Organized Chaos With The Skinner's: November 2014

If you have been anywhere in the world in the last twelve hours besides your bed, you have heard about the Michael Brown verdict. You have heard about the riots in Missouri. It is all heartbreaking. I am talking about Ferguson without really talking about Ferguson. Ferguson brings so many bigger things to light. That is where I am going. We can sit and argue and discuss and bicker for days, weeks, months, and it isn't going to change the jury. It is not going to rewind life and make the circumstances of August 9 rewind and everybody go on with life.

It is heartbreaking that a mom and dad have lost their son. It is heartbreaking that another teenager was robbing a store. It is heartbreaking that people are rioting. It is heartbreaking that Americans are letting the media control their emotions. It is heartbreaking to look at my Facebook timeline and see so much hatred. It is all heartbreaking.

I have always been told racism goes both ways. I am thankful that I was raised to love people. I wasn't taught to fear people who aren't like me. I wasn't raised to only be friends with white kids. I didn't go to an all white school. I am thankful for that. I am thankful that seeing a person was more important than seeing a color.

Last year, I had a child in my class and a family member hated me. She flat out told the principal it was because I was white. What in the world? I didn't do anything to the lady. the child was successful. I was white. Racism is everywhere.

I do not really care for media coverage. Really, they should get the blame for Ferguson. They are attempting to divide and conquer viewers. It is evident. It shouldn't be a show. People are hurting. People are angry. People are doing things that aren't making anything better. Chaos and destruction are not the answer. I mean no one ranting about the whole case was presented all the facts/evidence. The majority of America only knows what the media decided to show/tell. The pieces of the puzzle they wanted to present. Does that change that a human is dead? Does that change that a man killed someone? No. I hear the statistics. Ferguson has black businesses that were burned. Ferguson has black on black crime just like every other city. There is white on white crime just like every city. You don't see it on the news. Why? It is not a good story. It doesn't stir the emotion pot. It doesn't get people angry. It should. It is loss of life.

I have seen white people saying stupid things. I have seen black people saying stupid things. Thankfully, most of my Facebook timeline consists of pretty well rounded people. I have seen white people hurting that black people feel oppressed because of this verdict. I have seen black people wanting the people in Ferguson to stop the rioting realizing that it is just adding to the stereotypes. I have seen black people saying hug your sons because you just never know. I have seen white people saying the same. The reality is that we live in a broken world. Turn on your TV and that becomes evident.

The older generations have fought for so many things to get us to where we are today. We are living smack on the other side of the Civil Rights Movement. A movement people died for. Our parents/grandparents were there. They watched America start to change. They watched hate. They watched separation. They watched/participated in the marches for equality. Here we are, right on the other side of that and our generation is not doing a very good job. We aren't really doing anything which is just adding to the problem. I think our generation has been taught to be peacekeepers. We just want to keep the peace. What if, just what if, we were the generation of peacemakers? You know when we should make voices heard? Every time there is senseless murder. Every time there is drugs put into the street. Every time there is spousal abuse. Every time there is rape. Every time there is pornography. Every time there fighting. Every time a child is abused. Every time there is hate. Every. Single. Time.

We don't. We sit quietly and wait for it to go away. I saw a black man who I respect as a person, father, husband, and friend say, "Don't worry. Thanksgiving is in a few days and we won't see or hear of this anymore. There won't be a camera for anyone to put on a show. It doesn't matter if your child is black, blue, pink, purple, or green, you should love them and hug them everyday. You should want people to not get killed everyday. Today a verdict came out, one verdict. White people didn't go crazy over OJ which was highly publicized. White people in Birmingham didn't go crazy over the white preacher killing his white wife. The black people in Birmingham didn't go crazy over the black guy killing the black cop. We have it all wrong and we aren't helping anybody." That last line. We do have it all wrong. We aren't helping anybody. We are the problem. It has become easy to feel like a victim. It is accepted to throw the race card. It is normal to fear people of another race. I hear black people say all the time how they won't step foot in certain places. I hear the same from white people but it usually consists of after dark. I hear white people say the same about certain white areas and black people say the same about black areas. We are a generation living in fear of each other. We have tolerated and accepted sin.

I watch my news feed on Sundays. Everybody goes to church. Everybody is ready to change the world. Monday, hate is alive an well because of a jury verdict. It is heartbreaking.

As a Christian, it is easy for me to look at this all and say sin, shake my head and be done. It is as though we have accepted sin. It doesn't sting anymore to watch it. It doesn't hurt when it it brought to light. It has become the norm. That my friends is not ok. Hate comes from the heart. Hearts full of sin hate. Just about everyone I know says they are believers. They will tell you they know Christ.

People that know Christ hurt for people that do not. People that know Christ despise sin. People that know Christ don't shout for violence. People that know Christ hug their children and pray for them everyday. People that know Christ long for that glorious day when we all get to heaven. People that know Christ will be in heaven with people that do not look like you. Jesus doesn't even look like you. He is not black. He is not white. People that know Christ don't call people names because of their color. People that know Christ look to things further than CNN. People that know Christ love their brothers and sisters. People that know Christ know that Jesus is the only way.

It always makes me chuckle that one of the first songs children learn in church is
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow, black and white,
they are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

We say it with our mouths. Do we truly believe it in our hearts? Do you know that Jesus died for people that don't look like you? Do you fully comprehend an eternity without race? Do you think about the day that the color of your skin doesn't matter? Do you love ALL of your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you look around you at church on Sunday and realize that everybody looks the same? Churches are the most segregated places in America and it is heartbreaking. It has always amazed me that we take the Great Commission and will go to Africa to tell people about Jesus, but we have black and white people that won't go into their backyards because people don't match. David and I looked for multiracial congregations for a year. We couldn't find one. There was one that was close but what we find there is a lack of Jesus and a lot of world. Why can people not long for the Jesus that saves? The Jesus that isn't all prosperity.The Gospel that isn't all me centered. I long for the day that I can worship with people that don't look like me. The day that the church become THE church instead of individual businesses. What a glorious day of rejoicing that will be!

I challenge you to be a solution to the problem. Love your neighbors. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for your children everyday. Hug your children everyday. Make it a point to talk to people that don't look like you. Learn to love everyone. Stop being a part of the problem. Stop sitting on your couch name calling the people on the news. Stop with the jabs at other races because you don't understand their way of life. Did you ever once stop to think that the way people live are the way they were taught to live? We learn by example. Poverty of black and white is an endless cycle because no one teaches any different.

I have a really good friend who grew up in poverty. She went to college. She got out of the neighborhood her entire family had lived in for generations. She got a job. She made decent money. She stayed behind on bills. It wasn't because she didn't have money it was because she never learned how to manage money. It was learned behavior. She didn't know any different. Be a teacher. Teach people. Love them enough to help them make a difference.

I wish my children could grow up in a colorblind world. I wish that the kids I teach didn't have to think that they needed weapons to make it. I wish that poverty cycles would break. I wish that children didn't think violence was the answer. I wish that children respected their elders, things that do and do not belong to them, and themselves. There is so much wrong with this broken world. We can start to be part of the solutions instead of the problems. Nothing is going to change if we don't change it. We have to stop accepting sin in every instance, not just when there is a big story on the news that makes us feel a certain way.

For my whole life, we went to Aunt Kat and Uncle Ron's house on Halloween. All the cousins met there and we went trick-or-treating. Ronni got to "big" for us somewhere along the way and started staying and watching scary movies with Kirk who I never remember making the walk.

Now, Ronni and I have children. All of my cousins still meet and take our kids trick-or-treating. We love it. Tammy has declared this is way better because she doesn't have to worry about anybody. We are thankful to Josh and Jimmi for letting us bombard their house because none of the rest of us have a "neighborhood." Our kids love each other. My children mind Mychal better than they do us most of the time. We had some super heroes and frogs this year.

Captain America is at a stage where he loves all things...see below. He had quiet a few "meltdowns" on Halloween.

The boys had a blast and have declared they are ready for Halloween again.