Hello Dear, Amazing People!
As we head out for our first vacation, we wanted to send out an enormous thank you to everyone for this last week's Bring Your Weight In Food Drive. Together we raised 7,647pounds of food! Diane Giese, Executive Director of the Seacoast Family Food Pantry said that it was by far the largest donation they have ever received. We are so grateful that so many of you gave so generously.
As I was driving the boys to their preschool yesterday, Jack, seemingly out of the blue said, "soul brother!" Most anything coming out of the mouth of an eighteen month old is adorable. In this moment of mushrooming language acquisition, I am regularly amazed by the things he says. But there was something extra beautiful about him saying "soul brother" especially as he has not even said the word "milk" yet. And when I unpack it a little, I can see that Ben regularly (almost every time we are in the car) requests a song he calls "Funk Soul Brother." And so, Jack has heard this phrase over and over, certainly with more excitement and urgency than he has ever heard the word, "milk." It is amazing to see so closely how he learns, how the patterns of his being, of his mind and heart get created.
A man was walking down the street, and commented on the giant "Standing on the Side of Love" banner by the Salt Palace Convention Center (an image is attached below). I overheard him saying on the phone, "Well who wouldn't stand on the side of love? What do they mean by that?"
It brought two thoughts to mind:
1. Does he know that we mean tolerance of all people and situations?
2. We make assumptions when we put up a sign like that, that people understand our inclusive language.
