Category: Uncategorized

The Title Says it All

So my dad was offered several free magazine subscriptions that he had basically already paid for so he decided to get some random titles that looked like they might be interesting. One of the magazines he is having sent to the house is called Working Mother.

Sounds interesting right? Well, when the first one arrived I flipped through it and found it to be both intriguing and appalling at the same time. This second issue is no different.

On the cover there is a perfectly coiffed platinum blonde mother and her two platinum blond children. One boy and one girl of course and they look to be about 7 and 10. Oh, and by the way, the Papa is missing in the photo because this is about the working mother.

In the past year or so, I have come to the conclusion that you cannot be a mom and a career woman and be satisfied with your life in both arenas. You can either be the best mom or be the best at your career. It takes more than 40 hours a week to do either them exceptionally and there aren’t enough hours in the week (unless you intend not to sleep and no one can go full throttle on no sleep for long).

Now I’m not saying that a mom can’t work. In fact, there are a lot of women who enjoy their jobs and being a mom. And there are lots of women who have jobs they might not like so much but have them because of financial constraints on the family. What I am saying is that the focus and time allotment to really succeed cannot be divided between two objectives: motherhood and careerhood.

The table of contents of Working Mother really hits this dilemma on the head, or should I say the order in which articles are clumped exemplify the point. First up are the articles focused on You, then Work, and finally Family.

The main problem is found in the first focus: you. When we focus on ourselves everything else does come secondarily and even tertiarily. But I believe that our positions in which we serve others (family and church) suffer the most. Even careers don’ suffer as much because ultimately a career is also self-focused and about how I can get ahead, make more money, attain esteem, etc.

A Reflection on Parenting (Part 4)

One last thing that I’d like to throw out there on this topic is a question: What would you consider your most successful parenting story? Remember you don’t actually have to have kids to be a role model and parent so responses don’t have to be about your own kids. I think that it’s important to recognize success and give God the glory for the success no matter how small.

A Reflection on Parenting (Part 3)

A while back I started writing a series of posts on some of my thoughts about parenting. I kinda got sidetracked by life, but wanted to get back to some of the things I had been thinking about. In the last post I talked about the fact that society is diligently working hard to dictate how we respond to our children’s desires even going so far as to creating a science for understanding their feelings. Like darwinian evolution, behavioral science is devoid of the concept of God and focuses on self awareness, self esteem and self gratification. Do we see the root of the problem?

Behavioral science would rather have us ‘understand’ their urgings and desires instead of molding and shaping them “in the ways they should go” as we are exhorted to do in scripture. Giving our children free reign to pursue pleasure, whatever it may be, is basically giving them a free ticket into the proverbial handbasket. When we let them pursue self we are not being good parents and we certainly aren’t looking out for their benefit.

So the next I would like to explore is what specific things Christian parents can do to model Christ in a world that would rather us look through the lens of Behavioral Science and self focus.

I think the first place we need to start, is by being good role models especially when our kids are young and are watching everything around them so intently. It has been a real eye opener to watch David take in his environment, a rather sobering eye opener. As Christians, what we do and say are always being watched by society but we sometimes neglect the truth that our children are watching us even more closely so that they can imitate us. They want to play on the computer, or sweep the floor, or drive the car, or talk like Mama and Papa do. We are their first glimpse into how big people relate to each other and become thier example of how marriage relationships, friendships, being in fellowship with other Christians and relationships with their own children are supposed to work. So let us walk uprightly in the sight of God and our children, guarding our tongues and scrutinizing our actions so that in all things we glorify God.

The next thing we need to do is not to be afraid of correction. Either in correcting our children or being corrected ourselves. We all know how important it is to correct our children in love so that they will learn right from wrong, but I believe that a lot of people can undermine what they say and do by reacting badly to correction themselves. What kind of message are you sending to your children when you grumble about what your accountabilty partner is trying to help you with right after you’ve spanked them for taking cookies without asking?

I think that it ultimately boils down to where our heart is and how we respond and live. Are we focused more on our selves and reaping to the flesh instead of the spirit (Galations 5)? Are we modeling what it’s like to be follower’s of Christ? Are we good at taking God-directed correction?

A Pleasure

One of the most powerful college experiences I ever had happened while I was alone in my room, doing homework. I had just come out of a class on poetry in which the basic rules for the sonnet were introduced, and we were told to try our hands at it. As I was packing up my things, I wrote down a single line of pentameter:

She stood and broke her alabaster box

I had some thought of rhyming “box” with “fox,” and I went back to my room to play around with it. Five hours later, I had finished Memorandum.

I’ve always been pleased with that poem, but the effect on me of writing was profound far beyond the pleasure of a nice bit of verse. The sensation of executing something flawlessly after hours of profound mental exertion was cataclysmic on my psyche. (Rather unlike the previous sentence.) I really don’t know how to explain the rush I got.

The only other times I have experienced a similar sensation have been times of intense prayer, when the very heavens have been opened, or during powerful worship services where God clearly and profoundly made his glory known. And here I had gotten nearly the same sensation from writing a poem. It made me think this was exactly the sort of thing that the character Eric Liddell talked about in Chariots of Fire. “When I run I feel His pleasure.” It is the certain pleasure that comes from functioning in accordance with the nature God has given you.

Judge then, my increasing dismay, as over the next two years I slowly realized how infinitesimal were my chances of successfully embarking on a career as poet. Judge my consternation as I have come to terms with how difficult it is to establish a career as a writer of anything. Judge my surprise at my experiences of the last few weeks: Continue reading “A Pleasure”

Winnie-the-Pooh and Job Apps?

Ok, yesterday I mentioned that my NC nurse aide training and testing were not acceptable to the sovereign state of TN. Fine. So I started looking for work that didn’t require certification and found a job open at Fort Sanders Medical (the hospital where I was born) for a non-certified nurse aide. So I clicked on it and started to apply.

After four or five reminders to only send in one application for all the open CNA type positions, I finally got to the application and began to fill it out. Most of the application is rather standard: what facilities would I like ot work at, how do I handle stress, criticism and conflict, have I ever been terminated from a job, what’s my philosophy for working, what are my short and long term career goals, etc. etc. etc. In fact there are a lot of questions to be answered for a positions that requires mostly common sense and compassion. And then I hit the doozie of all questions:

35. If you were a Winnie the Pooh character, who would you be most similar to?

Followed by:

36. What is it about your personality that causes you to reach this conclusion?

My first reaction: Are you kidding me?!? What kind of question is that? What kind of Winnie-ther-Pooh character am I? What in the world does that have to do with anything?!? That question is SO facebooksurveyish.

They are completely serious. The question has drop down menu choices and everything. My first thought was to put down Rabbit because I sure felt like I had Pooh stuck in my front door, but then after consideration and a decent night’s sleep I’m going to go with Kanga since I don’t have to option to be a little black rain cloud or a woozle. Wonders apparently never cease, and I sure hope someone on the other end is not the complete moron they seem to be by asking a question like that. I also hope I get a job offer with all the effort I’m putting in to their fifty million question application.

Flickr Mosaic Fun

flickr mosaic

  1. Valerie Ackerman, ballerina
  2. Caron Simply Soft, lavendar yarn
  3. Liesel Lace Leaf Scarf
  4. Green Apple
  5. Spread o’ Crochet
  6. Rainbow Baby Blanket
  7. Bedroom Quilt
  8. Crochet Hooks
  9. Joyeux Noël
  10. Still Life with Texture
  11. Multicoloured Crocheted Bag
  12. Homework

Here’s how you play:

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search.
Using only the first page, choose an image. Copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker over at FD’s image maker.

The questions:

What is your first name? Valerie
What is your favorite yarn? Simply Soft
What was the first thing you made with yarn? scarf
What is your favorite color? green
Which crochet or knitting magazine do you like best? Crochet!
Favorite handmade gift you have received? Baby blanket
Dream project? bedroom quilt
Favorite notion? crochet hooks
What will you crochet/ knit next? Baby Christmas outfit for David
What do you love most about yarn? texture
One word to describe your craft. Crochet
Initial inspiration to craft. Biology homework

(HT: Crochet by Faye who rearranged the q’s a bit.)