My sister-in-law, Aimee, is a teacher in Southern California. She has some thoughts she gave me permission to share. Quite thought provoking. Sometimes it is good for us to be uncomfortable. It prepares us for the little emergencies in life. Jesus didn't promise us an easy road until He returns, but He promised to be with us. Here are Aimee's thoughts.
Our overnight sail trip has come and gone... had a great time... exhausting, but lots of fun. (This is the trip where we pretend to be sailors from the 1800s... they make the kids do all kinds of crazy things - climb masts, hoist barrels, scrub decks, etc.) I ended up with night watch duty this year - something I didn't have to do last time.... I had enough parents to cover for me, but I figured that I should truly experience it, just like the kids. =P By luck of the draw, I ended up with THE worst time - the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. shift. Holy cow. I sleepily got the rest of my crew up, and out we marched - into the cold, COLD night air. We each stood watch on one side of the ship, rotating every fifteen minutes. One of the stations was inside the galley (kitchen), where the crew member was supposed to journal for the entire time...(Keep in mind, this ship stays docked the entire time, so keeping watch really means just watching the pier and the parking lot.) But it was neat just watching my kids during those two silent hours. (Talking or whispering isn't allowed; nor is any sitting or walking about, except to change positions...any noise above deck is thunderous to those below.) They all were quite stoic and matter-of-fact about the whole thing....they knew they were sailors, and they knew this was part of their job. Which is funny - because their parents didn't see it that way at all. I mean, in the weeks prior to this trip, when we were getting all the paperwork in and giving parents all necessary information, I had a lot of questions about the point of the night watch - how could we expect kids to stay up for 2 hours and not talk? Why would we ask children to do such a thing? Why would we wake children up in the middle of the night to do a pretend watch? Is my child really expected to stand still in the cold for 2 hours? But I blew off most comments with a pat answer about how it was just part of the program, and how it's the experience, etc. Which is true and everything - but having gone through it myself now and watched those kids firsthand, I now think I realize the purpose more fully. The point is for the kids to experience DISCOMFORT. Truly. And I think it's a GREAT lesson. I think kids these days are much more... coddled than they used to be. A lot of emphasis - in schools anyways - is put on everybody being made to be comfortable. Everybody's a winner, everybody's okay. Which is a fine philsophy with lots of merit; I just think it leaves us with a lot of kids who are used to being comfortable and catered to. I mean, I've had parents drive from work to home to school to pick up a pair of mittens for a child who called to say there were cold. (We live in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - how cold can it get?) I've watched parents scream and rant and rave at a colleague of mine because she told kids they couldn't eat during class; they just were SURE that their kids were suffering and deprived because they had to go from breakfast to lunch without a SNACK in between. (These are junior high kids, mind you - not little ones...) I've had parents do their kids' homework because their child had procrastinated on an assignment, and just couldnt stay up to finish it. So yes. I think we live in a society where we expect to be comfortable. And on this trip, you are not. It is not nice to be woken up at 2 a.m. It is not comfortable to stay out in the cold for two hours. It is not fun to stand in the dark, in the corner of a ship, with no one to talk to. But you know what - I never heard a single complaint from the kids about the night watch. Not once did I hear someone say how dumb this was, or how they just wanted to go back to sleep, or how they couldn't believe they were forced to do this. They knew it was their job. Not a fun or comfortable part of their job, but their job, nonetheless. There was no one else to take their place or cover for them - so what do you know - they did it. They were UNCOMFORTABLE for two hours. And they survived. Quite happily, I might add.
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4 comments:
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for your comment on my blog. I understand exactly how your sister feels. I spent 20 years in the Navy and know what it is to stand many watches in the wet and the cold from 11:30 pm to 3:30 am. And then work all day afterward. But its good for the soul. Afterwards!
I've often thought that as Americans we've had it too good for too long. What we are seeing in coddling our young is the same as happened to every other great empire. They had the wealth of the world pouring in and took advantage of the good life until they were unable to fend off the growing strength of their conquered peoples.
Why should Americans think our empire will last forever? Its because they are so spoiled by the good life that they can't fathom the other option. They lie to themselves.
Christ is going to come and no amount of firepower will be able to stand Him off.
Our wisest choice is to start investing in His kingdom now before its too late. I'm often reminded of all the confederate money that became worthless after the Civil war. All this world's wealth is going to do nobody any good soon. They need to be gathering the fruits of Christ's character, which is the ticket into the next great empire "which shall never be destroyed: and...it shall stand forever." Dan. 2:44.
Labor was the ultimate discomfort!! I hated every minute of it, but held on for hours & hours, knowing that at the end of all that discomfort, there would be a warm little body to hold. A new life! Anything worth having is worth discomfort. Many people hate exercise, because they find it uncomfortable, but what great benefits you get from it!! Good thoughts...
Hi. You-all. I just started to apply what you're saying in the conflicts here in Minneapolis - God directed me to leave. I spent the summer living in a tent - or wherever - sometimes staying with new Christians I met - and always just thanking God for a shower at the end of the day, a safe, dry, comfortable enough bed so i could sleep, and a good long night of sleep.
Jesus can take us on a path of learning to get toughened up and I think he'd like to take more of us on that path. This is the best adventure of my life. it's also day to day waiting on His provision!
Gabrielle,
I'm sorry you had to leave your homeland, but good things will come out of it. Everything works together for good to those who love God. I did a 4 week bicycle ride and I know about toughing it out in a tent. Its tough! Trailady, you have me trumped with giving birth! I guess there's nothing I can do about that.
Sharon, thanks for your blog and the opportunity to come together in cyberspace. Isn't it great to learn from our experiences in life? So much parallels the spiritual life. Wouldn't you have loved to listen to Jesus speak all His parables?
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