Rich or poor

Check out this Nooma Video. It will make you feel so thankful and blessed for what you have. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4657662595934098105#docid=-1744463994542090095

I have thought a lot about what I want to do with my life. I recently saw this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0 (thanks Lindi)

It made me realize that what I am doing now I might never fully see how big it is but someday I will get to see it all.

I have decided that I want to work with inner city families. I was thinking about how crazy that is considering how much I love the country life and the quietness of the neighborhood and how most inner city neighborhoods are not so quiet. Then I got to thinking about the qualities that I love about inner city work. They don't have all the glamours things that other people have and for the most part life is simple but what they do have the often times share. They sit on their front porches and just enjoy life because they can't afford to just run off and go do something but to them sitting is fun and it is something they do. They might play a game or just talk with the neighbors. This I love about inner city work. They know how to have fun with out spending too much money and often times it is more fun than you would think it would be. They may not have much but I also think that makes them a better neighbor and friend. They get that life is short and that it might be hard and that is when you rely on each other to help you though that time. To me the neighborhoods that don't have as much money seem more neighborly than the ones that have lots of money. This is why I love inner city work. I know it is dangerous and that it won't be easy but it will be rewarding and fun. To me I can see the similarities of inner city living and country living.

The tower of Babel

I have been thinking about race a lot lately. It has divided us in so many ways. Then I started thinking. Where did race come from? We all came from Adam and Eve right?!? Then they were all wiped out in the flood and only Noah's family survived. So we are all coming from one couple. If that is the case then how did we get all these different races?

Then I started thinking about what happened after the flood. The tower of Babel happened. It makes me wonder if that is when we started to have different races. I mean we know that is when we had different languages. According to Genesis the LORD scattered them all over the Earth and caused them to have different languages. Then I did what almost any college kid would do. I googled where did race come from? I found a really cool website (www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/race-definition.html) that explained it very well I thought. It basically said that our skin color is determined on the amount of melanin (a dark brownish pigment in our skin) is produced. If you have no melanin you are considered albino. I found this interesting so we are all from the same people our melanin has just changed. I don't really know what to think about all of this but for now this makes since to me.

I do find it interesting that race has caused us to be so diverse just as language causes us to not be able to communicate with one another. If you go back to the tower of babel it was all because of what humankind did wanting to be a part of God and be with God. It is fascinating to me how much we stereo-type other races but we are really all the same race. If we are all from one couple and we believe that then why don't we love everyone around us? Aren't we all just one big happy family?I also find it interesting that race is such a big issue still today. If this is true and we are all from one couple then we are related and we have treated our brothers and sisters with unkind behavior in the past and some people continue to do so today.

I want to do more studying on this but for now this is all I have. Post a comment and let me know what you think.

Teenagers

I have been in a child development class this semester and today we learned a lot about the physical development of adolescents. It was very interesting to me. I have a heart for the inner city children and youth and often times these are single parent families. We learned today how much the biological father has a role in a young girls life. Some quotes from the book...

"The relationship with the father seems particularly important. In one longitudinal study, girls who, as preschoolers, having a close, supportive relationship with their parents--- especially with an affectionate, involved father--- entered puberty later than girls whose parental relationships had been cold or distant or girls who were raised by single mothers. "

"Because both a father's absence and early pubertal timing have been identified as a risk factors for sexual promiscuity and teenage pregnancy, the father's early presence and active involvement may be important to girls; healthy sexual development."

Another thing we talked about was how the father treats a daughter with respect and opens doors for her and treats her like a man should it shows her how she is to be treated by her future boyfriend and husband. When the father isn't present often times the girl doesn't have a high standard and doesn't always have this since of worth.

I can see this playing out in girls all around me today. I know that this is an issue and it is growing greater and greater every day with the increasing in divorce rates. It breaks my heart to see this go on. I understand that some people can not help their situation but it still breaks my heart.

The other interesting thing we talked about today is how the brain develops. Teens tend to use a different part of the brain to make decisions than adults do. Therefore they often don't have the best judgement in their decisions. They don't have the same warning systems that adults do and they don't always see how their actions will play out. This also causes them to think that they are invincible.

I found this interesting because I think it helps explain why teenagers often make bad decisions. I wonder if the combination of entering puberty earlier, not having a father in your life to help set a high standard in a boyfriend, and poor decisions leads to teenagers having sex.

These are just my thoughts and observations after sitting in class for an hour and a half talking about it. I find it all very interesting.