i don't wanna grow up

"From bikes to trains to video games, it's the biggest toy store there is... I don't wanna grow up cuz if I did... I couldn't be a Toys 'R' Us kid." Remember the good ol' days when you could sleep all day during the summer if you wanted? Those lazy Saturdays when you could wake up, maybe watch Saturday morning cartoons and eat a bowl of cereal. The days of no responsibility. Life flies by so quickly. I'm glad that I know there is something beyond this and something to look forward to afterwards. I guess I should try to savor each moment (other than homework) because I've only got this one life to live for Christ and if I just let it slip by ...when it's over, I won't know where its gone.

I spoke with the new program director at camp today. I feel a lot better about the safety and the spiritual growth of my children and staff now. I pray that God will be there and show Himself to my kids who don't know Him and to those who do know Him so that they will put their trust in Him especially during this pivotal season in their lives. It'd be so easy to go back to camp; I don't want to get a real job. Sigh... I know that God has something better in store for me. I just need to keep following His will with recklessness.

**Today is Anita's birthday, my favorite sister! Hooray! I wish I could be home, but I am glad that she only has to work half a day and that she will be surrounded by people who love her. Happy birthday sister.**

On another note (as if anything I wrote about so far has anything to do with each other), I visited an elementary school today to do a plate waste study. I was talking to some second graders about what they were eating when a particularly bold 7 year old piped up her own rendition of "Don't Cha" by the Pussy Cat Dolls. I thought I was hearing things and I must have had a weird look on my face because she said, "what's wrong, don't you know that song?" and began singing the real words. Let me tell you I was just as appalled that she knew this song at such a young age as I was that I knew it too.

What is society teaching our children? Adultery, sex, and succumbing to temptation is good and acceptable. What other message could a song that has 2nd graders singing the lyrics "don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" possibly be trying to send besides poor grammar/vocabulary lessons? Do what feels good? (I don't understand that at all because our feelings are so changeable and inconsistent - or maybe that's just me.) I never liked the song but I know it because they played it dt when I was back in SLO and went out with my friends. I am becoming more aware (and afraid) of all the media, songs, and lyrics... ones that are glorifying sin and the things that God despises/detests (see Proverbs 6). Subconsciously evil messages are being repeated incessantly in our minds. Satan can take hold if we believe them and do not fight them with truth. I don't know why I was so shocked that a 7 year old knew the song, it's not like parents can filter the radio (I doubt most of them even care). This lead to a "whoa, I am glad I was already thinking about home schooling my children" thought that freaked me out because I want to go home and I had grown up thinking all the kids who were home schooled were weird and had poor social skills. (I thought this based on my experience with the limited amount of home schooled kids I met in California, prior to my introduction to home schooling in Virginia. Obviously my views on the home schooling issue have changed since many of my friends here have been home schooled.) I can honestly say that I want to go home. It would be easy to find a place to live, to get a job in the bay area (as my dad says, there are people who need help everywhere), to visit my friends and family, and the weather is gorgeous pretty much year round. There is another part of me that really believes God wants me to stay and grow with this new church family He has brought me to.

Second graders say the funniest things. One little 2nd grader said, "you remind me of Mulan" (Mulan is pictured above) and another a few tables down said, "you're pretty." When the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders came through (they ate lunch by grade) I was just walking around asking them if they were going to eat their fruit and vegetables. Some of them wondered why I was there and how old I was. They aren't bashful about asking questions or voicing their opinion either. When lunch was over I determined the majority of elementary school kids "don't like fruits and vegetables" as one 2nd grader announced fearlessly while eating nacho cheese and chips, wrinkling his nose at the apple on his tray. The snacks they allow in elementary school are terrible because they give the children an option that is unhealthy - most of the kids would eat the chips and not eat their lunch rather than supplementing their lunch as a snack. I would say that 1st-4th graders threw away 40-60% of their lunch (60% in lower grades and less as they got older). Even the 5th graders were throwing away perfectly good sandwiches and opting for chips and cookies.

Ugh, how the world has bought into short term satisfaction. With food, sex, laziness, and any other thing that can become a temptation or an idol in our lives. It breaks my heart to see children having role models that have no purpose for their lives. Why is our culture so obsessed with famous people and what others are doing? I read an article last year that voiced the opinion that it was because our population is so lonely these days and they feel like they "know" the famous people because they see them on television and read intimate details about their personal lives. I think it's partially because they're lonely as the article stated and partially because they are truly lost and do not know what they are supposed to do with their own life. They do not know that there is a God who loves them, who knows their inmost being and sacrificed His beloved Son on their behalf.

The world needs a Savior and they know it. I hear non-believers questioning the meaning of life and their purpose in life but they don't want to give up ownership of their own lives. They feel like deserve something. They want to live for themselves rather than glorify a God they cannot see or feel. All I can do is pray for my kids back home, my friends, my family, those I don't know, those I worked with and will work with... that God will reveal Himself to them and transform their minds and hearts. Lord I entrust those I love to You, please use me where You will to Your glory.