A change of heart

Because the people have demanded it (and by people, I mean YOU Bethany :) I am finally updating my blog. I've been meaning to but life kinda got in my way this week (and by life, I mean American Idol).

A few days ago I was going to write about how annoying the month of January is. Annoying because I go to the Y and I can't get a bike in my spinning class because every body and their 63 year old mom thinks they'll "give spinning a whirl" as their New Year's resolution. It was an actual conversation I overheard as the "regulars" were all clamoring for a bike 12 minutes before class even started. "Don't worry, mom, even if all you can do is sit there and move your legs, we're just glad you're here." Ummmm.... hello visiting girl I've never seen before, NO, no we're not. You see, if you're just going to sit on a bike and just "move your legs" then there are about 11 bikes in the fitness room for you to do that on. THIS is a class where you follow an instructor and actually DO WHAT SHE SAYS. And it's hard. And you're suppose to hate it. And its why some of us drive 25 minutes to get there.

And then I was going to write a post about how still annoying the month of January is. Annoying because I go to Weight Watchers and I can't hardly find a seat. Annoying for two seatless reasons. One because everyone will be there *getting thin* until they receive that heart shaped box of chocolates in February, never to step foot on that WW scale again. And annoying two because I COULD find a seat if you all shoved your coat under your seat like I do (or put it behind your back like your mama should have taught you) INSTEAD of on the seat next to you... therefore causing a bunch of regulars to have to stand for 30 minutes during a meeting. I for one got a seat, 'cause I asked someone to move their coat. I call it assertive, not rude.

Yeah, I was going to do those posts and then I realized I would sound so negative and would appear so heartless toward all those out there trying to get healthy.

So, instead, I want to tell you about a conversation I had with Olivia on Thursday morning. (Which hopefully casts me in a much more favorable bloggy kinda light.) We were watching the news as she ate breakfast and got ready to head off to school. It hadn't occurred to me that there would be wall to wall stories on about the Haitian earthquake and Steve and I hadn't discussed how we wanted to handle that with the kids. Looks like the way we were going to handle it was by jumping in, feet first.

Olivia dialed right in and started asking a million questions. "Did the kitchen fall in?" Yes "Did the roof fall in ?" Yes. "Did those people die?" Yes. I could read the unasked question in her eyes, "Will it happen to us?" so I answered the unasked question. "You don't have to worry it probably will NEVER happen here in Dayton."

We talked for a moment about Haiti and how its another country and how we will start praying for those people before bed. She said, "Well, I think they all can just build a new house." I gave a 3 year old explanation about how a lot of those people may not be able to build a new house, it costs a lot of money to do so, etc. I DIDN'T get into the technical stuff about foreign aid, corrupt governments, no running water, no electricity etc. I told her that there are people who will help them. That the helpers are asking people like us to give money so that people in Haiti can build a new house. I asked her if she would like mommy and daddy to find a group for us to give money to? "YES! Because we have lots of money!"

In her little 3 year old mind we do have lots of money. And in light of the Haitian crisis, she's right. So, our project over the weekend is to decide who we will donate to. Then the next project is to sit down with Olivia and her piggy bank and have her decide how much she wants to give. I'll let you know how that goes.

I guess in light of not having a plan on how to handle stuff like this, God helped us manage ok. And in light of losing everything, losing your bike or your chair just ain't so bad!