Week 37: Reflection

My friend has a magnet on her refridgerator that says It's only a matter of time until we become our parents. I don't know...

I imagine my parents look at me sometimes and wonder where I came from. They must wonder how this phlegmatic, career-minded, future-planning, carry-out food eating, television-loving girl is a product of their tree-hugging home. I think I am what my father has always called a "yuppie." Maybe this total projection, but maybe not.

My parents are hippies and they always will be. It it is not a lifestyle but a mindset that was a package deal with being young in the seventies. To a hippie freedom, creativity and independance are the basis for all decisions. Before they met, my parents had both hitchhiked accross the United States. They bummed whatever they could, worked when they needed money and then moved on to the next town. Then they found Jesus and each other and settled down as much as a hippie can ever settle down.

I was raised to be different, I think that's why I am so comfortable looking and acting like every other American. I will always be organically dissimilar from mainstream Americans because that is what my parent created. They wanted my sisters, brother and I to stand out in our spirituality and overall world view. Toward this end we were not allowed to watch much television, consume products made with white flour, play with Barbies, celebrate Halloween, God forbid we ask about the Smurfs, and one of my high school academic years was literally spent reading a set of encyclopedias. Or not. We were never given simple answers to questions. The reply to most inquiries was "Look it up." My parents wanted us to think outside the box, but I have found the box a safe place that I only leave when nessecary.

I wonder what things Dave and I will teach our child that he will shrug off once he leaves home. I wonder what will stick to him no matter if he wants them to or not. There are more than a few things my parents taught me that I will always treasure as inherit parts of my belief system. Here are some of them that I hope to pass on to my own son:

• God is loving and always available. Get to know Him.
• Be kind.
• Love to learn.
• Nurture and prioritize family relationships.
• Share the reason for your hope.
• Follow through with promises.
• Help people.
• Be a part of church family.
• Finish what you start.
• Read the Bible.
• Show affection.
• Remember people who do not have as much as we do and help them when you can.
• Discover and explore your talents.
• Eat healthy.
• Don't believe everything you hear.
• Enjoy your life.
• Travel.
• Smile at people.
• and of course, it's okay to be different!

Thanks M & D for teaching me so much. There are plenty more things to add to this list, but I will close with this: God did well putting me with you.