There is a quote I may have shared before that hangs on my wall and reads: “We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don’t.” (Frank A Clark.)

From the time I first read it until recently I interpreted it one way. I felt that I could learn so much from the ideas of other people even if I didn’t agree with them. I believed that Mr. Clark was saying that our own perspectives are broadened as we encounter people whose beliefs are different from our own. Perhaps as the result of hearing and understanding new opinions our own opinions are changed or modified. But even if our own opinions are not altered and we stand fast in our convictions, we are enriched by the exchange. This was the growth I assumed he spoke of.

The book I mentioned, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, supported this interpretation of the quote. It caused me to realized that the lens through which we view the world is so narrow and fogged by our own ideas, culture, beliefs and education that we don’t even know what we aren’t seeing. I really can’t articulate the ways in which Anne Fadimen brought to my attention my own clouds of bias, assumption, and stereotypes. Although I still fundamentally disagree with some of the principles of Hmong culture and the practices of the healthcare workers in the story, I have grown from reading about them.

Then a couple months ago I discovered a new meaning to the quote aforementioned. I realized that some people’s opinions have little or nothing to offer my intellect. Some people make foolish choices that my efforts to understand offer no reward. For example, I observe the selfish choice of someone in my life and become filled with anger. The growth I am going to gain from this individual would not come from hearing their justification for their choice.

The growth that comes from disagreement in this circumstance is the growth that comes when I love someone in spite of their choices and allow my heart to be filled with charity rather than allowing my thoughts to be consumed with anger. This growth has nothing to do with being open-minded or tolerant, but everything to do with being more like Jesus Christ.

The ideas of self-deception from the Arbinger Institute that I mentioned before have helped me with this growth. The idea of treating people as humans and exhibiting charity and compassion unconditionally is most difficult with those who I don’t agree with and therefore gives me the most opportunity for cultivation of character.

Even though Father’s Day was a little while ago I want to thank my dad for his wisdom in sharing insightful quotes with me. He has a gift for discerning truth and he searches out the sage counsel of thinkers of all varieties.

Cameron did another race on Friday, and this time I ran with him. All the kids and their parents “chased” an ice cream truck around downtown Boise. I was disappointed to discover that the ice cream at the end of the race was for the children only. Come on!

This race was in support of men’s health with special regard to Prostate Cancer Awareness. Since Cameron has a great-grandfather who has endured prostate cancer it was a great opportunity to explain the fundraising aspect of fun runs.

Of course it rained as soon as we started running and stopped as soon as we finished. Cameron did great though, and I tried to explain that if people in front of you are going slower than you are, it is okay to pass them. He looked at me like I was being rude. Oh well, he’ll learn.

Richard usually does the grilling around here. There are several good reasons for this. He enjoys it, he is good at it, and he doesn’t melt the plastic siding on our house with the lid of the grill. (Isn’t plastic siding so awesome?)

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. But it certainly will be the last, as I have vowed to never lay a finger on that grill again.

But what gives? We have a comfortable cushion in the value of our home to absorb such tragedies as this.

Haha.

At last summer weather has descended upon us. We have finally been able to occupy our time at river beaches and in the plastic backyard pool. Good summer times.

Meanwhile, my thoughts are occupied with this book, extremely well-researched and perspective altering. Perhaps one of the reasons my book reading is so inconsistant is because when I become engrossed in a book I am even more ineffective as a wife/mother/housekeeper than I am when I waste away my hours online. Such has been the case with this book and I think my family will be relieved when I return it to its rightful owner.

Warning: This is one of those posts with several pictures that all look mostly the same, but slightly different that only mothers, fathers, grandparents and other family members can really appreciate.

Yesterday I cut up some grapes into small pieces for Miriam to try. Her expressions delighted me.

So unsuspecting…

Initial shock…

Not quite sure…

Jury is still out…

Mmmmm, yes. She likes them.

Cameron is moderately obsessed with dinosaurs.  He walks around the house slightly hunched over, like an Allosaurus with his hands in a three-finger position and “roaring” until his voice gets hoarse.  (Which Miriam, incidentally, thinks is hilarious.  Someone opening their mouth and growling as loud as possible right in my face is not amusing, but with babies one can never guess what will delight them.) 

We found a BBC series called “Walking with Dinosaurs” on Netflix that Cameron has been thoroughly enjoying.  It is pretty informative as well.  I have ceased to be surprised to hear him use words like “species” and “hypothesis”.  But once in awhile he gets a little mixed up. 

The dinosaur shows and movies he loves to watch talk about predators quite a bit.  But somehow he is missing something because all morning he has been chasing Eli around the house calling himself a “creditor“. 

“Eli, you have to run and hide or the creditors will get you. Roar!”

Well Cam, some people might argue that the two are one in the same. 

My existence consists entirely of imperfect days. Tasks unaccomplished, patience lost, temptations yielded to. But each day there are divine moments when I forgive myself for failing to live up to my expectations.

My sister has this quote on her blog.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
Thornton Wilder

I am a 4/5 stay-at-home mom.  That means, four out of the five days of the work-week I stay at home.  On Mondays I go to work. 

I love staying at home.  It suits my lazy tendencies and my inability to be showered and dressed before 9:00am.   That is not to say that motherhood is for the lazy, but motherhood and full-time employment must require great stamina.   I am blessed and grateful to not be employed full-time. 

What I am getting at though, is that although I love the joys of rearing my children, sometimes a good day of work does me good.  Today was a good day of work.  The great satisfactions that come from my job most often come from the relationships I have with my patients and co-workers.   Today though, I left work feeling fulfilled because of three conversations I had. 

1.  I’ve noticed a little bird flying around my backyard that I had never seen before.  He had a bright yellow chest and he was beautiful.  (I say “he” because aren’t the males usually the beautiful ones?)  Today at work I learned the name of that little bird, the Western Tanager.  Apparently these birds are from Colorado and although they are not local to the Boise area, this spring they have been spotted everywhere.  I suppose I could have learned this on Google, but learning something from another human being is much more enriching.

2.  Suzy is the lady who cleans our office.  She is an expert gardener and gives me all kinds of advice and much needed encouragement.  Today I felt a huge relief to learn that she has a clover problem in her garden too.  And so does Loretta, another co-worker/ fellow gardener.  Often even small obstacles in life are best endured when they are shared. 

3.  Dr. E told me about a place in Emmett that sells un-pasteurized milk.  I’d been wondering if there was a place locally that sold raw milk for cheese making.  I’ll let you know if I get around to cheese making.  After Dr. E told me about how delicious this milk is, my patient told me that he can taste “energy” in products that come from “happy” animals.  (Free-range animals, ya know the ones I’m so passionate about.) Albeit a little extreme, I thought that was a pretty interesting idea.

I’m curious, do you work? Do you enjoy it? What do you enjoy about it?