We had a snow day this past week. I got a call that school was cancelled due to an upcoming storm. I didn't understand. We never got off of school due to an upcoming storm. They might send us home early or delay a start but we would still go. I remember one year that my mom tried driving us to school because of the weather. She made it halfway up the hill and we had to walk the rest of the way up. The road was horrible and she couldn't gain any traction. We did live in a town with extreme hills but they still had school. I think today's school year has extra days built into it so they can be more lenient. I'm not sure that' s the best thing to be teaching the kids though.
Also connected to the snow day, I started thinking about all those kids whose parents rely on the school to watch their children so that they can go to work. When I was a child, they could call grandma to come and watch the kids. I know so many grandmas that are not able to do that because they are also working full time.
Then because of this storm and cold conditions, you have to drive more cautiously. I was driving without the cruise control on because the ground looked wet and the temp was under freezing so I knew there was a possibility of black ice. I've hit black ice while driving before, it's not at all fun. Cruise control has been a necessity for me driving any long distance since I first injured my back because of the amount of pressure you need to exert constantly on the peddle. I realized that cruise control has made us lazy. No wonder people are doing all of these other things while they drive. They no longer have to concentrate on their rate of speed or the inclination of the road. Driving without cruise control takes a lot more focus and concentration. I would catch myself going 10 over or 10 under the speed limit very easily depending on the road and other drivers. I can't imagine what it was like when people first started to drive.
Then I've been thinking about this Facebook picture I saw about the 1915 Teacher.
The requirements seem a little outlandish by today's mentality but why is that? How did we come so far off track? What would happen is we required teachers to behave more like the 1915 Teacher? Maybe not as extreme with things like hair color or the color of your clothes. what if we started living up to those standards? What if we stopped living so lazily and started working harder for the things we need? I say "we" in general because I know a lot of people who truly do work hard for what they have and do not rely upon any sort of assistance unless it means that their family's health and well being would suffer.
I was reading a court transcript this past week from 1637. A woman was brought to court for holding a Bible study at her house where mixed company (men and women) had been spotted. Because she took it upon herself to teach men and women what she had learned from the Bible and because she was doing what she thought God had called her to do, she was banished from town to an undisclosed location. Because she went against their authority. Because she did what she felt God had called her to do. She was forced to leave everything behind and start all over again. It got me wondering how this example could be turned to today's society. What would happen if we cared that much about what our neighbor was doing in their house and called them out on it? Not getting the courts involved and having them banished. But what if we voiced our concerns more to our neighbors if we see something and worry about the state of their lifestyle? What if we called more people out to think about what they are choosing to do and how that impacts more than just themselves?
Which leads me to that "fine line" thought that's been tumbling in my brain lately. There is a fine line in everything that turns from good to bad. The thought started tumbling from a discussion on wearing makeup. There's a fine line between wearing it to enhance your features and wearing it to hide your features. Followed by a discussion on clothing; there's a fine line between wearing clothes that enhance what God has given you and advertising. Then it went to the words we speak or use. There is a fine line between being helpful and being a bitch.
I came to realize that this fine line thing is the hardest thing to do. Do you push the line and see how close you can get before going over? Do you stay as far away from the line as you possibly can so that you are at no risk whatsoever? I came to the conclusion that staying away from the line would not be honoring to God because it would be denying all that He has give you to use. I also came to the conclusion that pushing the line is as good as giving into the temptation and crossing it. There is a fine line in the fine line that is God honoring. It's one of the challenges we've been called to take; lean on Him to show us the answer.
My hubby and I were talking this past week and he said that it sounds like everything in life takes work and that just sounds exhausting. That pretty much sums up why our society has become so lazy. We're getting tired of working all the time on everything. All these new inventions to make life easier is causing us to want life to be easier. But that's not how it was designed. We were designed to work all of our lives. God wants us to use our talents and skills to better this world and the people He created.
And I have transitions from one complete topic into a totally different one. This is how my mind works. Which is why it's no surprise to me that I have a pile of started and unfinished projects.
