I cried at a Katy Perry song yesterday. This song:
You see, my kids love Katy Perry. They're 8, so it's perfectly normal. They've sung "Firework" at school, making up different lyrics a la Madlibs. The first time they heard this song, they loved it. I tolerated it. I kept thinking, "I'm not going to buy it, because I don't need to buy every song they like. I already got 'Firework' and I don't love this song." But that's the weird thing about being a parent: your kids like something & you often end up liking it because they do. It makes them happy & that makes you happy. So I kept leaving it on.
I started thinking about the lyrics and my kids a week or so ago. I had explained to them before that it may have been about her divorce and how she was being strong again, but then I realized that it was an empowering song in general.
Listen, I try to avoid using words like "empowering" if I don't absolutely have to, but my kids need empowerment. They have been through PILES of shit in their short lives already, and I'm working really hard to help them grasp how awesome they are & the potential that they have; to get them away from a victim mentality.
So that's there the tears came in. On our two-minute drive to church yesterday (if we were better at getting ready on time, we'd walk), this was on the radio (What?! *shock*) and I started telling H that she and her brother should make this song their own. That was fine, but that afternoon, when I went ahead and bought it, I started to play it for them and just started weeping while trying to explain my thoughts to them. After being a little confused, I think they got it. Life and specific people have pushed them down. A LOT. But they are champions. Kids are the best at taking things literally and latching onto ideas, so I really hope that this sticks with them. Not the crying part, unless that just constantly reminds them of how much their totally awesome mother adores them, but the tiger/fighter/champion part. And not the emoticons. And let's stay away from Katy Perry's gender issues and candy bras. Let's just stop here.
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Monday, October 21, 2013
Friday, August 06, 2010
Feverishly scribbled notes
Today has been a long, great day. I woke up naturally at 5am, thinking I would just pee & go right back to sleep. Nay. So, I finished The Last Battle (it always makes me so sad, though it shouldn't), then tried again. Nope. So I decided to embrace it and enjoy being up. We had day one of the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit (WCAGLS- wickagles) today, and I was afraid I would crash at some point, but it was just to awesome.
The friend I came out here with has never been to the summit before, so I told her to expect that we'd learn a lot, but also end up rolling our eyes a bit. Ah, not today. Opening video- we both teared up a bit. Worship? Great. And almost all of today's sessions were about change, crisis, dysfunctional teams, and various other things that hit home so much that we often found ourselves looking at each other with an "oh, really! I wonder who that could apply to!" look on our faces. There was also one high-five when Jim Collins threw out, as if it were completely obvious, "Oh, and double your outreach to young people by changing your practices, but not your core values."
The other two times I've gone to the summit, I've gone alone, so with four of us from church there, it is really great to have others go over this stuff with, to also share the inspiration you're receiving, and take it back to church. During the first session, I realized that I kept wishing that some of our pastors were there, but we are here. We four women, only two on staff, none of us in real positions of power right now: God put us in that room to receive this vision and inspiration, and he wants us; he wants me to take it back and help make it grow. I thought of it as a holy pressure. I'm scared and excited.
Tomorrow- day 2. I looked at the books of a couple of tomorrow's speakers, and I'm excited by what I see. And the four of us are going to get together and pray for God's vision and for strength and wisdom for our role in whatever God is doing. Pray for us, please. Our church- God's church- needs a lot of help.
The friend I came out here with has never been to the summit before, so I told her to expect that we'd learn a lot, but also end up rolling our eyes a bit. Ah, not today. Opening video- we both teared up a bit. Worship? Great. And almost all of today's sessions were about change, crisis, dysfunctional teams, and various other things that hit home so much that we often found ourselves looking at each other with an "oh, really! I wonder who that could apply to!" look on our faces. There was also one high-five when Jim Collins threw out, as if it were completely obvious, "Oh, and double your outreach to young people by changing your practices, but not your core values."
The other two times I've gone to the summit, I've gone alone, so with four of us from church there, it is really great to have others go over this stuff with, to also share the inspiration you're receiving, and take it back to church. During the first session, I realized that I kept wishing that some of our pastors were there, but we are here. We four women, only two on staff, none of us in real positions of power right now: God put us in that room to receive this vision and inspiration, and he wants us; he wants me to take it back and help make it grow. I thought of it as a holy pressure. I'm scared and excited.
Tomorrow- day 2. I looked at the books of a couple of tomorrow's speakers, and I'm excited by what I see. And the four of us are going to get together and pray for God's vision and for strength and wisdom for our role in whatever God is doing. Pray for us, please. Our church- God's church- needs a lot of help.
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