To Never Be Quiet

I am raising my children to be activists.  It didn't start out this way, for a long time I just wanted to find a way for our family to fit in somewhere.  Now I know, and am comfortable with, the fact that we just don't fit in.  We are a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural family with odd priorities and strange views of the world.  It used to bother me but why fight what you are really proud of?

Injustice is so clear to children.  They don't have a lot of external responsibilities or burdens, so their vision of the world is not muddled with bills and schedules and prejudices.  I trust my children when they see something is wrong that needs to be corrected. 

Next week my  quiet, unassuming daughter, Jessica, will be attending the PETA rally downtown and I will be driving her there.  She has been a vegan and animal rights activist for over a year now and I couldn't be more proud of who she is.  She withstands a lot of teasing in our home as we threaten to put pork in her salad, but we are all really impressed with all she has sacrificed.  We all know, don't we, that animals suffer horrible abuse just so we can get our $1.00 hamburger?  I may be too lazy and stupid to change my ways but I will support my daughter as she tries to change the world and drive her wherever she needs to go to do it. 

I am proud when Rachel refuses to take money from parents for tutoring their children.  She believes that all children should be able to read and parents shouldn't have to pay for it.  A couple times a week she sets time aside to tutor kids in our neighborhood and I am so thankful that she does.  She and Jessica both are looking forward to careers that bring justice and hope to those who have neither.

My boys are coming into their own, recognizing that which is unfair and oppressive.  They are developing empathy for those around them and a desire to help.  My son Jon, who is currently a brown belt in karate and can throw a pretty damaging punch, won't throw it.  After a year of bullying and some pretty stressful moments, he hangs on to the fact that hitting is wrong.  He forgives and prays and does his best not to hold grudges.  And although both my boys are still pretty young, I can't wait to see where their focus lands.

We will never be a silent family, and really, why would we want to be?  I am a very proud mother/ wife and very thankful to God for His work in them.