. That can’t happen if we don’t vote. When they say, every vote matters it really does. (don’t even get me started on why women should honor their right to vote… that is a different soapbox!) I know life can be crazy and forgetting can be easy. But sign up for absentee voting like my friend, who’s work hours don’t work with poll hours. Find a way to cast your vote.

We need to be active, not numb. I was just made less numb by spending an hour in my daughter’s class. I helped, listened and tried to do whatever was needed with a happy heart. What was needed was some one-one-on time with a little guy. I went out with him to work for 20 minutes on cutting, glueing and sounding out syllables. But I went out with the intent to be his very own cheerleader and build him up. Smiling big, clapping out syllables and cheering him on was my focus. I could physically see him filling with confidence and pride as we worked together. And I know that touched his heart and excited his mind when he started naming extra things we could clap together. We did about 30 more words and he got creative. He was impressed that he figured out cafeteria had so many syllables. Now I can’t wait to go again. I even asked him if I could come back and spend time with him. He replied, “how about tomorrow?”

I don’t know what your involvement is in your school district, but if you can volunteer. Please carve out the time and find the child who needs a cheerleader. It was only an hour and it added to my life so much that I had to share with you.

Don’t be shy with your gifts no matter your age… VOLUNTEER, GIVE, VOTE and PRAY!

Whatever you do, remember… Whitney Houston reminding us all that… I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.

PS if you have a teacher in your life, send them a note of thanks! (and a gift card to an office supply store or super store like Wal-mart and Target) They are the cornerstone in the development of our society! 🙂

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November + Thankfulness = Grace

(Each month for the past 6 years I have written a letter to the members of the MOPS@2BC group… my sweet husband thought maybe more people would like to read this note. Hope it sparks something in you!)

Yep that sums it up for me. (see the title again)  Sure time with family, pumpkin pie, and Black Friday shopping with my sister-in-law also stand out. I feel November prepares my heart with thankfulness. It is the ground work of grace by accepting it, giving it and projecting it.

Grace is ever-present and available to each of us. We all can tap into receiving and giving it. I can honestly say that I wasn’t always the best at grace… the giving or the receiving. Grace to me was one of two things: 1) a prayer before a meal 2) a smooth movement or style.

I will admit it I was a “tracker”. What was said to me, about me, or my perception of both those things including I assumed were tracked. (Yes, I needed a different kind of hobby at the time) I was wrapped up in the minor issues, flaws and comments. Grace only played a role in my relationship with my 5 close girlfriends in high school. There was a solid foundation of understanding, acceptance and respect. But that came from time hanging out and sharing our lives. College opened up my receptors some, but I felt challenged to fill my resume up and do. Do LOTS. Leadership, internships, and work. Amon is probably still surprised I made time for our relationship.

So when did I really start living with thankfulness and grace? It might sound cliché but motherhood brought me to a new primal belief that motherhood is a blessing but unbelievably hard. I have grown in my faith and in grace in countless ways in the past 9 years of mothering. Now I want to understand, so that I can be understood. Now I want to support, so that I can be supported. I want to let others know that we should be in community with one another and not in judgment of how we choose to parent, live, or give. My hope is that by giving grace it extends through the recipient and goes on.

I mean it when I say, I am thankful for each of you. I don’t know why each of us are part of MOPS@2BC but I believe that if we give each other the permission to increase our capacity for grace that we can do anything. And probably raise amazing children full of grace.

Be Blessed,
Kristin Wooldridge
http://www.boldlyblessed.com

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